Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-299) and index.
CONTENTS NOTE
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1. Introduction: "A Whole Bunch of Really Pissed-Off Peasants" -- 2. The MILPAS War, 1979-1982 -- 3. Dimas, Father of the Contras -- 4. The MILPAS of Irene Calderon -- 5. Other MILPAS Groups -- 6. Exile Paramilitary Groups, 1979-1982 -- 7. Foreign Entanglements: Cuba, Costa Rica, and the CIA -- 8. Birth of the FDN: A Guardia/MILPAS Alliance -- 9. Structure and Organization of the Highlander Resistance Movement -- 10. Women Comandos: Heroes, Combatants, and Comarca Leaders -- 11. Geography of the Rebellion -- 12. History of the Highlanders -- 13. The Highlanders' Social Place -- 14. The FDN Returns of Its MILPAS Roots, 1988-1990 -- 15. The Silent War against the Highlanders Continues, 1990-1996 -- 16. From Poor Peasants to Power Bloc: The Difference Democracy Can Make -- 17. Resistance and Survival -- 18. Conclusions -- App. A. Personnel Report -- App. B. Sample FDN Comando Personnel File -- App. C. Samples from Chronological Message Files -- App. D. Sample FDN Status of Forces Report -- App. E. EPS Arms Inventory and Request -- App. F. Costa Rican Passport of Alejandro Martinez.
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
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"The Contra War and the Iran-Contra affair that shook the Reagan presidency were center stage on the U.S. political scene for nearly a decade. According to most observers, the main Contra army, or the Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense (FDN), was a mercenary force hired by the CIA to oppose the Sandinista Socialist Revolution." "The Real Contra War demonstrates that in reality the vast majority of the FDN's combatants were peasants who had the full support of a mass popular movement consisting of the tough, independent inhabitants of Nicaragua's central highlands. The movement was merely the most recent instance of this peasantry's one-thousand-year history of resistance to those they saw as would-be conquerors."--Jacket.