Central America in the 1980s during the Cold War. "The Contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional) Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In 1987, virtually all Contra organizations were united, at least nominally, into the Nicaraguan Resistance. From an early stage, the rebels received financial and military support from the United States through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), initially supplemented by the Argentinean government of the time. At other times the US Congress wished to distance itself and withdrew all support."
