Enrique Bermúdez

Who was Enrique Bermúdez?

Enrique Bermúdez Varela was a Nicaraguan who founded and commanded the Nicaraguan Contras. In this capacity, he became a central global figure in one of the most prominent conflicts of the Cold War.

Bermúdez founded the largest Contra army in the war against Nicaragua's Marxist Sandinista government, which was supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba. From 1979 until the end of the military conflict in 1990, Bermudez was the Contras' top military commander. In addition to being responsible for all of the Contras' military operations, Bermúdez ultimately helped manage the Contras' transition to an opposition political party in the early 1990s, after the Sandinistas' ultimately yielded to demands for elections in the country.

On February 16, 1991, Bermudez was assassinated in Managua.