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84-608: While supporting the Contras in the 1980s, U.S. forces attacked Puerto Sandino on September 13 and October 14 of 1983. On March 28 and March 30, 1984, U.S. forces attacked patrol boats at Puerto Sandino. 12°11′58″N 86°45′47″W  /  12.19944°N 86.76306°W  / 12.19944; -86.76306 This Nicaragua location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Contras The Contras (from Spanish : la contrarrevolución , lit.   'the counter-revolution ') were

168-594: 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. According to Farah, while it was common knowledge that the Contras were involved in cocaine trafficking, the editors of

252-511: 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 ... He crossed himself. Then a contra executioner knelt and rammed a k-bar knife into his throat. A second enforcer stabbed at his jugular, then his abdomen. When the corpse was finally still, the contras threw dirt over the shallow grave — and walked away. The CIA officer in charge of

336-531: A part of the strategy of the Contras. Organisations that supported the Contras, such as the Reagan administration, argued that the Contras did not deliberately use attacks on civilians to advance their goals. The CIA , which was involved in the creation of Contra groups, argued that the Contras' actions against civilians were a result of "the poor discipline characteristic of irregular forces" instead of an official tactic. The CIA also reported that one Contra leader

420-510: A sort of public-relations counterweight to the bad reputation accorded to the FDN faction (mostly led by ex-National-Guard "Somocistas"). However, Pastora soon lost whatever popularity he might have had among common Nicaraguans as he adopted the strategy of the northern Contras, committing human rights abuses while mostly avoiding direct encounters with the Nicaraguan military. In 1984, Pastora

504-489: Is war—a paramilitary operation", Clarridge said in conclusion. Edgar Chamorro explained the rationale behind this to a U.S. reporter. "Sometimes terror is very productive. This is the policy, to keep putting pressure until the people cry 'uncle'". The CIA manual for the Contras, Tayacan , states that the Contras should gather the local population for a public tribunal to "shame, ridicule and humiliate" Sandinista officials to "reduce their influence". It also recommends gathering

588-473: The Contras . From a military standpoint, Pastora's efforts contributed much less than did forces in the north. Pastora also received less support from the US government; whether his performance was a result or cause of this disparity is subject to debate. Military achievements aside, the presence of Pastora, a former FSLN revolutionary hero, among the Contras, helped the public image of the Contras abroad and provided

672-842: The Nicaraguan Resistance . From an early stage, the rebels received financial and military support from the United States government , and their military significance decisively depended on it. After U.S. support was banned by Congress , the Reagan administration covertly continued it. These illegal activities culminated in the Iran–Contra affair . During their war against the Nicaraguan government, there were numerous examples of Contras committing human rights violations and using terrorist tactics. Many of these actions were reported to be carried out systematically as

756-731: The Permanent Commission on Human Rights , which blamed the most human rights abuses on the Sandinistas. In 1985, The Wall Street Journal reported: Three weeks ago, Americas Watch issued a report on human rights abuses in Nicaragua. One member of the Permanent Commission for Human Rights commented on the Americas Watch report and its chief investigator Juan Mendez : "The Sandinistas are laying

840-571: 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 . The Boland Amendment had first been passed by Congress in December 1982. At this time, it only outlawed U.S. assistance to the contras "for the purpose of overthrowing the Nicaraguan government", while allowing assistance for other purposes. In October 1984, it

924-668: The United States Department of Justice also stated that their "review did not substantiate the main allegations stated and implied in the Mercury News articles." Regarding the specific charges towards the CIA, the DOJ wrote "the implication that the drug trafficking by the individuals discussed in the Mercury News articles was connected to the CIA was also not supported by the facts." The CIA also investigated and rejected

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1008-523: The campesinos and aboriginal tribes he represented and was overly concerned with propagating ideological consistency in a poorly concealed bid to consolidate Ortega's political power. Pastora turned against the Sandinista regime. He once again began military operations in southern Nicaragua, loosely federated with northern forces which, composed mostly of highly paid former National Guard members and some Miskito Indians, were collectively referred to as

1092-516: The general election of 2006 . He finished in fifth place, with 0.29% of the vote. In 2008, Pastora announced that he had become reconciled with the current FSLN and pledged support for the government of Daniel Ortega. He is quoted as saying, "this government is making a revolution, one-eyed or lame, but it is a revolution." As of 2010, he held the title of Minister of Development of the Rio San Juan Basin. In November 2010, in perhaps

1176-477: The $ 10 million raised, more than $ 1 million was spent on pro-contra publicity. In 1984 the Sandinista government filed a suit in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the United States ( Nicaragua v. United States ), which resulted in a 1986 judgment against the United States. The ICJ held that the U.S. had violated international law by supporting the contras in their rebellion against

1260-661: The 1980s the Sandinista government was regarded as "Partly Free" by Freedom House , an organization financed by the U.S. 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 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,

1344-464: The Contras began to experience defections, although United States aid maintained them as a viable military force. After a cutoff in U.S. military support, and with both sides facing international pressure to bring an end to the conflict, the contras agreed to negotiations with the FSLN. With the help of five Central American Presidents, including Ortega, the sides agreed that a voluntary demobilization of

1428-589: 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 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. papers, The New York Times , the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times . An internal CIA report, entitled, "Managing

1512-518: The Contras failed to win widespread popular support or military victories within Nicaragua, opinion polls indicated that a majority of the U.S. 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

1596-405: The Contras' sabotage efforts by blowing up refineries and pipelines, and mining ports. Finally, according to former Contra leader Edgar Chamorro , CIA trainers also gave Contra soldiers large knives. "A commando knife [was given], and our people, everybody wanted to have a knife like that, to kill people, to cut their throats". In 1985 Newsweek published a series of photos taken by Frank Wohl,

1680-407: The Contras; 40% believed the Sandinista government to be democratic, while 48% believed it to be not democratic. 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. Political opposition groups were splintered and

1764-579: 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, while it accused Nicaragua of actively supporting armed groups there, specifically in the form of supply of arms. The ICJ had found that evidence of a responsibility of the Nicaraguan government in this matter was insufficient. The U.S. argument

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1848-555: The Jesuits in Granada, he first learned about Augusto César Sandino through his Panamanian history teacher. He began his rebel career when he decided that the government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle was corrupt and formed the southern Nicaraguan ARDE from local peasant farmers (called campesinos) and aboriginal tribes living according to more traditional ways. On December 27, 1974, an FSLN commando unit, headed by Pastora, burst into

1932-516: The National Assembly, UNO gained 51, and the FSLN won 39. On 25 April 1990, Chamorro assumed presidency from Daniel Ortega. With Congress blocking further aid to the Contras, the Reagan administration sought to arrange funding and military supplies by means of third countries and private sources. Between 1984 and 1986, $ 34 million from third countries and $ 2.7 million from private sources were raised this way. The secret contra assistance

2016-710: The Nicaraguan Government) based his arguments not on official maps but on faulty border information obtained from Google Maps . Pastora and his soldiers invaded the Caleros Island in order to create a channel connecting the San Juan River with the Atlantic Ocean. The government of Costa Rica, which disputes ownership of the island with Nicaragua, holds that this has caused irreparable ecological destruction. In April 2015 photos show

2100-438: The Nicaraguan conflict was the subject of various reports and publications. The contras were funded by drug trafficking, of which the United States was aware. 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". The Reagan administration's support for

2184-470: The Nicaraguan government and by mining Nicaragua's harbors. Regarding the alleged human rights violations by the contras, however, the ICJ took the view that the United States could be held accountable for them only if it would have been proven that the U.S. had effective control of the contra operations resulting in these alleged violations. Nevertheless, the ICJ found that the U.S. encouraged acts contrary to general principles of humanitarian law by producing

2268-569: The Nicaraguans had been exhausted from the war, which had cost 30,865 lives, and that voters usually vote the incumbents out during economic decline. By the late 1980s Nicaragua's internal conditions had changed so radically that the US approach to the 1990 elections differed greatly from 1984. A united opposition of fourteen political parties organized into the National Opposition Union (Unión Nacional Oppositora, UNO) with

2352-489: The OAS observer team reported that "a convoy of troops attacked four truckloads of UNO sympathizers with bayonets and rifle butts, threatening to kill them." 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. Ed%C3%A9n Pastora Edén Atanacio Pastora Gómez (November 15, 1936 or January 22, 1937 – June 16, 2020 )

2436-554: The Preservation of Liberty , to raise $ 10 million, by arranging numerous briefings for groups of potential contributors at the premises of the White House and by facilitating private visits and photo sessions with President Reagan for major contributors. Channell in turn, used part of that money to run a series of television advertisements directed at home districts of Congressmen considered swing votes on contra aid. Out of

2520-585: The Rama road. These large-scale raids mainly became possible as the contras were able to use U.S.-provided Redeye missiles against Sandinista Mi-24 helicopter gunships, which had been supplied by the Soviets. 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

2604-548: The Sandinista government by December 1981, with the CIA at the forefront of operations. The CIA supplied the funds and the equipment, coordinated training programs, and provided intelligence and target lists. While the Contras had little military successes, they did prove adept at carrying out CIA guerrilla warfare strategies from training manuals which advised them to incite mob violence, "neutralize" civilian leaders and government officials and attack "soft targets" — including schools, health clinics and cooperatives. The agency added to

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2688-565: 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. Three times as many people identified with the Sandinistas (28%) than with all the opposition parties put together (9%); 59% did not identify with any political party. Of those polled, 85% opposed any further US aid to

2772-527: The Sandinistas had received from Cuba and the Soviet Union . The US government viewed the leftist Sandinistas as a threat to economic interests of American corporations in Nicaragua and to national security. US President Ronald Reagan stated in 1983 that "The defense of [the USA's] southern frontier" was at stake. "In spite of the Sandinista victory being declared fair, the United States continued to oppose

2856-484: The Southern Front contributed to the Sandinista victory by tying down over 2,000 heavily equipped Nicaraguan National Guard forces, as Somoza remained fixated on stopping Pastora, even as major cities fell to the rebels. Pastora became disenchanted with the turn of the revolution when most of the Sandinista leaders moved to the luxury residences of Managua ; he felt the leadership was doing too little to benefit

2940-580: The Soviet Union. Since 1981 U.S. 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 his 1997 study on U.S. low intensity warfare, Kermit D. Johnson, a former Chief of the U.S. Army Chaplains, contends that U.S. hostility toward the revolutionary government was motivated not by any concern for "national security", but rather by what

3024-645: 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. Himself a former Sandinista who had held several high posts in the government, he had resigned abruptly in 1981 and defected, believing that

3108-652: The UDN and several former smaller groups to merge in September 1981 as the Nicaraguan Democratic Force ( Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense , FDN). Although the FDN had its roots in two groups made up of former National Guardsmen (of the Somoza regime), its joint political directorate was led by businessman and former anti-Somoza activist Adolfo Calero Portocarrero . Édgar Chamorro later stated that there

3192-411: The United States had already begun to support armed opponents of the Sandinista government. From the beginning, the CIA was in charge. 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. Congress approved $ 24 million in contra aid. After this, since

3276-457: The Washington Post refused to take it seriously: If you're talking about our intelligence community tolerating — if not promoting — drugs to pay for black ops, it's rather an uncomfortable thing to do when you're an establishment paper like the Post. If you were going to be directly rubbing up against the government, they wanted it more solid than it could probably ever be done. An investigation by

3360-565: The accountability required of U.S. government activities. 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. journalists in Central America had long known that the CIA was flying in supplies to the Contras inside Nicaragua before the scandal broke. No journalist paid it any attention until

3444-680: The allegations. During the time the US Congress blocked funding for the contras, the Reagan government engaged in a campaign to alter public opinion and change the vote in Congress on contra aid. For this purpose, the NSC established an interagency working group, which in turn coordinated the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (managed by Otto Reich ), which conducted

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3528-724: The alleged CIA supply man, Eugene Hasenfus , was shot down and captured by the Nicaraguan army. Similarly, reporters neglected to investigate many leads indicating that Oliver North was running the Contra operation from his office in the National Security Council. According to the National Security Archive , Oliver North had been in contact with Manuel Noriega , the military leader of Panama later convicted on drug charges, whom he personally met. The issue of drug money and its importance in funding

3612-422: The attack, and Somoza's half brother, José Somoza. Members of the commando used numbers as codenames, with Pastora as Zero, and Dora María Téllez as Commander "two" leading to a lasting identification of Eden as Comandante Cero and Dora Maria as Commander "two." The operation infuriated Somoza and was considered one of the turning points in the insurgency. Originally organized to free FSLN members imprisoned by

3696-404: The authorities following the government's efforts to nationalize Indian land. In the course of this conflict, forced removal of at least 10,000 Indians to relocation centers in the interior of the country and subsequent burning of some villages took place. The Misurasata movement split in 1983, with the breakaway Misura group of Stedman Fagoth Muller allying itself more closely with the FDN, and

3780-474: The border with Costa Rica. He was seen at a Sandinista demonstration over the slow certification of winners in the November 5, 2000 municipal elections. Álvaro Pardo made a documentary about Pastora in 2006 called Edén Pastora - Comandante Cero . It portrays Pastora's return to the political arena of Nicaragua when he was nominated as a candidate for the mayor of Managua . Pastora ran for president in

3864-473: The campaign. The S/LPD produced and widely disseminated a variety of pro-contra publications, arranged speeches and press conferences. It also disseminated "white propaganda"—pro-contra newspaper articles by paid consultants who did not disclose their connection to the Reagan administration. On top of that, Oliver North helped Carl Channell 's tax-exempt organization, the National Endowment for

3948-417: The complaint from the court in September 1992 (under the later, post-FSLN, government of Violeta Chamorro ), following a repeal of the law requiring the country to seek compensation. Americas Watch, which subsequently became part of Human Rights Watch , accused the Contras of: Human Rights Watch released a report on the situation in 1989, which stated: "[The] contras were major and systematic violators of

4032-505: The contras should start in early December 1989. 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 . Opinion polls leading up to

4116-557: 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. 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. ARDE Frente Sur attacked at El Almendro and along

4200-533: 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". But he claimed that this did not violate President Reagan's executive order prohibiting assassinations because the agency defined it as just 'killing'. "After all, this

4284-561: 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

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4368-437: The evidence of a very close relationship between the Contras and the United States was considered overwhelming and incontrovertible. The U.S. played a very large role in financing, training, arming, and advising the Contras over a long period, and it is unlikely that the Contras would have been capable of carrying out significant military operations without this support, given the large amount of training and weapons shipments that

4452-420: The groundwork for a totalitarian society here and yet all Mendez wanted to hear about were abuses by the contras. How can we get people in the U.S. to see what's happening here when so many of the groups who come down are pro-Sandinista?" Human Rights Watch , the umbrella organization of Americas Watch, replied to these allegations: "Almost invariably, U.S. pronouncements on human rights exaggerated and distorted

4536-469: The house of Josè Maria Castillo, president of the Banco Central, and took his guests hostage (including two relatives of the dictator Somoza). Three days later, thanks to the Managua archbishop's intermediation, the hostages were released, in exchange for a million dollars and the freedom of some political prisoners. Castillo was the only victim of the action. Pastora allied himself with the FSLN in

4620-462: The leadership of Adolfo Calero , Arturo Cruz and Alfonso Robelo , all originally supporters of the anti-Somoza revolution. After UNO's dissolution early in 1987, the Nicaraguan Resistance (RN) was organized along similar lines in May. In front of the International Court of Justice , the Nicaraguan government claimed that the Contras were altogether a creation of the U.S. This claim was rejected but

4704-565: The left-wing Nicaraguan government." and opposed its ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union. 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 Reagan administration continued to view the Sandinistas as undemocratic despite the 1984 Nicaraguan elections being generally declared fair by foreign observers. Throughout

4788-664: The local population to witness and take part in public executions. These types of activities continued throughout the war. 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 U.S.-backed Contra war and economic isolation had inflicted severe economic suffering on Nicaraguans. The US government knew that

4872-482: The manual Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare (Operaciones sicológicas en guerra de guerrillas ) and disseminating it to the contras. The manual, amongst other things, advised on how to rationalize killings of civilians and recommended to hire professional killers for specific selective tasks. The United States, which did not participate in the merits phase of the proceedings, maintained that

4956-607: The mid-1960s. He became a rebel guerrilla and was the mastermind behind the August 1978 standoff in the Nicaraguan National Palace, in which he and 19 FSLN commandos disguised as members of Somoza's National Guard stormed the Palace, disarming or killing the real Nicaraguan National Guard members. Among the hostages taken were members of the Nicaraguan Congress, which was in session at the time of

5040-611: The most basic standards of the laws of armed conflict, including by launching indiscriminate attacks on civilians, selectively murdering non-combatants, and mistreating prisoners." In his affidavit to the World Court, former contra Edgar Chamorro testified that "The CIA did not discourage such tactics. To the contrary, the Agency severely criticized me when I admitted to the press that the FDN had regularly kidnapped and executed agrarian reform workers and civilians. We were told that

5124-539: The most publicized Costa Rican arrest warrant issued in years, prosecutors in northern Caribbean canton of Pococí announced that Pastora, now 73 years old, had been indicted for severe environmental damage caused in the eastern Limón Province near the Río San Juan that the Republic of Nicaragua claims to be a part of their territory. In a taunt taken at face value by many in the international media, Pastora (and

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5208-483: The national security and foreign policy of the United States", and declared a "national emergency" and a trade embargo against Nicaragua to "deal with that threat". It "is now a given; it is true", the Washington Post declared in 1986, "the Sandinistas are communists of the Cuban or Soviet school"; that "The Reagan administration is right to take Nicaragua as a serious menace—to civil peace and democracy in Nicaragua and to

5292-578: The newly found power had corrupted the Sandinista's original ideas. A popular and charismatic leader, Pastora initially saw his group develop quickly. 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

5376-522: The now 78-year-old Pastora watching as the canal that provoked the international incident was filled with sand. He is well above the ground watching from a ladder lashed to trees. Pastora had three failed marriages. Lamenting about the interpersonal strains that occur in the life of a revolutionary, Pastora said: "The first thing we revolutionaries lose is our wives. The last thing we lose is our lives. In between our women and our lives, we lose our freedom, our happiness, our means of living." Pastora died at

5460-735: The only way to defeat the Sandinistas was to ...kill, kidnap, rob and torture". Contra leader Adolfo Calero denied that his forces deliberately targeted civilians: "What they call a cooperative is also a troop concentration full of armed people. We are not killing civilians. We are fighting armed people and returning fire when fire is directed at us." Several articles were published by U.S. press, including by The Wall Street Journal and The New Republic , accusing Americas Watch and other bodies of ideological bias and unreliable reporting. The articles alleged that Americas Watch gave too much credence to alleged Contra abuses and systematically tried to discredit Nicaraguan human rights groups such as

5544-480: The real human rights violations of the Sandinista regime, and exculpated those of the U.S.-supported insurgents, known as the contras ... The Bush administration is responsible for these abuses, not only because the contras are, for all practical purposes, a U.S. force, but also because the Bush administration has continued to minimize and deny these violations, and has refused to investigate them seriously." By 1986

5628-417: The regime — among the prisoners being Daniel Ortega and Tomás Borge — the raid marked an uncontested victory for the FSLN. After negotiating a USD$ 500,000 deal with Somoza and Cardinal Miguel Obando , Pastora, Ortega and other released prisoners left for Cuba , where he claimed to have been a "prisoner" lavished with women and luxury, but not allowed to leave the country until Martín Torrijos ,

5712-431: 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. A subsequent autonomy statute in September 1987 largely defused Miskito resistance. U.S. officials were active in attempting to unite the Contra groups. In June 1985 most of the groups reorganized as the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO), under

5796-427: 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. Sandinistas were also accused of intimidation and abuses during the election campaign. According to the Puebla Institute, by mid-December 1989, seven opposition leaders had been murdered, 12 had disappeared, 20 had been arrested, and 30 others assaulted. In late January 1990,

5880-456: The son of then Panamanian strongman Omar Torrijos and Pastora's personal friend, voiced his concern and went to Cuba to rescue him personally. Pastora was put in command of the FSLN's Southern Front, advancing on the town of Rivas from bases in Costa Rica. In reaction to Pastora's widely held reputation, Somoza sent his best troops against him and as a consequence the Southern Front made little headway while suffering heavy casualties. However,

5964-426: The stability and security of the region"; that we must "fit Nicaragua back into a Central American mode" and "turn Nicaragua back toward democracy", and with the "Latin American democracies" "demand reasonable conduct by regional standard." Soon after the embargo was established, Managua re-declared "a policy of nonalignment" and sought the aid of Western Europe, who were opposed to U.S. policy, to escape dependency on

6048-541: The support of the United States National Endowment for Democracy . UNO presidential nominee Violeta Chamorro was received by President Bush at the White House. The Contra war escalated over the year before the election. The US promised to end the economic embargo should Chamorro win. The UNO scored a decisive victory on 25 February 1990. Chamorro won with 55 percent of the presidential vote as compared to Ortega's 41 percent. Of 92 seats in

6132-642: The various right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua , which had come to power in 1979 following the Nicaraguan Revolution . Among the separate contra groups, the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) emerged as the largest by far. In 1987, virtually all Contra organizations were united, at least nominally, into

6216-412: The world relief organization Oxfam termed "the threat of a good example": It was alarming that in just a few months after the Sandinista revolution, Nicaragua received international acclaim for its rapid progress in the fields of literacy and health. It was alarming that a socialist-mixed-economy state could do in a few short months what the Somoza dynasty, a U.S. client state, could not do in 45 years! It

6300-561: Was a Nicaraguan politician and guerrilla who ran for president as the candidate of the Alternative for Change (AC) party in the 2006 general elections . In the years prior to the fall of the Somoza regime, Pastora was the leader of the Southern Front, the largest militia in southern Nicaragua, second only to the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) in the north. Pastora was nicknamed Comandante Cero ("Commander Zero"). His group

6384-509: Was affirmed, however, by the dissenting opinion of ICJ member U.S. Judge Schwebel, who concluded that in supporting the contras, the United States acted lawfully in collective self-defence in El Salvador's support. The U.S. blocked enforcement of the ICJ judgment by the United Nations Security Council and thereby prevented Nicaragua from obtaining any actual compensation. The Nicaraguan government finally withdrew

6468-794: Was amended to forbid action by not only the Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency but all U.S. government agencies. Nevertheless, the case for support of the Contras continued to be made in Washington, D.C., by both the Reagan administration and the Heritage Foundation , which argued that support for the Contras would counter Soviet influence in Nicaragua. On 1 May 1985 President Reagan announced that his administration perceived Nicaragua to be "an unusual and extraordinary threat to

6552-655: Was apparently the intended target of the La Penca bombing , which killed four people at a press conference he was holding. He was seriously wounded. Pastora became disillusioned with Nicaragua and became a refugee in Costa Rica during the 1990s, where he became a citizen. Later, however, he returned to Nicaragua. Pastora since opened a shark fishing business in San Juan del Norte on the San Juan River along

6636-439: Was executed by the group due to his excessive violence against civilians. The Global Terrorism Database reports that Contras carried out more than 1,300 terrorist attacks. The Contras were not a monolithic group, but a combination of three distinct elements of Nicaraguan society: The CIA and Argentine intelligence , seeking to unify the anti-Sandinista cause before initiating large-scale aid, persuaded 15 September Legion,

6720-471: Was reconciled with the FSLN and held a ministerial post in the government of Daniel Ortega . His role in a border dispute with Costa Rica and allegations of environmental damage to territory claimed by that country led to legal indictment by the government of Costa Rica. Pastora was born in Ciudad Darío . When he was seven, Pastora's father was killed in a boundary dispute. While in high school with

6804-625: Was run by the National Security Council , with officer Lt. Col. Oliver North in charge. With the third-party funds, North created an organization called The Enterprise , which served as the secret arm of the NSC staff and had its own airplanes, pilots, airfield, ship, operatives, and secret Swiss bank accounts. It also received assistance from personnel from other government agencies, especially from CIA personnel in Central America. This operation functioned, however, without any of

6888-521: Was strong opposition within the UDN against working with the Guardsmen and that the merging only took place because of insistence by the CIA. Based in Honduras , Nicaragua's northern neighbor, under the command of former National Guard Colonel Enrique Bermúdez , the new FDN commenced to draw in other smaller insurgent forces in the north. Largely financed, trained, equipped, armed and organized by

6972-459: Was the first to call itself "Sandinistas", and was also the first to accept an alliance with the FSLN, the group that was to become more popularly identified by the name. At the end of 1982, a few years after the revolutionary victory, Pastora became disillusioned with the government of the FSLN, and formed the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) with the object of confronting the "pseudo-Sandinistas" politically and militarily. As of 2010, he

7056-479: Was truly alarming that the Sandinistas were intent on providing the very services that establish a government's political and moral legitimacy. The government's program included increased wages, subsidized food prices , and expanded health, welfare, and education services. And though it nationalized Somoza's former properties, it preserved a private sector that accounted for between 50 and 60 percent of GDP. The United States began to support Contra activities against

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