Lesson 22

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Question SA-3. Here is the text reference (p. 218/2):

Although the Contras never had a realistic chance of bringing down the Sandinista government, they were able to wreak considerable damage in northern Nicaragua, and forced the FSLN regime to divert a large percentage of its national budget to defense. In a short period of time the Nicaraguan military, with support from Cuba, the Soviet Union and its allies, became the strongest military force in Central America, and there were fears that an FSLN-Contra confrontation could spill over into a wider regional war involving all the Central American nations. Inevitably, this would also have involved the United States and the allies of Nicaragua.