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| rdfs:comment | - The contras (some references use the capitalized form, "Contras") is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing the Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government in Nicaragua that were active from 1979 through to the early 1990s. 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.
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| Caption | - Nicaraguan Contra militia
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| military groups | - F.D.N., A.R.D.E. Frente Sur, YATAMA, Misura
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| Battles | - Major operations at La Trinidad, Rama highway, and Siuna and La Bonanza. Numerous government bases overrun throughout Jinotega, Matagalpa, Zelaya Norte, Zelaya Sur, Chontales, and Rio San Juan provinces.
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| Area | - All rural areas of Nicaragua with the exclusion of Pacific Coast, from Rio Coco in the north to Rio San Juan in the south
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| War | - the Nicaraguan Revolution
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| Leaders | - FDN – Commandante Franklin
- Misura – Steadman Fagoth
- YATAMA – Commandante Blas
- ARDE Frente Sur – Cupula of 6 Regional Commandantes
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| Quote | - --04-15
- When I want to know about stuff like this there's nobody else better to call on than the guy you're about to meet right here. He can better explain what's happening in Honduras than just about anybody else. Otto Reich is who Im talking about.
--Rick Sanchez, CNN anchor, 2009
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| abstract | - The contras (some references use the capitalized form, "Contras") is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing the Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government in Nicaragua that were active from 1979 through to the early 1990s. 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. From an early stage, the rebels received financial and military support from the U.S. government, and their military significance decisively depended on it. After U.S. support was banned by Congress, the Reagan administration covertly continued it. These covert activities culminated in the Iran–Contra affair. The term "contra" comes from the Spanish contra, which means against but in this case is short for , in English "the counter-revolution". Some rebels disliked being called contras, feeling that it defined their cause only in negative terms, or implied a desire to restore the old order. Rebel fighters usually referred to themselves as ("commandos"); peasant sympathizers also called the rebels ("the cousins"). From the mid-1980s, as the Reagan administration and the rebels sought to portray the movement as the "democratic resistance", members started describing themselves as . During the war against the Sandinista government, the contras carried out many human rights violations, and evidence suggests that these were systematically committed as an element of warfare strategy. Contra supporters often tried to downplay these violations, or countered that the Sandinista government carried out much more. In particular, the Reagan administration engaged in a campaign to alter public opinion on the contras which has been denoted as "white propaganda".
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