Back كونترا Arabic Contras Catalan Contras Czech Contra (Organisation) German Contras Spanish Contras Basque کنتراها Persian Contrat Finnish Contras French Contras Galician
| Contras | |
|---|---|
 The Nicaraguan contras in 1987 | |
| Leaders | Adolfo Calero Enrique Bermúdez FDN – Commandante Franklin ARDE Frente Sur – Cúpula of 6 Regional Commandantes YATAMA – Commandante Blas Misura – Steadman Fagoth |
| Dates of operation | 1979–1990 |
| Motives | Overthrow the FSLN government of Nicaragua |
| Active regions | All rural areas of Nicaragua with the exclusion of the Pacific Coast, from Río Coco in the north to Río San Juan in the south |
| Ideology | Anti-communism Right-wing populism Nationalism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Size | 125,000[citation needed] |
| Allies |  United States (see Iran-Contra Affair) Argentina (see Operation Charly) Brazil Chile Costa Rica El Salvador Honduras Israel Mexico Taiwan[1] |
| Opponents |  FSLN |
| Battles and wars | Major operations at La Trinidad, Rama highway, and Siunalatisha and Bonanza. Numerous government bases overrun throughout Jinotega, Matagalpa, Zelaya Norte, Zelaya Sur, Chontales, and Río San Juan provinces. |
| United States involvement in regime change |
|---|
In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: La contrarrevolución, the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and the Junta of National Reconstruction, which came to power after the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979.[2][3]
Months after the political dynasty (1936–1979) of the Somoza family lost the Nicaraguan Revolution to the Sandinistas, the US government sponsored the remaining national-guard soldiers and Somocista politicians of the losing side as la Contra, the right-wing counter-revolution. The American military assistance and financial aid granted the Contras a measure of political credibility and military utility as anti-communist militias useful to U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. In 1986, consequent to complaints of the Contras' regular violation of the human rights of Nicaraguan civilians, the Boland Amendment (1982–1986) ended U.S. financing of the Contras; yet the Reagan government illegally continued financing the anti-communist secret war of the Contras against Sandinista Nicaragua, known in the US as the Iran–Contra affair. By 1987, the CIA had organized most of the Contra militias into the anti-communist Nicaraguan Resistance, within which the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) was the greatest militia.
For eleven years, the Contras' counter-revolutionary war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua featured terrorism and human rights violations against the civilian population of Nicaragua.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In defense of the Contras, the Reagan government said that the anti-communist strategy of the US in Latin America did not include attacks upon civilian populations.[11] The CIA said that the Contras' terrorism against Nicaraguan civilians resulted from "the poor discipline characteristic of irregular forces", and that terrorism was not official military doctrine of the Contras,[11] and that the responsible Contra leader was put to death because of the excessive brutality of his Contra guerrillas against Nicaraguan civilians.[11] The Global Terrorism Database reports that Contras carried out more than 1,300 terrorist attacks.[12]
- ^ Baron, James. "The Cold War History Behind Nicaragua's Break With Taiwan". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ "The Contras Murdering Their Own: A Grisly Retribution | Alicia Patterson Foundation". aliciapatterson.org. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ "The American That Reagan Killed". jacobinmag.com. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ Feldmann, Andreas E.; Maiju Perälä (July 2004). "Reassessing the Causes of Nongovernmental Terrorism in Latin America". Latin American Politics and Society. 46 (2): 101–132. doi:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2004.tb00277.x. S2CID 221247620.
- ^ Greg Grandin; Gilbert M. Joseph (2010). A Century of Revolution. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0822392859.
- ^ Todd, Dave (26 February 1986). "Offensive by Nicaraguan "Freedom Fighters" May be Doomed as Arms, Aid Dry Up". Ottawa Citizen.
- ^ Albert J. Jongman; Alex P. Schmid (1988). Political Terrorism: A New Guide To Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, And Literature. Transaction Publishers. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-1-41280-469-1.
- ^ Athan G. Theoharis; Richard H. Immerman (2006). The Central Intelligence Agency: Security Under Scrutiny. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 216. ISBN 978-0313332821.
- ^ "Empire Politician - 1980s: U.S. Support for Contra Death Squads in Nicaragua". The Intercept. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ Kinzer, Stephen; Times, Special To the New York (20 February 1986). "Contras' Attacks on Civilians Cited". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ a b c "Atrocities in the Nicaraguan civil war" (PDF). CIA.
- ^ LaFree, Gary; Laura Dugan; Erin Miller (2015). Putting Terrorism in Context: Lessons from the global terrorism database (1 ed.). London and New York: Routledge. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-415-67142-2.
In Nicaragua, Contra groups including the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN), the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE), and ultimately the Nicaraguan Resistance umbrella group carried out more than 1,300 terrorist attacks, mostly in opposition to the Sandinista government.