The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to the early 1990s in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua which came to power in 1979 following the Nicaraguan Revolution.
Even after his death, other MILPAS bands sprouted during 1980–1981.
Throughout the 1980s the Sandinista government was regarded as "Partly Free" by Freedom House, an organization financed by the U.S.
By the late 1980s Nicaragua's internal conditions had changed so radically that the US approach to the 1990 elections differed greatly from 1984.
An internal CIA report, entitled, "Managing a Nightmare", shows the agency used "a ground base of already productive relations with journalists" to help counter what it called "a genuine public relations crisis." In the 1980s, Douglas Farah worked as a journalist, covering the civil wars in Central America for the Washington Post.
It was released in 1980.
The Milpistas were composed largely of campesino (peasant) highlanders and rural workers. Nicaraguans who had avoided direct involvement in the revolution but opposed the Sandinistas. ===Main groups=== The CIA and Argentine intelligence, seeking to unify the anti-Sandinista cause before initiating large-scale aid, persuaded 15 September Legion, the UDN and several former smaller groups to merge in September 1981 as the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense, FDN).
Himself a former Sandinista who had held several high posts in the government, he had resigned abruptly in 1981 and defected, believing that the newly found power had corrupted the Sandinista's original ideas.
He confined himself to operate in the southern part of Nicaragua; after a press conference he was holding on 30 May 1984 was bombed, he "voluntarily withdrew" from the contra struggle. 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 the government's efforts to nationalize Indian land.
Ronald Reagan, who had assumed the American presidency in January 1981, accused the Sandinistas of importing Cuban-style socialism and aiding leftist guerrillas in El Salvador.
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. By December 1981, however, the United States had already begun to support armed opponents of the Sandinista government.
And though it nationalized Somoza's former properties, it preserved a private sector that accounted for between 50 and 60 percent of GDP. === Atrocities === The United States began to support Contra activities against the Sandinista government by December 1981, with the CIA at the forefront of operations.
Largely financed, trained, equipped, armed and organized by the U.S., it emerged as the largest and most active contra group. In April 1982, Edén Pastora (Comandante Cero), one of the heroes in the fight against Somoza, organized the Sandinista Revolutionary Front (FRS) – embedded in the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) – and declared war on the Sandinista government.
government. On 4 January 1982, 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 Boland Amendment had first been passed by Congress in December 1982.
The Misurasata movement split in 1983, with the breakaway Misura group of Stedman Fagoth Muller allying itself more closely with the FDN, and the rest accommodating themselves with the Sandinistas: On 8 December 1984 a ceasefire agreement known as the Bogota Accord was signed by Misurasata and the Nicaraguan government.
US President Ronald Reagan stated in 1983 that "The defense of [the USA's] southern frontier" was at stake.
He confined himself to operate in the southern part of Nicaragua; after a press conference he was holding on 30 May 1984 was bombed, he "voluntarily withdrew" from the contra struggle. 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 the government's efforts to nationalize Indian land.
The Misurasata movement split in 1983, with the breakaway Misura group of Stedman Fagoth Muller allying itself more closely with the FDN, and the rest accommodating themselves with the Sandinistas: On 8 December 1984 a ceasefire agreement known as the Bogota Accord was signed by Misurasata and the Nicaraguan government.
The Reagan administration continued to view the Sandinistas as undemocratic despite the 1984 Nicaraguan elections being generally declared fair by foreign observers.
The arming, clothing, feeding and supervision of the contras became the most ambitious paramilitary and political action operation mounted by the agency in nearly a decade. In the fiscal year 1984, the U.S.
In October 1984, it was amended to forbid action by not only the Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency but all U.S.
When the corpse was finally still, the contras threw dirt over the shallow grave — and walked away. The CIA officer in charge of the covert war, Duane "Dewey" Clarridge, admitted to the House Intelligence Committee staff in a secret briefing in 1984 that the Contras were routinely murdering "civilians and Sandinista officials in the provinces, as well as heads of cooperatives, nurses, doctors and judges".
By the late 1980s Nicaragua's internal conditions had changed so radically that the US approach to the 1990 elections differed greatly from 1984.
Between 1984 and 1986, $34 million from third countries and $2.7 million from private sources were raised this way.
Out of the $10 million raised, more than $1 million was spent on pro-contra publicity. ===International Court of Justice ruling=== In 1984 the Sandinista government filed a suit in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the United States (Nicaragua v.
However, a June 1988 survey in Managua showed the Sandinista government still enjoyed strong support but that support had declined since 1984.
This led many commentators to conclude that Nicaraguans voted against the Sandinistas out of fear of a continuation of the contra war and economic deprivation. ==In popular culture == The Last Thing He Wanted, a journalist for the fictitious Atlanta Post stops her coverage of the 1984 U.S.
In June 1985 most of the groups reorganized as the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO), under the leadership of Adolfo Calero, Arturo Cruz and Alfonso Robelo, all originally supporters of the anti-Somoza revolution.
public was not supportive of the contras, the Reagan administration lost much of its support regarding its contra policy within Congress after disclosure of CIA mining of Nicaraguan ports, and a report of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research commissioned by the State Department found Reagan's allegations about Soviet influence in Nicaragua "exaggerated", Congress cut off all funds for the contras in 1985 by the third Boland Amendment.
pressures had curtailed Western credit to and trade with Nicaragua, forcing the government to rely almost totally on the Eastern bloc for credit, other aid, and trade by 1985.
In 1985 Newsweek published a series of photos taken by Frank Wohl, a conservative student admirer traveling with the Contras, entitled "Execution in the Jungle": The victim dug his own grave, scooping the dirt out with his hands...
It alleged that Americas Watch gave too much credence to alleged Contra abuses and systematically tried to discredit Nicaraguan human rights groups such as the Permanent Commission on Human Rights, which blamed the major human rights abuses on the Contras. In 1985, The Wall Street Journal reported: Human Rights Watch, the umbrella organization of Americas Watch, replied to these allegations: "Almost invariably, U.S.
Between 1984 and 1986, $34 million from third countries and $2.7 million from private sources were raised this way.
The Enterprise's efforts culminated in the Iran–Contra Affair of 1986–1987, which facilitated contra funding through the proceeds of arms sales to Iran. According to the London Spectator, U.S.
United States), which resulted in a 1986 judgment against the United States.
force, but also because the Bush administration has continued to minimize and deny these violations, and has refused to investigate them seriously." ==Military successes and election of Violeta Chamorro== By 1986 the contras were besieged by charges of corruption, human-rights abuses, and military ineptitude.
A much-vaunted early 1986 offensive never materialized, and Contra forces were largely reduced to isolated acts of terrorism.
People identified the war as the largest problem but were less likely to blame it for economic problems compared to a December 1986 poll; 19% blamed the war and US blockade as the main cause of economic problems while 10% blamed the government.
In 1987, virtually all contra organizations were united, at least nominally, into the Nicaraguan Resistance. During their war against the Nicaraguan government, the Contras committed numerous [rights violations] and used terrorist tactics.
A subsequent autonomy statute in September 1987 largely defused Miskito resistance. ===Unity efforts=== U.S.
After UNO's dissolution early in 1987, the Nicaraguan Resistance (RN) was organized along similar lines in May. ==Equipment== AK-47 and AKM assault rifles. Type 56 assault rifles. Type 58 assault rifles PM md.
After the signing of the Central American Peace Accord in August 1987, the year war related deaths and economic destruction reached its peak, the Contras eventually entered negotiations with the Sandinista government (1988), and the war began to deescalate. By 1989 the US backed Contra war and economic isolation had inflicted severe economic suffering on Nicaraguans.
In October 1987, however, the contras staged a successful attack in southern Nicaragua.
Then on 21 December 1987, the FDN launched attacks at Bonanza, Siuna, and Rosita in Zelaya province, resulting in heavy fighting.
Senator John Kerry's 1988 Committee on Foreign Relations report on Contra drug links concluded that "senior U.S.
Nevertheless, the Contras remained tenuously encamped within Honduras and were not able to hold Nicaraguan territory. There were isolated protests among the population against the draft implemented by the Sandinista government, which even resulted in full-blown street clashes in Masaya in 1988.
However, a June 1988 survey in Managua showed the Sandinista government still enjoyed strong support but that support had declined since 1984.
After the signing of the Central American Peace Accord in August 1987, the year war related deaths and economic destruction reached its peak, the Contras eventually entered negotiations with the Sandinista government (1988), and the war began to deescalate. By 1989 the US backed Contra war and economic isolation had inflicted severe economic suffering on Nicaraguans.
With the help of five Central American Presidents, including Ortega, the sides agreed that a voluntary demobilization of the contras should start in early December 1989.
Opinion polls leading up to the elections divided along partisan lines, with 10 of 17 polls analyzed in a contemporary study predicting an UNO victory while seven predicted the Sandinistas would retain power. Possible explanations include that the Nicaraguan people were disenchanted with the Ortega government as well as the fact that already in November 1989, the White House had announced that the economic embargo against Nicaragua would continue unless Violeta Chamorro won.
Also, there had been reports of intimidation from the side of the contras, with a Canadian observer mission claiming that 42 people were killed by the contras in "election violence" in October 1989.
The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to the early 1990s in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua which came to power in 1979 following the Nicaraguan Revolution.
By the late 1980s Nicaragua's internal conditions had changed so radically that the US approach to the 1990 elections differed greatly from 1984.
The US promised to end the economic embargo should Chamorro win. The UNO scored a decisive victory on 25 February 1990.
On 25 April 1990, Chamorro assumed presidency from Daniel Ortega. ===Illegal covert operations=== With Congress blocking further contra aid, the Reagan administration sought to arrange funding and military supplies by means of third countries and private sources.
policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems". The Reagan administration's support for the Contras continued to stir controversy well into the 1990s.
They chose this date to facilitate free and fair elections in Nicaragua in February 1990 (even though the Reagan administration had pushed for a delay of contra disbandment). In the resulting February 1990 elections, Violeta Chamorro and her party the UNO won an upset victory of 55% to 41% over Daniel Ortega.
In August 1996, San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb published a series titled Dark Alliance, alleging that the contras contributed to the rise of crack cocaine in California. Gary Webb's career as a journalist was subsequently discredited by the leading U.S.
In his 1997 study on U.S.
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