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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PARAMILITARY/Nicaraguan National Guard.md
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@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ aliases:
- National Guard
- Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Paramilitary"
tags:
- Organization
@ -20,23 +20,28 @@ start: 1925-01-01
end: 1979-07-17
location: "Managua, Nicaragua"
---
Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua (National Guard) was the military, police, and intelligence service of [[Nicaragua]] under the [[Anastasio Somoza|Somoza]] dynasty.[^2] Created by the [[United States|U.S.]] in the 1930s, the Guard served as the power base of the Somoza family's forty-six-year rule. Its officers formed the leadership core of the [[Contras]] after the [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] revolution.[^1]
Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua (National Guard) was the military, police, and intelligence service of [[Nicaragua]] under the [[Anastasio Somoza|Somoza]] dynasty.[^1] Created by the [[United States|U.S.]] in the 1930s, the Guard served as the power base of the Somoza family's forty-six-year rule. Its officers formed the leadership core of the [[Contras]] after the [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] revolution.[^2]
### Creation and U.S. Training
The U.S. created the National Guard in the 1930s and spent millions of dollars a year supplying weapons and training its officers in anticommunist counterinsurgency.[^1] Training took place at [[Fort Gulick]], [[Fort Benning]], and [[Fort Leavenworth|Leavenworth]]. Anastasio Somoza told U.S. ambassador [[Lawrence Pezzullo]] in 1979 that of approximately nine hundred Guard officers, "eight hundred or so belong to your schools."
The U.S. created the National Guard in the 1930s and spent millions of dollars a year supplying weapons and training its officers in anticommunist counterinsurgency.[^2] Training took place at [[Fort Gulick]], [[Fort Benning]], and [[Fort Leavenworth|Leavenworth]]. Anastasio Somoza told U.S. ambassador [[Lawrence Pezzullo]] in 1979 that of approximately nine hundred Guard officers, "eight hundred or so belong to your schools."
The Guard also encompassed the [[OSN|Oficina Seguridad Nacional (OSN)]], Somoza's secret police unit that monitored political dissidents. It managed the national police, state security and intelligence services, the postal service, and customs agency.
### Capuchin allegations, March 1977
In a March 3, 1977 telegram, the embassy in Managua under [[James D. Theberge]] reported a March 2 meeting with Somoza at which Theberge raised new charges by American Capuchin priests of recent National Guard massacres of 86 campesinos in two incidents northeast of Matagalpa. The telegram records that Somoza denied the charges and admitted that innocent bystanders, including women and children, sometimes had been killed in crossfire between the National Guard and FSLN guerrillas, especially in early 1976.[^3]
### Collapse
When Somoza fled Nicaragua on July 17, 1979, the vaunted National Guard collapsed within hours.[^1] Officers who could escape poured across the borders into [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]], and [[Costa Rica]], or sought refuge in the Colombian embassy in [[Managua]]. Those who could not escape were imprisoned or faced firing squads.
When Somoza fled Nicaragua on July 17, 1979, the vaunted National Guard collapsed within hours.[^2] Officers who could escape poured across the borders into [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]], and [[Costa Rica]], or sought refuge in the Colombian embassy in [[Managua]]. Those who could not escape were imprisoned or faced firing squads.
### Reconstitution as the Contras
The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] began reassembling the scattered National Guard brigades in 1980 under [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]], a former military attaché in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] who had been hired by the agency specifically for this purpose.[^1] The Legion of September 15, an early Contra group made up primarily of ex-National Guardsmen, was based in [[Guatemala]] and commanded by [[Ricardo Lau]] and Bermúdez. This group later became the core of the [[FDN]], the largest and most powerful Contra faction.[^2]
The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] began reassembling the scattered National Guard brigades in 1980 under [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]], a former military attaché in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] who had been hired by the agency specifically for this purpose.[^2] The Legion of September 15, an early Contra group made up primarily of ex-National Guardsmen, was based in [[Guatemala]] and commanded by [[Ricardo Lau]] and Bermúdez. This group later became the core of the [[FDN]], the largest and most powerful Contra faction.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 1: "A Pretty secret kind of thing"
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Glossary of Organizations and Locations
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Glossary of Organizations and Locations
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 1: "A Pretty secret kind of thing"
[^3]: Telegram 1032, Embassy in Nicaragua to Department of State, Managua, March 3, 1977, *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980*, vol. XV, doc. 60. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v15/d60