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contra1
/kon"treuh/, prep.1. against; in opposition or contrast to: Consider the problems of the teenager contra those of the adult.adv.2. contrariwise; on or to the contrary.[1350-1400; ME < L contra]contra2/kon"treuh/; Sp. /kawn"trddah/, n., pl. contras /-treuhz/; Sp. /-trddahs/.(often cap.) a member of a counterrevolutionary guerrilla group in Nicaragua.[ < AmerSp, shortening of contrarrevolucionario COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY]
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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. Central Intelligence Agency played a key role in training and funding the group, whose tactics were decried by the international human-rights community. In 1984 the U.S. Congress banned military aid to the contras; the efforts of the administration of U.S. president 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 Arias Sánchez, and in 1990 Nicaraquan president Violeta Chamorro negotiated the contras' demobilization. See also Daniel Ortega.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
