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Nicaraguan Democratic Union
The Nicaraguan Democratic Union (UDN, ') was founded in late 1980 by José Francisco Cardenal, an early leader of the anti-Sandinista rebel movement that became known as the Nicaraguan Contras. The UDN was based in Miami, Florida, among its growing community of exiles from Nicaragua's middle class. It established an armed wing, the Nicaraguan Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARN, ''{{lang, es, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Nicaragüenses''). The UDN attracted interest from the steadfastly anti- Sandinista Reagan Administration, and also received limited funding from Argentina's military junta. However, they conditioned further aid on the UDN unifying its efforts with those of former National Guardsmen who had served the Somoza regime. Cardenal accepted, creating a merged organization, the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN). Dissenters broke away over the issue and continued to call themselves the UDN-FARN. The FDN would grow into the dominant Contra organization, but Cardenal himse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
José Francisco Cardenal
José Francisco Cardenal (born 1940) was a Nicaraguan businessman who became known as one of the most pugnacious opponents of the Somoza and then the Sandinista regimes of Nicaragua, and played an important role in the early days of the Contra rebellion. In 1980 he fled Nicaragua for Miami where he began to organize the 15th of September Legion to oppose the Somoza regime. On August 11, 1981, his Nicaraguan Democratic Union (UDN) merged with September 15 Legion to form the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN). A political triumvirate was formed, consisting of Cardenal and Mariano Mendoza from the UDN, and Aristides Sánchez from the Legion. However, the strong-willed Cardenal alienated his compatriots. His dealings with his Argentine patrons, intended to show that this was a Nicaraguan struggle to which they were only advisors, they found insulting and ungrateful. His assertions of civilian primacy over the military seemed to the high command to be interference in matters in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enrique Bermúdez
Enrique Bermúdez Varela (December 11, 1932 – February 16, 1991), known as Comandante 380, was a Nicaraguan soldier and rebel who founded and commanded the Nicaraguan Contras. In this capacity, he became a central global figure in one of the most prominent conflicts of the Cold War. Bermúdez founded the largest Contra army in the war against Nicaragua's Marxist Sandinista government, which was supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba. From 1979 until the end of the military conflict in 1990, Bermudez was the Contras' top military commander. In addition to being responsible for all of the Contras' military operations, Bermúdez ultimately helped manage the Contras' transition to an opposition political party in the early 1990s after the second election in post-Somoza Nicaragua ended in defeat for the Sandinistas. The first election, held in 1984 with severe irregularities, resulted in a victory for the Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas; it was the rejection of this questionable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicaraguan Resistance
The Nicaraguan Resistance (', RN) was the last and arguably most successful effort to unify Nicaragua's rebel Contras into a single umbrella organization. It was established in May 1987, after the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO) floundered. The RN had a 54-member assembly that elected a seven-member directorate. Five seats were allotted to parties, one was elected at-large, and the last was reserved for YATAMA, the Miskito Indian organization. The initial members were Adolfo Calero (Conservative), Aristides Sánchez (Liberal), Alfonso Robelo (Social Democrat), Azucena Ferrey (Social Christian), Alfredo César ( Southern Opposition Bloc), and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, Jr. (at-large). The YATAMA Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Aslatakanka (; YATAMA) is an indigenous party mainly active on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast. YATAMA has its roots in the MISURASATA (Miskito, Sumo and Rama Sandinista Alliance) and the MISURA/KISAN organisations. In 198 ... seat remained vacant. The Reagan admi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nicaraguan Opposition
The United Nicaraguan Opposition (''Unidad Nicaragüense Opositora'', UNO) was a Nicaraguan rebel umbrella group formed in 1985, led by the triumvirate of Adolfo Calero, Alfonso Robelo, and Arturo Cruz. However, the great majority of UNO's military forces came from Calero's Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN), and throughout its two-year existence Robelo and Cruz complained that Calero treated them as figureheads rather than equals. Generally, the CIA backed Calero in these struggles, while Elliott Abrams and the State Department backed Robelo and Cruz. In January 1987, Cruz informed Abrams of his intention to resign. In a bid to prevent this, Abrams pushed Calero into resigning in mid-February, but Cruz left on March 9. With Cruz's resignation, UNO collapsed. It was succeeded by the Nicaraguan Resistance The Nicaraguan Resistance (', RN) was the last and arguably most successful effort to unify Nicaragua's rebel Contras into a single umbrella organization. It was established in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democratic Revolutionary Alliance
The Democratic Revolutionary Alliance ( es, Alianza Revolucionaria Democrática, links=no or ''ARDE'') were the Southern Front guerrillas in Nicaragua that fought against the Marxist elements of the original Sandinista Revolution in 1979. Despite being one of the Contra forces, they maintained an ideological distance from the U.S.-backed Nicaraguan Democratic Force ( Contras). Formation Formed by Edén Pastora Gómez in 1982, it united his Sandino Revolutionary Front (FRS) with such groups as the Nicaraguan Democratic Movement (MDN), MISURASATA and FARN. A.R.D.E. quickly gained momentum in the southeast of Nicaragua. The San Juan River was "liberated" by ARDE, and five strategic bases were formed, including Sarapiquí and La Penca. Pastora's leadership can charitably be described as mercurial. Planes, helicopters, weapons and food supplies meant for combatants risking their lives frequently were sold to third parties. Organizational chaos reigned, as Pastora feared that institut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Maritime boundary, maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of . An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, Costa Rica, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area. The sovereign state is a Unitary state, unitary Presidential system, presidential Constitution of Costa Rica, constitutional republic. It has a long-standing and stable democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agricultu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edén Pastora
Edén Atanacio Pastora Gómez (November 15, 1936 or January 22, 1937 – June 16, 2020) 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 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 was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristides Sánchez
José Aristides Sánchez Herdocia served as a key political figure among the Nicaraguan Contras. Early on, he joined Enrique Bermúdez in efforts to start a rebel opposition to the new Sandinista government, a hand-picked choice of the CIA for this position. As the conduit between political leader Adolfo Calero in Miami and rebel base camps in Honduras, he spent more time in the camps than other Contra politicians and had the trust of the rebel field commanders. After working largely behind the scenes, in 1987 he joined the directorate of the Nicaraguan Resistance. Sánchez's Contra career embodied striking contrasts. He was the key ally of the Contra leaders most favored by the CIA and on the agency's payroll, yet he himself was detested by the CIA. Unlike many Contra political leaders, chosen for their ability to woo American Congressmen, he did not speak English. He has been characterized as a Somocista oligarch, but also as an anti-American nationalist. Sánchez came from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nestled in a mountain valley called Valle de la Ermita ( en, Hermitage Valley). The city is the capital of the Municipality of Guatemala and of the Guatemala Department. Guatemala City is the site of the Mayan city of Kaminaljuyu, founded around 1500 BC. Following the Spanish conquest, a new town was established, and in 1776 it was made capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. In 1821, Guatemala City was the scene of the declaration of independence of Central America from Spain, after which it became the capital of the newly established United Provinces of Central America (later the Federal Republic of Central America). In 1847, Guatemala declared itself an independent republic, with Guatemala City as its capital. The city was originally located ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comayagüela. Claimed on 29 September 1578 by the Spaniards, Tegucigalpa became the country's capital on October 30, 1880, under President Marco Aurelio Soto, when he moved the capital from Comayagua. The Constitution of Honduras, enacted in 1982, names the sister cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as a Central District to serve as the permanent national capital, under articles 8 and 295. After the dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America in 1841, Honduras became an individual sovereign nation with Comayagua as its capital. The capital was moved to Tegucigalpa in 1880. On January 30, 1937, Article 179 of the 1936 Honduran Constitution was changed under Decree 53 to establish Te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contras
The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded 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 came 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 the Nicaraguan Resistance. During their war against the Nicaraguan government, the Contras committed numerous human rights violations and used terrorist tactics. These actions were frequently carried out systematically as a part of the strategy of the Contras. Supporters of the Contras tried to downplay these violations, particularly the Reagan administration in the U.S., which engaged in a campaign of white propaganda to alter public opinion in favor of the Contras, while covertly encouraging the Contras to attack civilian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
