The Somoz Movement

the Somoza family went. With the rise of unemployment and lack of economic opportunity, their number of supporters grew. After a series of conflicts FSLN was able to take control in 1979 .

After they took control the United States first sought to work with the new government, but this would be short lived. Due to political conditions and the FSLN being supported by various communist governments, including the USSR and Cuba, the United States began to look at other means of controlling the situation. It was during this time that the United States began to once more play an active role in the affairs of Nicaragua. During the rebellion the United States had ceased its support of the Somoza government, however, they did not like the idea of
a leftish government coming to power. As the Sandinistas began to strengthen ties with Cuba, and other communist states, the United States and other noncommunist neighbor states began to worry. It was during this time that a counter revolutionary force would begin to form, becoming known as the Contras.

The Contras were a mixture of former Somoza supporters, Miskito, and other groups who now found themselves on the wrong side of the Sandinistas. Needing support to conduct military operations against the Sandinista government, they reached out to the United States, who was more than willing to offer aid in order to regain their influence in Nicaragua. The support from the United States came in various forms of which included funding, training, and arms.

To begin with the US or CIA was faced with the challenge of unifying the resistance.
While a number of prominent groups existed and were carrying out operations against the Sandinista government in the early 1980s, they were each acting mostly independently of each other. Beginning in 1981 the CIA began efforts to unify all resistance groups. To accomplish this, they set up a base of operations in neighboring Honduras. It is here they aided in the creation of leadership, provided training, money, and supplies. By 1985 they had succeeded in the unification of all resistance groups. This unification then allowed the Contras to carry out more sophisticated forms of resistance. However, due to a lack of military size and force, the Contras were forced to fight a more guerrilla type war, in which the goal was to undermine and destabilize the Sandinista government.

To accomplish this type of warfare the CIA provided manuals in how to carry out guerrilla warfare. These manuals, known as the Freedom Fighter Manual and Psychological Operations in Guerilla Warfare, were written to give ideas and tactics that may be employed by the Contras in order to carry out a successful campaign against the Sandinista
government.

The first of these manuals is a very basic resistance manual. Within its few pages one could learn of various ways they could resist. These would contain both violent and nonviolent methods. Examples of these methods would include: calling in sick to work, stealing of tools, sabotaging of equipment, and Molotov cocktails to be used on empty buildings, work sites, or other types of infrastructure. It was also written in such a way that all, regardless of literacy, would be able to understand it. Most of the book contained images that could be easily deciphered. For example, on page 8 of the manual it depicts how one may go about destroying a battery or blocking a road way by going through a step by step process using images. This was beneficial to the populace who were unable to read. Thus allowing the CIA and the Contras to reach a larger population.

The second of the manuals focused on how to conduct guerilla warfare, more specifically psychological operations, like propaganda. It focused on the need for everyone in the organization to be educated about the movement and how to combat other competing political factions. In addition, it also lists various types of propaganda that may be carried out, how to carry them out, and the potential effectiveness of each. However, unlike the first, this manual would have been meant for the leadership of the Contras. The style of this manual was written at a higher literacy level that was meant to be learned and taught to others by those in leadership.

Each of these types of aid, along with weapons, allowed the Contras a chance to hinder the Sandistan government from ruling over a united Nicaragua. However, it did not provide the means to garner enough support to completely overthrow the Sandistan’s. This led to years of internal conflict and bloodshed that would claim thousands of lives on both sides until the early 1990s.

Operation Condor: Nicaragua was not the only state in South America that experienced US invention. During the height of the Cold War it became known to the United States that a number of South American states were working together to end the spread of communist movements. Once known the United States, more specifically the CIA, began coordinating with the leaders of the states to see where they may be able to offer support. This would become known as Operation Condor.

Operation Condor was responsible for a number of coups, kidnappings, and assassinations within South America from 1968 to 1989.
The most notable event of this operation took place in Argentina and would become known as the Dirty War. After a number of failed coups by the military in 1951, and two in 1955, the military was able to find some success in late 1955 when they seized control of the government and ousted the socialist regime. After they took control it became a worry, due to the political nature of some surrounding states, that they would find themselves in the midst of civil conflict. Various socialist groups in and outside of Argentina had already begun to organize and were seeking to regain control of Argentina. With this in mind, the military junta sought to ensure their power through any means necessary. This would include imprisonment of suspected socialist sympathizers, kidnappings of leaders, and assassinations. They were aided by other states, as part of Operation Condor, as there was a fear that if Argentina fell to communism it would spread to neighboring South American states. As such, Chile and Brazil were known to have offered support. Such actions were met with resistance and soon leftist guerrilla factions were formed, leading to a long drawn out conflict that saw atrocities committed on both sides. In the end it is believed, during this time, over 20,000 people either disappeared or were killed on both sides. Although, due to a lack of hard data,
this number could easily be higher.

Argentina was not the only state that saw such actions. As noted, a number of South American states feared the spread of communism and sought means to prevent its spread. This was genius of Operation Condor. It allowed the members of it; Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, to get support and allowed them to work together towards a common goal. The United Sates also played a role in Operation Condor, however the extent of the United