Possibly appropriate ambience

Something I've been working off and on for the past two or three weeks, a Herrerasaurus in the Chilean Army standing guard in a stretch of Magellanic forest near the disputed Borja Channel at the far southern tip of South America during the war with Argentina in the late 1970s. Wearing a German-inspired uniform (complete with M1955 Stahlhelm) with a Swiss camouflage pattern, the Herrera has a SG 510 battle rifle chambered for 7.92x57 Mauser slung behind his back and is eyeing the foliage of the woods surrounding him for signs of enemy activity. Behind the sar, a MOWAG Wotan armored car idles, its 20mm cannon ready to shred through trees, infantry, and lightly-armored vehicles at a moment's notice.

Named after the Spanish ship that explored it in the early 18th century, the Borja Channel and the islands surrounding it have been disputed territory for a century with both Chile and Argentina claiming ownership. While the dispute led to a dreadnought arms race in the early 1910s, the two countries put it aside in 1914 at the behest of Germany and the United States and then it simmered for forty years until it flared up again in the late 50s with several border incidents in 1958 and 1967. There had been mediation regarding the arrangement of a treaty at the behest of the Papal States but the landslide election of socialist Salvador Allende in 1964 and Argentina's rotating governments put the damper on such prospects as Allende and his regime stubbornly refused as they hoped to force Argentina to give up their claims on the islands. Tensions escalated after a coup in 1976 overthrew Isabel Peron and instilled a new junta, one much more hostile towards the socialist government in Chile and it immediately began forming plans to strike against its neighbor and humble Allende. Indeed, in May and June 1977, Argentina launched Operation Soberania, a massive joint offensive meant to catch the Chileans by surprise and capture major strategic points including the capital of Santiago, with the help of the Antarctican nation of Orcadas located just across the Drake Passage. Despite initial success, the Argentineans were halted just short of their objectives and a two year war would ensue, which would see the additional involvement of Peru. Ultimately, Chile was forced to the peace table and the negotiations led to the disputed islands being awarded towards the battered nation, yet the war was still celebrated in Argentina as a victory wherein the junta humiliated the Allende regime by sinking most of its navy, destroying half its air force, and bloodying its army with the technically-superior Argentine forces. The aftermath of the war led to a huge economic downturn in Chile and the outbreak of famine in 1980, the first in the nation's history, while the junta enjoyed a wave of support that would subside by 1982; it was the high from the war with Chile that led to Argentina invading occupying Falkland, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands in the spring of that year and the conflict to ensue would result in the junta's ousting. Meanwhile, Allende cracked down on opposition as sporadic guerrilla fighting and riots occurred throughout the country and notable liberals, conservatives, and moderates were 'disappeared' and the aging dictator had to contend with a power grab by Socialist Carlos Altamirano in 1984 before he finally passed away from a heart attack in 1987. Despite attempts by President Altamirano to institute internal reforms, a military coup in 1989 led to open elections for a constitutional committee and an interim National Congress in 1989 and then the Presidency in 1990. Altamirano attempted to run in the election as a candidate but was resoundingly defeated by Patricio Aylwin, who became the first elected non-socialist President in twenty-six years.