Six months after U.S. funds stop, the contras turn elsewhere
Once the mule is saddled and mounted, there is no turning back. —Honduran proverb
Like the proverbial mule, the contras fighting the Sandinista government of Nicaragua just keep plodding along. Six months after the U.S. Congress voted to cut off their covert Central Intelligence Agency funding, the rebels have come to depend increasingly on supplies and money from private U.S. sources. Economic hardship has forced the guerrilla factions to halt their frequent bickering, but a united front remains elusive. The war itself has quieted down, with the insurgents avoiding battles with Nicaraguan troops in favor of ambushes and hit-and-run strikes. The overall reality, however, has not changed: the contras right now are too small in number and too ill equipped to threaten the Sandinistas seriously, but they are also too stubborn to give up. "The contras know they can't win, but they won't admit it," says a prominent Honduran businessman. "At first they thought they would sweep into Managua. Now they know they are in a quagmire."
The rebels contend that the future is not that bleak. The Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN), the largest of the guerrilla groups, has about 6,000 troops, up from 4,500 a year ago, deep inside Nicaragua. FDN Leader Adolfo Calero Portocarrero says he is close to Unking forces with the Revolutionary Democratic Alliance (ARDE), another contra group operating in southern Nicaragua. The chiefs of two Miskito Indian rebel groups remain at odds, but disgruntled commanders in both camps are trying to forge an alliance on the battlefield. Though many divisions remain, the FDN is gradually exerting its control over the entire contra movement. "There is an awakening toward the necessity of a joint effort by all the forces," says Calero.
Many contras, however, are barely surviving. Times have been hardest for Eden Pastora Gomez, the volatile leader of an ARDE branch that at one time had as many as 2,500 men. Over the past few months, hundreds of his supporters have sought refuge in Costa Rica, where many of them have sold their $1,000 automatic weapons for as little as $100. "In the best month, we got $600,000 from the gringos," recalls a Pastora aide. "Now, we get nothing. If one of us manages to scrape together $5,000, we buy rice and maybe 20,000 rounds of ammunition." Last month Pastora sought temporary asylum for himself and 700 of his followers in Costa Rica, but the authorities refused him.