Contra Rebels Possible Rebirth
Nicaragua May See the Return of the Historical Cold War Fighters
Feb 18, 2008
The Cold War saw many sideshows. With the main act along the Berlin Wall and Fulda Gap frozen in its tracks for almost fifty years, the Cold War was fought in the Third World. In places like Mozambique, Angola, Chad, and Ethiopia the Soviets and their US nemesis fought through client states backed by arms, munitions and advisers. Only in rare and isolated cases such as in Grenada and Afghanistan did uniformed military forces of the East and West actually get involved. Nicaragua was one of the former examples. Ruled by Somoza, truly one of the most corrupt of dictators, the leftist Sandinista party overthrew him and his National Guard in 1979. This left Sandinista strongman Daniel Ortega in charge of the country and he immediately invited Soviet and Cuban assistance into his country. The United States, on a shoestring, gathered the remnants of the old Somoza National Guard and armed them with the help of the Argentine military junta to form the Contra Rebels.
Backed by a $100 million Congressional grant, millions of other dollars from black programs, advisors, proceeds from sales of Hawk missile parts to Iran, and a public ad campaign abroad led by monthly articles in such US magazines as Soldier of Fortune, the Contras actually became a legitimate insurgent fighting force. Staged from untouchable bases in Honduras and El Salvador the Contras largely took over the northern part of Nicaragua and most of the countryside. When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1989 and the Sandinistas lost their source of Mi-24 helicopter gunship pilots, advisors, money, and spare parts they agreed to fair and open elections and peace—more or less.
Three separate governments were voted into power in the time period from 1990-2006, all peacefully. None of the candidates wore military uniforms and the elections were monitored by foreign observers. In 2006 former president Daniel Ortega captured the slim majority of the votes and his reformed Sandinista Party was re-installed. Since then he has worn civilian clothes but has adopted some policies that are seen as unsettling both locally and abroad to former Contra expatriates. These include open and very close ties to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro. Recent decisions to reinstate the Sandinista “citizen councils”, a type of home group local soviet-style informer network on top of this has led to some former Contras to scratch their heads.
Sources
A Contra Comeback in Nicaragua. MSNBC Feb 10, 2008
Brown, Timothy C The Real Contra War; Highlander Peasant Resistance in Nicaragua 1980-1990. 2001 University of Oklahoma Press
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