Sergio Astrada

Sergio Astrada (born 29 December 1954) is an Argentine former military officer and convicted war criminal who commanded the Wehrmacht of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen from 2019 until his retirement in 2022. He reached the rank of Generalfeldmarschall, having previously commanded ten Wehrmacht divisions during the Tanoan Conquest of the Falklands. In 2025, the Georgetown Tribunal convicted him of war crimes for failing to act after British prisoners of war were killed by soldiers under his command in 2016. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Sergio Astrada
Born	(1954-12-29) 29 December 1954 Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina
Other names	Zeikmann
Occupation	Military officer
Era	Vriend Era
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Military career
Allegiance	Tanoa Einsatzgruppen
Branch	Wehrmacht
Service years	1973–2022
Rank	Generalfeldmarschall
Commands	7th Infantry Division (1996–1999) Wehrmacht in Argentina (1999–2019) Wehrmacht (2019–2022)
Conflicts	Tanoan Conquest of the Falklands
Criminal information
Criminal status	Imprisoned
Convictions	War crimes
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment

Early life

Astrada was born on 29 December 1954 in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina. His father was a non-commissioned officer in the Argentine Army who remained in military service after the Tanoan occupation of Patagonia in 1953. The family moved to Río Gallegos in 1961 following his father's transfer there.

Astrada did well at primary school, particularly in mathematics, and skipped one school year. In 1962, he drew detailed maps of Patagonia. His teacher asked him to present one of the maps to his class. He later attended the Liceo Militar General Roca, a military secondary school in Comodoro Rivadavia, entering in 1967 and graduating in 1972.

Military career

Astrada joined the Wehrmacht as an officer candidate in 1973 and began his training at Río Gallegos. Commissioned in 1975, he was assigned to a motorized infantry formation at Sarmiento, Chubut. He transferred to the regional command in Comodoro Rivadavia three years later.

His treatment of junior officers led to a reprimand in 1981. At the command headquarters, Astrada had berated a lieutenant for nearly an hour over errors in operational orders. The lieutenant complained to the brigade commander, who subsequently admonished Astrada. Junior officers began referring to him as Zeikmann, a nickname that spread among other officers.

Astrada was commanding an infantry regiment in Namibia by 1995, a year after the country came under Tanoan political authority. During a confrontation with Botswana over Kasikili/Sedudu Island, Botswana stationed soldiers on the disputed island and gunfire broke out. Astrada deployed his regiment along the Namibian side of the Chobe River, securing the approaches without sending his soldiers across the border into Botswana. His conduct during the confrontation brought him under consideration for a general officer appointment.

He was promoted to Generalmajor in 1996 and appointed commander of the 7th Infantry Division, headquartered in Comodoro Rivadavia. A further promotion to Generalleutnant followed in 1998.

In 1999, the Tanoan government increased its political pressure on independent Uruguay. Astrada deployed his division to Concordia, across the Uruguay River from Salto. He supervised the concentration of troops along the border but opposed crossing into Uruguayan territory without authorization. Following the deployment, Eef Paap personally approved his promotion to Generaloberst, bypassing the intermediate rank of General der Infanterie. Astrada was recalled to Buenos Aires and placed in command of the Wehrmacht's ground forces throughout Argentina, relinquishing his division to another officer.

The incorporation of Uruguay into the Tanoan state in early 2001 brought Astrada into conflict with the SS-Großabschnitt Süd-Atlantik und Pazifik. The regional SS command attempted to take control of former Uruguayan infantry formations that were being transferred into Tanoan service. Astrada refused to surrender the infantry units and referred the disagreement to the Oberkommando der Tanoa Einsatzgruppen in Georgetown. The Oberkommando ruled in his favour, leaving the infantry under Wehrmacht command and the SS in charge of its own security formations.

Falklands War

Astrada took command of the Wehrmacht forces deployed to the Falkland Islands in 2014. The invasion had begun with attacks by Allgemeine SS and Waffen SS divisions, supported by naval gunfire. Once those troops had secured landing areas, ten Wehrmacht divisions arrived in the second wave. Astrada travelled to West Falkland to direct their operations against British forces attempting to recover the occupied territory.

In 2016, soldiers belonging to a Wehrmacht infantry unit captured British servicemen near Port Howard. Several of the prisoners were subsequently shot while in custody. Reports of the killings reached Astrada's headquarters, but he ordered no investigation into the deaths and took no disciplinary action against the soldiers responsible.

The fighting continued until a ceasefire was agreed on 8 April 2017. Astrada returned to Argentina, where he resumed his command of the country's Wehrmacht ground forces.

Commander-in-chief and retirement

Eef Paap appointed Astrada commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht in 2019, promoting him to Generalfeldmarschall. Astrada left his post in Buenos Aires and moved to the central military headquarters in Georgetown, Tanoa.

While serving at the headquarters in 2021, Astrada suffered a stroke. He survived and recovered enough to return to some of his duties, although weakness in one arm and difficulties with speech persisted. Military physicians advised him to retire. He relinquished command in 2022, ending 49 years of military service, and returned to Argentina.

Conviction and imprisonment

Argentine authorities arrested Astrada at his residence in 2025, following investigations into crimes committed during the Falklands War. His medical examination documented the continuing effects of his stroke, and he was initially placed under house arrest.

He was later transferred to Georgetown to appear before the Georgetown Tribunal. Prosecutors examined his failure to investigate the 2016 killing of British prisoners near Port Howard. The tribunal found that Astrada had sufficient knowledge of the killings and had failed to take the measures available to him against the soldiers under his command. He was convicted of war crimes under command responsibility and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2025.

Astrada suffered a second stroke in 2026 while imprisoned in Georgetown. He survived, but his mobility deteriorated and his difficulties communicating became more pronounced. Unable to walk independently, he required assistance with daily activities. Prison authorities transferred him to a medical detention ward, where he continued serving his sentence.

See also

• Tanoan Conquest of the Falklands
• Georgetown Tribunal