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
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
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,