The Contras and Reagan’s Proxy War in Central America
“They are the moral equal of our Founding Fathers and the brave men and women of the French Resistance. We cannot turn away from them, for the struggle here is not right versus left; it is right versus wrong.”   Ronald Reagan - Remarks about Nicaraguan Freedom Fights March 1, 1985

July  1979 Sandinista guerillas overthrow a right-wing dictatorship in Nicaragua
 

November 1979 Islamic militants take 52 Americans hostage inside the U.S. embassy in Iran U.S. passes an embargo against selling weapons to Iran

January 1981 President Ronald Reagan assumes office; Iranian hostages released the same day

December 1981  Reagan signs an executive order to authorize a covert C.I.A. operation to support the Contras, a right-wing rebel group who seek to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua 

Nicaragua, 1982-1984

August 1982  U.S. Marines land in Lebanon to stabilize the government following an Israeli invasion to oust the Palestinian Liberation Organization headquartered in Lebanon

1982 – 1984   Evidence of U.S. efforts to overthrow the Sandinistas leaks out in the press, including C.I.A. sabotage manuals Congress passes Boland Amendments, barring the use of federal money to overthrow the Nicaraguan government

1983  Hezbollah, a political paramilitary group backed by Iran, begins taking hostages in Lebanon to protest the imprisonment by American-backed governments of their allies in other parts of the Middle East 

November 1984 Sandinista candidates win national elections in Nicaragua

Evidence of U.S. efforts to overthrow the Sandinistas leaks out in the press, including C.I.A. sabotage manuals. Congress passes Boland Amendments, barring the use of federal money to overthrow the Nicaraguan government.

"During fiscal year 1985, no funds available to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, or any other agency or entity of the United States involved in intelligence activities may be obligated or expended for the purpose or which would have the effect of supporting, directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any nation, group, organization, movement or individual." 

Iran,1982-1984 

 “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”

US intelligence and logistical support played a crucial role in arming Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, although Bob Woodward states that the United States gave information to both sides, hoping to engineer a stalemate in search for a new set or order in this region.

During the second half of the Iran–Iraq War, the Reagan Administration pursued several sanction bills against Iran; on the other hand, it established full diplomatic relations with Iraq by removing it from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in 1984.

In search for a new set or order in this region, the US government adopted a policy designed to contain both Iran and Iraq economically and militarily in favor of the US national interest.

February 1985  Reagan approves National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane’s idea to negotiate with Iran for the release of Hezbollah’s hostages

September  1985   Reagan administration officials secretly negotiate to sell weapons to Iran in exchange for help securing the release of American hostages in Lebanon