From Contra Rebel to Auto Mechanic in Florida

MIAMI –
At the end of Nicaragua’s civil war, Juan Gregorio Rodriguez traded his life as a Contra rebel for that of auto mechanic in Florida. He kept in touch with other rebels and supported their political efforts, but mostly from afar.That changed in 2006, when the Contras’ nemesis, Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, was elected president, 16 years after his Soviet-backed government lost power in a vote that ended the guerrilla conflict in which some 30,000 people died.

His return to power has galvanized dozens of former Contras in the United States to plunge back into the politics of their Central American homeland, lobbying for support from the U.S. Congress and joining anti-Ortega movements with former colleagues in Nicaragua. Some even warn darkly that armed resistance is again a possibility.

What really disturbs these former Contras is Ortega’s plan to revive Sandinista neighborhood watch committees, which became his eyes and ears during his first presidency. Rodriguez and some other ex-Contras also feel betrayed by compromises made by their former comrades in arms since the war. Some have even joined the Sandinistas: Ortega’s vice president, Jaime Morales, is a former Contra spokesman.

“Many of our former leaders sold out to the Sandinistas. The leaders in the field were left to help the families of those who fought in the resistance,” said the wiry Rodriguez, who lives in Miami and was once known as Comandante Camilo. Now they wonder how “we’ve lost to the same enemy we fought,” he said.

Today’s Contras are a shadow of the movement the CIA built around a core of former soldiers who had served the dictatorship toppled by the Sandinistas in 1979. With U.S. arms and funds smuggled into Nicaragua from clandestine bases in neighboring Honduras, it grew into one of Central America’s largest guerrilla armies.

But continued support despite a congressional ban damaged the Reagan administration’s reputation, and the Contras disbanded before the 1990 election led to three consecutive anti-Sandinista governments.

Some entered politics. Some continued to fight as irregulars, demanding benefits for ex-fighters or as bandits. Many struggled for jobs in a Nicaraguan economy devastated by years of war and muddled Sandinista policies. And a few left for the United States, even as other refugees were returned home.

The newly energized Contras in Florida say their opposition will be peaceful, but some suggest they could rearm if Ortega attempts to reinstate socialist policies.

“We are trying to focus on civic efforts, to build political leaders,” said Salvador Marin, a surgeon who treated Contra rebels in the mountains during the 1980s. “When we started, we had pistols and hunting rifles and no experience. Through the years, we gained that experience and still have it … A true war would depend on how extreme are the conditions imposed by Ortega.”

But Nicaragua’s army chief, Gen. Omar Halleslevens, says he sees no sign of Contras rearming there.

Source: Miami Herald

I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict he’s probably not a Hillary voter.

I have to agree with Comandante Camilo that restarting the neighborhood spy program is not a good sign.