WThe Nicaraguan Revolution encompassed the rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the violent campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to oust the dictatorship in 1978–79, the subsequent efforts of the FSLN to govern Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, and the Contra War, which was waged between the FSLN-led government of Nicaragua and the United States-backed Contras from 1981–1990. The revolution marked a significant period in the history of Nicaragua and revealed the country as one of the major proxy war battlegrounds of the Cold War, attracting much international attention.
WA general election was held in Nicaragua on November 4, 1984, to elect a president and parliament. Approximately 1.2 million Nicaraguans voted, representing a 75% turnout, with 94% of eligible voters registered. Impartial observers from international groupings such as the European Economic Community, religious groups sent to monitor the election, and observers from democratic nations such as Canada and the Republic of Ireland concluded that the elections were generally free and fair.
WGeneral elections were held in Nicaragua on 25 February 1990. The result was a victory for the National Opposition Union (UNO), whose presidential candidate Violeta Chamorro surprisingly defeated incumbent president Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Opinion polls leading up to the elections divided along partisan lines, with 10 of 17 polls analyzed in a contemporary study predicting an UNO victory while seven predicted the Sandinistas would retain power.
WAlsino and the Condor is a 1982 Nicaraguan film directed by Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It won the Golden Prize at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival. The film was a co-production between Nicaragua, Mexico and Cuba. The film is loosely based on the novel Alsino by Chilean writer Pedro Prado.
WCarla's Song is a 1996 British film, directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty, that deals with the impact of the Contra War in Nicaragua.
WA number of writers have alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the Nicaraguan Contras' cocaine trafficking operations during the 1980s Nicaraguan civil war. These claims have led to investigations by the United States government, including hearings and reports by the United States House of Representatives, Senate, Department of Justice, and the CIA's Office of the Inspector General which ultimately concluded the allegations were unsupported. The subject remains controversial.
WThe Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to the early 1990s in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua. 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.
WThe Freedom Fighter's Manual is the title of a fifteen-page propaganda booklet that was manufactured by the United States Central Intelligence Agency and airdropped over Nicaragua in 1983, with the stated goal of providing a "Practical guide to liberating Nicaragua from oppression and misery by paralyzing the military-industrial complex of the traitorous marxist state". The manual explains several methods by which the average citizen could cause civil disorder. A Contra fighter gave the manual to a U.S. reporter in Honduras in 1984.
WThe International Support and Verification Commission (Comisión Internacional de Apoyo y Verificación, CIAV) was created as a joint approach to repatriating the Contras by the secretaries-general of the United Nations and the Organization of American States on August 25, 1989 in support of the Esquipulas II Peace Plan. Its mandate was to assist in the voluntary demobilization, repatriation or resettlement of the Nicaraguan Resistance in Nicaragua and third countries as well as assistance in the voluntary demobilization of all persons involved in armed actions in all countries of the region. In practice the UN involvement in CIAV was relatively short, while the OAS participated in CIAV from the beginning and was deeply involved until 1993. In part this situation was due to the UN's emphasis on ONUCA, but it also reflected a geographic division of labor: the UN was assigned repatriation responsibilities in Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador. CIAV-OAS, on the other hand, was assigned geographic responsibilities for Nicaragua, which meant that they were responsible for every Contra and Contra family member who crossed the border into Nicaragua, and continued to be responsible for the support of most of them through 1993.
WThe Iran–Contra affair, popularized in Iran as the McFarlane affair, the Iran–Contra scandal, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the Khomeini government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress.
WLast Plane Out is a 1983 film, directed by David Nelson, son of Ozzie and Harriet. It was based on journalist Jack Cox's experience in Nicaragua when it was ruled by Anastasio Somoza Debayle and his battle against insurgents during the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution.
WIn the decade of Sandinista rule following the triumph of the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979, close to 300 murals were created in that country. These murals provided a narrative of the revolution, portraying recent and more distant history, and visualizing the better future promised by the revolution.
WThe Republic of Nicaragua v. The United States of America (1986) was a case where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) held that the U.S. had violated international law by supporting the Contras in their rebellion against the Sandinistas and by mining Nicaragua's harbors. The case was decided in favor of Nicaragua and against the United States with the awarding of reparations to Nicaragua.
WSandinista! is the fourth studio album by English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. Anticipating the world music trend of the 1980s, it features funk, reggae, jazz, gospel, rockabilly, folk, dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, disco, and rap. For the first time, the band's traditional songwriting credits of Strummer and Jones were replaced by a generic credit to the Clash, and the band agreed to a decrease in album royalties in order to release the 3-LP at a low price.
WThe Somoza family was an autocratic family dictatorship in Nicaragua that lasted forty-three years, from 1936 to 1979. They were closely allied with the United States.
WUnder Fire is a 1983 American political thriller film set during the last days of the Nicaraguan Revolution that ended the Somoza regime in 1979. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, it stars Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy. The musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, which featured well-known jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score. The editing by Mark Conte and John Bloom was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Editing. The film was shot in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca.
WUnited Nations Security Council resolution 653, adopted unanimously on 20 April 1990, after recalling resolutions 644 (1989) and 650 (1990), the Council endorsed a report by the Secretary-General and authorised new additions to the mandate of the United Nations Observer Group in Central America.