There were two armies with the acronym MILPAS in Nicaragua. The first, Milicias Populares Anti-Somocistas, fought alongside the Sandinista National Liberation Front against the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The second, Milicias Populares Anti-Sandinistas, was one of the earliest rebel groups that would form the contra movement. [1]
Beginning in September 1978, the Frente Obrero and MAP-ML organized the Milicias Populares Anti-Somocistas. In rural areas, they fought in the north with Germán Pomares, "El Danto." They also played important roles in the liberation of Leon, Chinandega and other cities and towns, and in Managua they fought on the barricades put up in the working class barrios, taking part in the final destruction of the National Guard in its last stronghold. Among the hundreds of MILPAS fighters killed was Hernaldo Herrera Tellez, “Nano,” the general secretary of FO and a member of the national leadership of MAP-ML. MAP-ML and FO then dissolved the MILPAS they led on July 25,1979--several days after victory. [2] Thereafter, MAP-ML and FO called upon the former Milicias Populares Anti-Somocistas fighters and others to support and join the Sandinista Popular Army and Militias as the contra war flared up against the new government, [3] with many heeding their call. [4] [5]
The earliest contras inside Nicaragua were the MILPAS (Milicias Populares Anti-Sandinistas), peasant militias led by disillusioned Sandinistas. Founded by Pedro Joaquín González, whose nom de guerre was "Dimas", the Contra Milpistas were also known as chilotes (green corn). Even after his death, other MILPAS bands sprouted during 1980–1981. The Milpistas were composed largely of the campesino highlanders and rural workers who would later form the rank and file of the rebellion.
This MILPAS assimilated into the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN). By 1985, most of the FDN's regional commands were headed by MILPAS veterans. By late 1987, the ranks of ex-MILPAS regional commanders included:
Encarnación Valdivia (Baldivia) Chavarria, "Tigrillo" | Rafaela Herrera Regional Command |
Francisco Valdivia (Baldivia) Chavarria, "Dimas Tigrillo" | Andrés Castro Regional Command |
José Danilo Galeano Rodas, "Tiro Al Blanco" | Juan Castro Castro Regional Command |
Abelardo Zelaya Chavarria, "Ivan" | Alonso Irias Regional Command |
Oscar Manuel Sobalvarro García, "Rubén" | Salvador Perez Regional Command |
Anroyce "Rudy" Zelaya Zeledon, "Douglas" | Pedro Joaquín González Regional Command |
Justo Pastor Meza Aguilar, "Denis" | Santiago Meza Regional Command |
Fremio Isabel Altamirano Montenegro, "Jimmy Leo" ("Jimileo") | Larry McDonald Regional Command |
Tirso (Tirzo) Ramón Moreno Aguilar, "Rigoberto" | Jorge Salazar I Regional Command |
Israel Galeano Cornejo, "Franklin" ("Franklyn") | Jorge Salazar II Regional Command |
Diógenes Hernández Membreño, "Fernando" | Jorge Salazar III Regional Command |
Antonio Chavarria Rodríguez, "Dumas" | Jorge Salazar V Regional Command |
Luis Adán Fley González, "Jhonson" | 15 September Regional Command |
Freddy Montenegro Gadea Zeledon, "Coral" | Quilalí Regional Command |
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 had come 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.
The Sandinista National Liberation Front 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 resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s.
Edén Atanacio Pastora Gómez 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 in the north. Pastora was nicknamed Comandante Cero.
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The Nicaraguan Democratic Force 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 Somoza Debayle. It merged the 15th of September Legion, which comprised mostly former members of Somoza's National Guard, with the Nicaraguan Democratic Union, an organization of émigrés from the business and professional classes. The new FDN also began assimilating the MILPAS movement, bands led by disenchanted former MAP-ML guerrillas. The FDN military was under the command of former National Guard colonel Enrique Bermúdez. The FDN was heavily backed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Reagan administration. The FDN was also alleged to be engaged in drug trafficking in order to finance its war against the Sandinista government.
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Popular Action Movement - Marxist–Leninist is a Hoxhaist communist party in Nicaragua that surged out of a split from the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in the early 1970s. Since 1985 it is officially named the Marxist–Leninist Party of Nicaragua, but the original name MAP-ML is far more known and has been used when participating in elections.
La Prensa is a Nicaraguan newspaper, with offices in the capital Managua. Its current daily circulation is placed at 42,000. Founded in 1926, in 1932 it was bought by Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Zelaya, who had become editor-in-chief. He promoted the Conservative Party of Nicaragua and became a voice of opposition to Juan Bautista Sacasa, for which the paper was censored. He continued to be critical of dictator Anastasio Somoza García, who came to power in a coup d'état.
Sandinista ideology or Sandinismo is a series of political and economic philosophies instituted by the Nicaraguan Sandinista National Liberation Front throughout the late twentieth century. The ideology and movement acquired its name, image and its military style from Augusto César Sandino, a Nicaraguan revolutionary leader who waged a guerrilla war against the United States Marines and the conservative Somoza National Guards in the early twentieth century. The principals of modern Sandinista ideology were mainly developed by Carlos Fonseca, inspired by the leaders of the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s. It sought to inspire socialist populism among Nicaragua's peasant population. One of these main philosophies involved the institution of an educational system that would free the population from the perceived historical fallacies spread by the ruling Somoza family. By awakening political thought among the people, proponents of Sandinista ideology believed that human resources would be available to not only execute a guerrilla war against the Somoza regime but also build a society resistant to economic and military intervention imposed by foreign entities.
Enrique Bermúdez Varela, 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.
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.
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The Sandinista Popular Army (SPA) was the military forces established in 1979 by the new Sandinista government of Nicaragua to replace the Nicaraguan National Guard, following the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle.
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Carlos Domingo Cuadra Cuadra is a Nicaraguan politician and publicist. His parents were Carlos Cuadra Cardenal and Olga Cuadra Sandino. He had three sons with his wife Maria Eugenia Rodriguez named Carlos Roberto, Diego Armando and Luis Miguel Cuadra Rodriguez.
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