Revolution and Counterrevolution: The Sandinista Government and the Contra War in Nicaragua, 1980-1990

Abstract

The article analyses the rise and fall of the Counter-guerrilla movement (the “Contra”) in Nicaragua. This process is situated in the context of the Sandinista Revolution (1979 – 1990) and the programme of structural reforms of the Sandinista government. The article traces the beginning and expansion of the process of exclusion and alienation of certain population segments, particularly with respect to the ethnicities of the Atlantic coast and the middle class segments of the peasant population in the frontier region with Honduras. It also emphasises the role of external forces (the Argentinean army, the CIA) on matters of training and financing. Then it analyses the development of the social and military campaigns during the armed conflict that broke out. It concludes with an analysis of the most important consequence: The economic, social and political draining of the Sandinista Revolution after the military victory against the Sandinista forces, and the electoral defeat in 1990 of the Sandinista movement.