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For the time being, Galtieri's powers were divided between two generals. Major General Alfredo Oscar Saint-Jean was appointed President, but only temporarily. More significant perhaps was the announcement that Major General Cristino Nicolaides, a close Galtieri friend and protégé, would be the army's new commander in chief. That automatically made the tough anti-Communist and right-wing nationalist a member of the junta. His promotion does not augur well for a return to civilian rule in Argentina.
In the immediate future, the greatest danger for Argentina is that it will continue its obsession with the Falklands, while neglecting its political and economic stability. As the Buenos Aires Herald said last week, "It is time to get down to the serious business of building the kind of strong, stable, democratic nation Argentina could be and to leave behind forever the embarrassing stigma of the underdeveloped world where power struggles and stagnation are the order of the day." The economy is in even worse condition than when the war began. Inflation stands at 140% and unemployment at 13%. The worst possible outcome for the country might be a return to the intensely nationalistic and ultimately destructive economic policies that were repeatedly tried under the banner of Peronism between the 1940s and 1976.
Those concerns were far from the minds of the war's victors. In London, Prime Minister Thatcher's announcement to the House of Commons that Argentina had surrendered drew a thunderous cheer from all political parties—and her first smile in the Commons since the Falklands crisis began. From his front-bench seat on the opposite side of the parliamentary chamber, Labor Party Leader Michael Foot rose to tender his congratulations. Said he: "Perhaps there will be arguments about the origins of this matter and other questions, [but] I can understand that at this moment the anxieties and pressures may have been relieved, and I congratulate [Thatcher] on that."
One of the few notes of recrimination in the Commons was sounded the following day by Radical Labor M.P. Tony Benn, who demanded a full analysis of the "costs in life, equipment and money in this tragic and unnecessary war, which the world knows very well will not provide an answer to the problem of the future of the Falkland Islands." Thatcher's reply: "He [Benn] called it an unnecessary war. Tragic it may have been, but he would not enjoy the kind of freedom of speech which he puts to such excellent use unless people had been prepared to fight for it."
In the flush of victory, Thatcher might imagine that she could be disdainful of opposition attacks. Last week a British Gallup poll put her public approval rating at 51%, 17 points higher than before the Falklands crisis began. Fully 64% of Britons polled said that the handling of the Falklands crisis had made them feel more favorable toward the government. Approval for Opposition Leader Foot, meanwhile, stood at a mere 14%.