Argentina, the United States, and the Anti-Communist Crusade in Central America, 1977–1984

“Full of astounding detail drawn heavily from interviews with participants, this book reveals how the principals of Argentina’s dirty war organized and funded the early anti-Sandinista struggle from the remnants of the Nicaraguan National Guard. Anyone interested in counterintelligence, counterrevolution, low intensity conflict, Argentina or Nicaragua should read this remarkable book.”

John A. Booth, University of North Texas

“Armony breaks new ground as he recounts the transfer of Argentine techniques of state terrorism to Central America in the 1970s and early 1980s and sheds light on eventual Reagan Administration complicity in that phenomenon. An important contribution.”

Robert E. White, U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, 1979–81

“This book not only documents Argentina’s involvement in Central America and the U.S. role in stimulating it, but also provides a unique opportunity for policymakers and others to understand the perils of using strategies which ultimately threaten international peace and stability.”

Margaret E. Crahan, Dorothy Epstein Professor, Hunter College

“[Armony’s] account of the regionalization of counterrevolution and repression is a major addition to the historical record of the most controversial covert war of the 20th century.”

Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst, the National Security Archive and co-editor of The Iran-Contra Scandal: The Declassified History

Ariel Armony focuses, in this study, on the role played by Argentina in the anti–Communist crusade in Central America. This systematic examination of Argentina’s involvement in the Central American drama of the late 1970s and early 1980s fine–tunes our knowledge of a major episode of the Cold War era.

Basing his study on exhaustive research in the United States, Argentina, and Nicaragua, Armony adroitly demolishes several key assumptions that have shaped the work of scholars in U.S. foreign policy, Argentine military politics, and Central American affairs.