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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 Fighters March 1, 1985
July 1979Sandinista 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
“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.”
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
"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."
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
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.
April 1986 Oliver North, now National Security Adviser, proposes diverting $12 million from the sale of weapons to Iran to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.
May 1986 McFarlane, now a private consultant to the White House, and North secretly fly to Iran with spare parts for missiles
November 1986 The Attorney General discloses the Iran-Contra connection Reagan announces the firing of North and the resignation of other officials involved in the scandal.
1987 – 1992 Congress holds a series of investigations, brings down indictments and hears appeals In December 1992, President George H. W. Bush pardons six people involved in the scandal, including McFarlane
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