Comandos
Subtitle: the CIA and Nicaragua's Contra Rebels
By: Sam Dillon.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: H. Holt
Published: 1991
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 393
Subjects: Fley, Luis.; United States. Central Intelligence Agency.; Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense.; Military assistance, American -- Nicaragua.; Counterrevolutionaries -- Nicaragua.; Nicaragua -- Politics and government -- 1979-1990.; Nicaragua -- Military relations -- United States.; United States -- Military relations -- Nicaragua.
Description: Recounts how the American government financed and orchestrated the ten-year civil war between the Sandinistas and the Contras. He focuses largely on the work of Luis Fley, the Contras' chief legal investigator who, uncovering tortures, rapes and murders committed by the Contra commanders against their own peasant troops, brought the criminals before a tribunal. Dillon analyzes the rivalry among U.S. agencies for control of the Contras--the CIA, the State Department, the Pentagon, the Agency for International Development and the National Security Council all had a crack at it--and shows how Lt. Col. Oliver North secretly aided and advised the Contra army during the U.S. military-aid cutoff from 1984 to 1986. The book provides a fresh look at the occasion of the most controversial U.S. foreign policy since Vietnam, an immensely complicated struggle in which some 30,000 died. (Oct.).
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 337-378) and index.
Narrative based largely on the personal experiences of Luis Fley.