The Contras (from the Spanish term La Contra, short for 'movement of the contrarrevolucionarios') were the armed opponents of Nicaragua's Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle (which ended the Somoza dynasty), and continuing throughout the following decade. The label was commonly used by the United States press to cover a range of groups opposed to the Sandinistas, who had little or no ideological unity and many of whom supported the revolution against Somoza. Some references use the uncapitalized form, contra, which means 'against' or 'counter' in Spanish. A counterrevolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. ... The Sandinista flag This article is about the Nicaraguan left-wing political party. ... The Junta of National Reconstruction ruled Nicaragua between 1979 and 1984. ... Anastasio and Luis Somoza Debayle in 1959 Anastasio Somoza Debayle (December 5, 1925–September 17, 1980) was officially the forty-fourth and forty-fifth President of Nicaragua from May 1, 1967 to May 1, 1972 and from December 1, 1972 to July 17, 1979. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ...

History

The Contras initially received financial and military support from the Argentine government and the US through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Contras would later receive aid through clandestine initiatives by figures in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. They received some support from Nicaraguans opposed to the Sandinistas' nationalization of their land, formation of large farming cooperatives, and mistreatment of dissenters. They were opposed by some Nicaraguans as well as foreign human rights organizations who viewed their tactics, which included the targeting of cooperatives, as brutal and indiscriminate. CIA redirects here. ... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Nationalization or nationalisation is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ...

The earliest group of contras were MILPAS, peasant militias led by former Sandinista supporters. These militias were the majority of the first Contra groups formed in 1980-1981 in Honduras, Nicaragua's northern neighbour, allying in August 1981 as the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense, FDN) under the command of former National Guard (army) colonel Enrique Bermúdez and Jaime Irving Steidel, a Honduran-born Field Commander, later replaced by Oscar Sobalvarro. A joint political directorate was created in February 1983 under businessman and anti-Sandinista politician Adolfo Calero. In a detail of Brueghels Land of Cockaigne (1567) a soft-boiled egg has little feet to rush to the luxuriating peasant who catches drops of honey on his tongue, while roast pigs roam wild: the 16th century was a good time for European peasants A peasant, from 15th... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Nicaraguan Democratic Force (Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense, or FDN) was one of the earliest Contra groups formed in 1980 in Honduras. ... The Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua, otherwise known as Guardia or in English Nicaraguan National Guard, was a militia created during the occupation of that country by the United States. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ...

The creation of the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) and its armed wing, the Sandino Revolutionary Front (FRS), in April 1982 saw a second front open in the war. The group was founded in neighboring Costa Rica by Edén Pastora (Comandante Cero), a former Sandinista and participant in the August 1978 seizure of Somoza's palace. ARDE consisted largely of Sandinista dissidents and veterans of the anti-Somoza campaign who opposed the increased influence of Cuban officials in the Managua junta. Proclaiming his ideological distance from the FDN, Pastora nevertheless styled his force the "southern front" in a common campaign. Edén Pastora Gómez (born January 22, 1937?) was the leader of the ADREN; the largest contra army in southern Nicaragua in the 1980s. ... A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively opposes an established opinion, policy, or structure. ... Managua, with a population of about 1,723,100 in 2004, is the capital of Nicaragua. ...

A third force, Misurasata, appeared among the Miskito, Sumo and Rama Amerindian peoples of Nicaragua's Atlantic coast, who in December 1981 found themselves in conflict with the authorities following what the government later called an "ill-judged modernisation drive," ^{[citation needed]} and what the Miskitos themselves believed to be a genocidal attempt to force the tribes to participate in the revolution. They had a number of grievances against the Sandinistas, including: For the insect, see mosquito The Miskito are a Native American people in Central America. ... The Sumo (also known as Sumu) are a people that live on the eastern coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras, an area commonly known as the Mosquito Coast. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of the earths surface. ... Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing...

• Unilateral natural resource exploitation policies which denied Indians access to much of their traditional land base and severely restricted their subsistence activities.
• The arrest, imprisonment and subsequent execution of the majority of the Misurasata leadership.
• The military occupation, bombing, or deliberate destruction of over half of all Miskito and Sumu villages in the region, and the forced conscription of Indian youth into the Nicaraguan military.
• Forced removal of at least 10,000 Indians from their traditional lands to relocation and re-education centers in the interior of the country, and subsequent burning of their villages.
• Economic embargoes and blockades against native villages not sympathetic to the government.

In 1983 the Misurasata movement, led by Brooklyn Rivera, split, with the breakaway Misura group of Stedman Fagoth allying itself more closely with the FDN. A subsequent autonomy statute in September 1987 largely defused Miskito resistance.

US officials were active in attempting to unite the Contra groups. In June 1985, they reorganized as the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO), under the leadership of Calero, Arturo Cruz and Alfonso Robelo, all former members of the original Sandinista cadre; after its dissolution early in 1987, the Nicaraguan Resistance (RN) was organized along similar lines in May. Splits within the rebel movement emerged with Pastora's defection in May 1984 and Misurasata's April 1985 accommodation with the Sandinista government. The United Nicaraguan Opposition or UNO, was a coalition party that ran in the 1990 elections in Nicaragua. ...

Mediation by other Central American governments under Costa Rican leadership led to the Sapoa ceasefire agreement of March 23, 1988, which, along with additional agreements in February and August of 1989, provided for the Contras' disarmament and reintegration into Nicaraguan society and politics. The agreements also called for internationally-monitored elections which were subsequently held on February 25, 1990. Violeta Chamorro, former Sandinista and widow of anti-Somoza journalist Pedro Chamorro, defeated Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega and became President with the backing of the center-right UNO. Some Contra elements and disaffected Sandinistas would return briefly to armed opposition in the 1990s, sometimes styled as recontras or revueltos, but these groups were subsequently persuaded to disarm. Map of Central America Central America is a central region of the Americas. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... Nicaragua is a constitutional democracy with executive, legislative, judicial, and electoral branches of government. ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (born October 18, 1929) is a Nicaraguan political leader, publisher, former member of the Government Junta of National Reconstruction and former President of Nicaragua. ... Pedro Chamorro (September 23, 1924 - January 10, 1978) was the former husband of Nicaraguan President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro and the popular editor of La Prensa, the only powerful opposition paper to the long rule of the Somoza family. ... Daniel Ortega Saavedra (born 11 November 1945) was the president of Nicaragua from 1985 to 1990. ... List of Presidents of Nicaragua list may not be complete José Núñez 1839 Evaristo Rocha 1839 Patricio Rivas 1839 Joaquín del Cosío 1839 Hilario Ulloa 1839 Tomás Valladares 1839-1840 Patricio Rivas 1840-1841 Pablo Buitrago 1841-1843 Juan de Dios Orozco 1843 Manuel Pérez... The term center-right has two distinct meanings in politics: Center-right can be used to describe a moderately right-wing political party. ...

US military and financial assistance

See also the Iran-Contra affair

A key role in the development of the Contra alliance was played by the United States following Ronald Reagan's assumption of the presidency in January 1981. Reagan accused the Sandinistas of importing Cuban-style socialism and aiding leftist guerrillas in El Salvador. On November 23 of that year, Reagan signed the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the CIA the authority to recruit and support the Contras with $19 million in military aid. The effort to support the Contras was one component of the Reagan Doctrine, which called for providing military support to movements opposing Soviet-supported, communist governments. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... Shafik Handal Revolution or Death, We will win! El Salvador in struggle. ... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Reagan Doctrine was an important Cold War strategy by the United States to oppose the influence of the Soviet Union by backing anti-communist guerrillas against the communist governments of Soviet-backed client states. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

In 1984, Nicaragua filed a suit in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the United States (Nicaragua vs. United States), which resulted in a 1986 judgment against the US, calling on it to "cease and to refrain" from the "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua, through such actions as the placement of underwater mines by CIA operatives and training, funding and support for the guerrilla forces. [1] The court, whose jurisdiction the Reagan administration did not accept, ruled that the US was "in breach of its obligation under customary international law not to use force against another state" and was ordered to pay reparations. Peace Palace, seat of the ICJ. The International Court of Justice (known colloquially as the World Court or ICJ; French: Cour internationale de justice) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. ... The Republic of Nicaragua vs. ...

The US, which did not participate in the merits phase of the proceedings, maintained that the ICJ's power did not supersede the Constitution of the United States and argued that the court did not seriously consider the Nicaraguan role in El Salvador, whose intervention the court would not accept. The latter argument was affirmed by the primary dissenting justices, including Judge Schwebel of the US who determined that "Nicaragua does not come before the Court with clean hands." [2] Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme...

Direct military aid was interrupted by the Boland Amendment, passed by the United States Congress in December 1982, and subsequently extended in October 1984 to forbid action by not only the Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency but all US government agencies. Administration officials sought to arrange funding and military supplies by means of third-parties, culminating in the Iran-Contra Affair of 1986-1987. On February 3, 1988 the United States House of Representatives rejected President Reagan]]'s request for $36.25 million to aid the Contras. The Boland Amendment was an amendment to the House Appropriations Bill of 1982, which was attached as something known as a Barnacle Bill, or provision that would not be expected to pass on its own merit, to the Defense Appropriations Act of 1983. ... Congress in Joint Session. ... CIA redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C.. This photograph shows a rare glimpse of the four vote tallying boards (the blackish squares across the top), which display each members name and vote as...

The issue of drug money and its importance in funding the Nicaraguan conflict was the subject of various reports and publications. The 1989 book, Kings of Cocaine, details charges of Sandinista involvement in cocaine smuggling. Barry Seal, a Medellin cartel pilot took photos of a high ranking Sandinista official unloading cocaine shipments at a Sandinista military airport. Senator John Kerry's 1988 Committee on Foreign Relations report on Contra drug links concluded that "senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems." [3] According to the National Security Archive, Oliver North, an important official in the affair, had been in contact with Manuel Noriega, the military leader of Panama later convicted on drug charges, whom he personally met. Critics of the report pointed out that there was no tangible evidence whatsoever, that many of the witnesses (such as Karol Prado) were ever Sandinistas, and as a result, no charges were filed in any country. Adler Berriman Seal, or Barry Seal was a legendary pilot, drug smuggler, gun-runner, CIA asset in Central America, and DEA informant. ... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ... U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. ... The National Security Archive is an independent organization located within the George Washington University. ... Lt-Col. ... Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (born February 11, 1938) was a Panamanian general and the de facto military leader of Panama from 1983 to 1989. ...

The Reagan administration's support for the Contras continued to stir controversy well into the 1990s. In August 1996, San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb published a series titled Dark Alliance, alleging that the origins of crack cocaine in California was the responsibility of the Contras. [4] [5] Webb's controversial and highly damaging revelations were disputed at the time, but later revelations confirmed some of his findings. Freedom of Information Act inquiries by the National Security Archive and other investigators unearthed a number of documents showing that White House officials, including Oliver North, knew about and supported using money raised via drug trafficking to fund the Contras. The Justice Department denied the allegations. The Mercs sections vary by day of the week, but Business, Sports, and The Valley are standard daily fare. ... Gary Webb Gary Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) was a controversial American investigative journalist, best known for his 1996 Dark Alliance investigative report series, written for the San Jose Mercury News. ... Cocaine is a crystalline alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events... Justice Department redirects here. ...

Further reading

• Belli, Humberto. (1985). Breaking Faith: The Sandinista Revolution and Its Impact on Freedom and Christian Faith in Nicaragua. Crossway Books/The Puebla Institute.
• Brody, Reed. (1985). Contra Terror in Nicaragua: Report of a Fact-Finding Mission: September 1984-January 1985. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0896083136.
• Brown, Timothy. (2001). The Real Contra War: Highlander Peasant Resistance in Nicaragua. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806132523.
• Chamorro, Edgar. (1987). Packaging the Contras: A Case of CIA Disinformation. New York: Institute for Media Analysis. ISBN 0941781089; ISBN 0941781070.
• Christian, Shirley. (1986) Nicaragua, Revolution In the Family. New York: Vintage Books.
• Cox, Jack. (1987) Requiem in the Tropics: Inside Central America. UCA Books.
• Cruz S., Arturo J. (1989). Memoirs of a Counterrevolutionary. (1989). New York: Doubleday.
• Dickey, Christopher. (1985, 1987). With the Contras: A Reporter in the Wilds of Nicaragua. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Garvin, Glenn. (1992). Everybody Had His Own Gringo: The CIA and the Contras. Washington: Brassey's.
• Gugliota Guy. (1989). Kings of Cocaine Inside the Medellin Cartel. Simon and Shuster.
• Horton, Lynn. Peasants in Arms: War and Peace in the Mountains of Nicaragua, 1979-1994. (1998). Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
• Kirkpatrick, Jeane J.. (1982) Dictatorships and Double Standards. Touchstone. ISBN 0671438360
• Miranda, Roger, and William Ratliff. (1993, 1994) "The Civil War in Nicaragua: Inside the Sandinistas." New Brunswick, NY: Transaction Publishers.
• Moore, John Norton (1987). The Secret War in Central America: Sandinista Assault on World Order. University Publications of America.
• Pardo-Maurer, Rogelio. (1990) The Contras, 1980-1989: A Special Kind of Politics. New York: Praeger.
• Persons, David E. (1987) A Study of the History and Origins of the Nicaraguan Contras. Nacogdoches, Texas: Total Vision Press. Stephen Austin University Special Collections.
• Webb, Gary (1998). Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion, Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1888363681 (hardcover, 1998), ISBN 1888363932 (paperback, 1999).

Edgar Chamorro was a special ambassador to the U.N. General Assembly for Nicaragua during the Contra. ... Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick (born November 19, 1926) is an American conservative political scientist and member of the neoconservative movement. ...

See also

• Iran-Contra Affair
• Sandinista National Liberation Front
• Women and the Armed Struggle in Nicaragua

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Sandinista flag This article is about the Nicaraguan left-wing political party. ... The women in revolutionary Nicaragua played a significant and uncharacteristic role in the revolution as guerillas in the armed forces, subsequently challenging their traditional roles as mother and caregiver. ...

External links

• "Nicaragua 1981-1990: Destabilization in slow motion, by William Blum.
• "Dark Alliance", by Gary Webb, San Jose Mercury News, August 1996.
• "The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations" - National Security Archive.