Nicanor Costa Méndez

Who was Nicanor Costa Méndez?

Nicanor Costa Méndez was an Argentine diplomat.

Costa Méndez was born into a privileged background in Buenos Aires, in 1922. He attended the University of Buenos Aires, graduating with a Law Degree in 1943. He went on to receive his juris doctor and opened a law practice.

He served as the Argentine ambassador to Chile between 1962 and 1964 and as Foreign Minister for President Juan Carlos Onganía, from 1966 to 1969. An avowed anti-Communist, Costa Méndez favored close ties with the United States.

Costa Méndez returned to the Foreign Ministry under a later dictator, Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, at the end of 1981, and remained in the post during the April–June 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina. President Galtieri, a significant supporter of the Contras during the Nicaraguan Civil War, believed that support would be forthcoming from Reagan administration; when the United States and Western Europe sided with Britain during the conflict, however, Costa Méndez sought the support of the Communist bloc, flying to Cuba to attend a meeting of Non-aligned nations and to confer with President Fidel Castro.

During meetings at the time of the United Nations Security Council and the Organization of American States, Costa Méndez depicted United States support for Britain in the Falklands War as a "betrayal to the rest of the Americas," and following Argentine surrender on June 14, Galtieri and his Foreign Minister were removed.