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Category: Politics

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Contra soldiers during a cease fire in Yamales, Honduras. Photo by Jason Bleibtreu/Sygma

The Contras Murdering Their Own: A Grisly Retribution

In 1983, leaders of the CIA-financed Nicaraguan contra army ordered the detention of four field officers accused of insubordination, graft and murder. Argentine and Honduran military officers interrogated the detained, and then the rebel general staff ordered them executed. With dozens of rebel fighters looking

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From the Cold War to the Drug War

As Moscow’s satellites spin wildly out of control, all the world’s eyes are focused on Checkpoint Charlie, Wenceslas Square, and Europe’s leap into the post-Yalta future. But what about the rest of the world? If the Cold War is ending in Europe, can the Third

Lech Walesa, Solidarity chairman, on his way to address striking shipyard workers in Gdansk in 1988. AP/Wide World Photo.

Growing Up: Solidarity’s Turbulent Times

May 15-20, 1989:   A week of highs and lows for Lech Walesa. In Strasbourg, France, the Council of Europe honors him with a human-rights award. In ceremonies there, he is accorded the protocol usually reserved for heads of state. Before Mass at the Strasbourg

Contras look for a clearing in the jungle moments after a Sandinista ambush in Rio Yamilita, Honduras during February, 1987. Photo by Jason Bleibtreau/Sygma

Rebellion Among The Rebels

When several angry Nicaraguan contra field commanders last year challenged Enrique Bermudez, the rebel army’s “Supreme Commander,” their first tactical move reflected the dynamics of power within the anti-Sandinista movement: they called the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa to request a meeting with the CIA station

A protest outside Chile's National Congress. Photo by Miguel Angel Larrza.

Chile’s Lost Generation

We were the generation that thought we had the world in our hands. We were building a new country, and we gave our all to the cause. We lived and felt intensely, every moment. Estela Ortiz, 39, a communist youth activist during the socialist government