José Francisco Cardenal (born 1940) was a

Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...

businessman who became known as one of the most pugnacious opponents of the

Somoza The Somoza family () is a political family which ruled Nicaragua under a dictatorship over a period of forty-three years, from 1936 to 1979. Founder, Anastasio Somoza García – who served as the President of Nicaragua from 1937 until 1956 – ...

and then the

Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

regimes of

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, and played an important role in the early days of the

Contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerla ...

rebellion. In 1980 he fled Nicaragua for Miami where he began to organize the 15th of September Legion to oppose the

regime. On August 11, 1981, his

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 ...

(UDN) merged with September 15 Legion to form the

Nicaraguan Democratic Force The Nicaraguan Democratic Force (', or FDN) was one of the earliest Contra groups, formed on August 11, 1981, in Guatemala City. It was formed to oppose Nicaragua's revolutionary Sandinista government following the 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somo ...

(FDN). A political triumvirate was formed, consisting of Cardenal and Mariano Mendoza from the UDN, and

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 ...

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 he was unqualified. He also had contempt for the FDN's political executive committee in Miami, regarding them as a clique of corrupt, bickering petty politicians, who it turn began seeing him as a would-be

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

. When he declared them disbanded, they in turn dismissed him. Cardenal still enjoyed good relations with the CIA, and they agreed to fund an effort However, the Agency severed funding after he publicly mentioned his plans to create an Internal Front in an interview. His network had been penetrated by Sandinista intelligence from its inception, and they now rolled it up. After this, Cardenal gave up on rebel politics and began selling life insurance in Miami. However, he did not turn on the movement, and when Congress approved $100 million in aid to the Contras in 1986, he appeared at a press conference with the UNO (

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 mil ...

) leaders to join in the celebrations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardenal, Jose Francisco 1940 births Living people Contras Nicaraguan politicians Nicaraguan businesspeople People of the Nicaraguan Revolution Nicaraguan expatriates in the United States