Central America: Death Along the Border

The Sandinistas push U.S.-supported contras back into the hills

Only a few months ago the early successes of the spring offensive launched by the U.S.-backed commando army of the Fuerza Democrática Nicaraguense (F.D.N.) seemed to spell serious trouble for the Marxist-led Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The counterrevolutionaries, or contras, had managed by April to establish advance positions only 70 miles from the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. As a result, some officials in the Reagan Administration were predicting that the contras would have one-third of Nicaragua under their control by the end of...

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