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Title: Resistencia Nicaragüense records, 1983-1989.
Date (inclusive): 1983-1990
Collection Number: 92001
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Spanish and English
Physical Description:
28 manuscript boxes
(11.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The records pertain to an umbrella organization uniting the main components of the armed resistance to the Sandinista government
in Nicaragua in the 1980s. They are comprised largely of correspondence, communiqués, clippings, memoranda, press releases,
proposals, programs, and reports. Additionally, there are case files relating to legal proceedings involving some Resistencia
Nicaragüense officials.
Creator:
Resistencia Nicaragüense (Organization)
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Box 28 closed. Box FH16 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of the collection is open for
research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material
in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1992.
[Identification of item], Resistencia Nicaragüense records (Organization), [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution
Library & Archives.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Resistencia Nicaragüense records pertain to an umbrella organization uniting the main components of the armed resistance
to the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s. They are comprised largely of correspondence, communiqués, clippings,
memoranda, press releases, proposals, programs, and reports. Additionally, there are case files relating to legal proceedings
involving some Resistencia Nicaragüense officials.
Established in May 1987, Resistencia Nicaragüense succeeded an earlier coalition, Unidad Nicaragüense Opositora. As the political
wing of what was generally referred to as the
contra movement, Resistencia Nicaragüense was primarily concerned with public relations-disseminating information on the armed resistance,
and documenting what it considered to be the repressive nature of the Sandinista government. It was also responsible for formulating
policy positions for the resistance, including the elaboration of the negotiating stance of the
contras in various peace talks conducted with the Nicaraguan government.
The records are arranged in the order that they were received. The first eight boxes of the records contain detailed files
from the period leading up to the signing of the Sapoá Agreement between the Resistencia Nicaragüense directorate and the
Nicaraguan government. These files document the mediation efforts made at the time by Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, and
include proposals from both the Resistencia Nicaragüense directorate and the Sandinista leadership, as well as the text of
the Sapoá Agreement. There is information on the implementation of the agreement, and the subsequent breakdown of the cease
fire that had resulted from the accord.
The records also contain files relating to the case of
Linder v. Calero, a lawsuit brought against four
contra officials by the family of Benjamin Linder, an American aid worker killed in Nicaragua. More generally, the records include
many press releases and statements issued by the directorate of Resistencia Nicaragüense, as well as a number of reports on
military operations conducted by
contra forces. There are internal documents that reveal various disagreements between military commanders and the political leadership
of the resistance. The records also contain a substantial number of clippings relating to the Nicaraguan civil war and to
other political developments in Central America.
Some of the earlier materials in the records were generated by Unidad Nicaragüense Opositora. There are also numerous materials
in the records relating to the individual organizations that comprised Resistencia Nicaragüense, including the Fuerzas Democráticas
Nicaragüenses (FDN) and YATAMA (Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Aslatakanka), a resistance group formed by Indians from the Atlantic
coast of Nicaragua. There is little in the records about the various controversies relating to the Reagan administration's
supplying of arms to the contras, nor is there documentation of the broader question of American financial and logistical
aid to the resistance.
A separate collection of materials from the armed wing of the resistance, Ejército records, is closed, although a portion
of the collection is available for use on microfilm.
Resistencia Nicaragüense (Ejercito), Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Nicaragua -- History -- 1979-1990
Nicaragua -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- Nicaragua
Guerrillas -- Nicaragua
Nicaragua -- Politics and government -- 1979-1990