Latin America
During the mid twentieth century, the rapidly growing population in Latin America suffered from poverty, illiteracy, and disease. Also, a small upper class controlled the governments, armies, and most of the wealth. For the poor and landless people, the ideas of communism seemed appealing.
The Contras
Since the OAS had been of no help, President Carter had decided to establish a friendly relationship with the Sandinistas instead. Carter had offered Nicaragua $300 million in loans and other means of economic aid but it was turned down since the country had signed a trade agreement with the Soviet Union instead. The Sandinistas also made the future general elections in Nicaragua come to a halt. The Sandinistas started to support a revolutionary army in El Salvador (that wanted to overthrow a military dictatorship) and this seemed to draw the line for Carter. President Carter had decided to provide funds to a group in Nicaragua against the Sandinistas. This group was known as the contras which received its name from the Spanish word contrarevolucionarios (counterrevolutionaries). |
The Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front was a communist organization that overthrew Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza (born in 1925 and died in 1980). Somoza was not very well known for instilling "fair" human rights; however, President Jimmy Carter supported him over the communist organization. In fact, Carter requested of the Organization of American States (OAS) that they support Somoza over the Sandinistas but the OAS refused to do so. The OAS was originally founded in 1951 to maintain political stability in the Western Hemisphere nations during the Cold War. The United States preferred to work with harsh dictators and their dictatorial regimes rather than allow communist influence take over. This was especially true in Third World countries including those in Latin America. |
Nicaragua during ronald reagan's presidencyOnce Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he decided to put an end to the aid Nicaragua received from the United States as he did not want to support a country that was starting to praise the Soviet-Sandinista government (led by Daniel Ortega) more and more. Just like President Jimmy Carter, Reagan continued to support the contras, which consisted of 500 soldiers. Both the contras and Reagan were eager to see an end to Ortega's rule. In fact, President Reagan provided the contras $19 million in order to disrupt the Nicaraguan economy which, in turn, would cause civil disorder and demonstrate that they did not agree with Daniel Ortega's policies.
In 1984, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) mined harbors in Nicaragua. Military explosives were placed near the surface of the water. This was meant to cripple the country's economy even more by cutting off trade. This only led to the Boland Movement, which instilled an even stricter limitation on America's involvement in Nicaragua. |