Member of a counterrevolutionary force that sought to overthrow Nicaragua's left-wing Sandinista government.
The original contras had been National Guardsmen during the regime of Anastasio Somoza (see Somoza family ). The U.S. Ronald Reagan to circumvent the ban led to the Iran-Contra Affair . A general peace in the region was negotiated by Costa Rican president Oscar {{link=Arias S%C3%A1nchez, Oscar">Arias Sánchez , and in 1990 Nicaraquan president Violeta Chamorro negotiated the contras' demobilization. See also Daniel Ortega .