Transcript The Nicaraguan Civil War and the CIA

The Nicaraguan Civil War and the
CIA
Alexander Wade
The Basics
• Lasted from 1979 to 1990
• Two conflicts
– Sandinistas vs. Somoza Govt.
– Contras vs. Sandinista Govt.
• Somoza and Contras supported by USA;
Sandinistas by USSR and Cuba
The Somozas
• Descended from wealthy oligarchal family
• Brutal dictators, first installed and supported
by the US in 1933
• Overthrown by the Sandinistas in 1979 after
years of guerilla war
• Attempted to flee to the United States, settled
in Paraguay; assassinated by Sandinista
supporters
The Sandinistas
• Named for earlier guerilla leader General
Augusto Sandino, who resisted the US
invasion
• Communistic guerillas, fought the militaristic
dictator family Somoza
• Liberated Managua (capital) in June, 1979
• Established an equally brutal, but slightly
more efficient, government year and a half
later
The Contras
• Made of various rival guerilla factions, at war
as often with each other as with Sandinistas
• Supported by the US
• Included many of Somoza’s old secret police
and National Guardsmen
• Specialized in the massacre of unarmed
civilians, much more than the Sandinistas
during their guerilla war
After Somoza
• Eventually, Somoza became despised by Carter,
who withdrew support, allowing the Sandinistas
to win
• Daniel Ortega and four other men form the new
governing council
• New government promises and deliver’s reforms
(Literacy, overhaul of infrastructure, etc.)
• Lasts until 1981, when non-Sandinistas forced
from government
Rise of the Contras
• Ronald Regan begins to fund various guerilla
groups, hoping to contain Sandinistas and
preserve dictator of El Salvador
• Two large groups form:
– Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) (Supported and
created by CIA and Pinochet’s Argentine Intelligence)
– Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) (Created by
ex-Sandinistas, other smaller groups)
• Third group, Misurasata, forms out of
disenfranchised Indian tribes and groups
• All three groups frequently skirmished
US Policies
• Carter believes Sandinista revolution to be
justified, helps supply Sandinista govt. with
supplies, money, weapons, etc.
• When Carter leaves office, Regan reverses the
decision
• Instead, supplies Contras, ostentatiously to
prevent the Sandinistas from selling weapons to
Salvadorian communists
• Contras fight Sandinistas with weapons from the
US, than sell the weapons to the same
Communist guerillas in El Salvador
Contra Reactions (External)
• Offends and frightens the other C. and S.
American leaders; drives them to Soviet side
• Fails to help situation in El Salvador
• Gives the USSR excellent propaganda against
the US; US loses moral high ground
• Contras degenerate; ex-Somoza guardsmen
kill Americans as well as others
Contra Reactions (Internal)
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•
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Congress offended
Public offended, mistrustful of Regan
Iran-Contra Affair
Gives Democratic Party ammunition
1984-1987
• Years of low grade skirmishing between
Honduran troops and Contras (both supported by
the USA) and the Sandinistas
• Both sides enter the drug market to pay war
debt; CIA actually helps the Contras
• Both sides massacre various peasants and burn
farms and plantations, and order periodic
assassinations
• Finally, Ortega breaks gridlock by offering to hold
free elections in 1990
1988-1990
• House of Representatives kills more attempts
by Regan to send money to the Contras
• Violeta Chamorro declares candidacy
• Nicaragua’s economy put into shambles;
hurricane ravishes infrastructure
• 1990 elections: Chamorro’s Opposition Party
wins 56% of the vote, Ortega’s Sandinistas
40%
After Ortega
• March 12, Ortega relinquishes power
peacefully
• March 13, Violeta Chamorro steps up, US lifts
trade sanctions and embargo
• April 25, Chamorro is sworn in
• Sergio Palacios “Charro” Cruz, an ex-Contra,
takes up arms against the new government
CIA? What Exactly did They Do?
• Gun running – Smuggling arms and armor into
the country
• Training – Trained first Sandinista, than Contra
guerillas in the best way to blow stuff up
• Drug Smuggling – Largest transporter from
Colombia to Nicaragua, Nicaragua to US
• Transportation – Transported units of Contra
groups and elements of Honduran Army to
Nicaraguan interior
Long Term Effects
• Last unexploded land mine from civil war
removed in 2006 – 16 years after end of
hostilities
• Nicaragua’s economy is still messed up, with
low literacy
• Major drug routes still run through Nicaragua
• Daniel Ortega is once again president –
through election