Home > Boland Amendment

During the early years of the Reagan administration, a civil war raged in Nicaragua, pitting the elected pro- Marxist Sandinista leaders of the Nicaraguan government against CIA-financed Contra rebels. When the CIA carried out a series of acts of sabotage without congressional intelligence committees giving consent, or even being made aware beforehand, the Republican-controlled Senate became enraged, leading to the passage of the Boland Amendment and subsequent cutting off of funding for the Contras.

The Boland Amendment prohibited the federal government from providing military support "for the purpose of overthrowing the Government of Nicaragua." Aimed to prevent CIA funding of rebels opposed to the then Marxist elected government of Nicaragua, the Boland Amendment sought to block Reagan administration support for the Contra rebels. The amendment, however, was narrowly interpreted by the Reagan administration only to apply to U. S. intelligence agencies, allowing the National Security Agency, not so labeled, to channel funds to the Contra rebels.

In spite of the Boland Amendment, Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter and his deputy, Colonel Oliver North, possibly without informing the president, secretly diverted to the Nicaraguan contras millions of dollars in funds received from another secret deal which had had explicit presidential approval -- the secret sales of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to IranIran ( Persian: ) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia that until 1935 was referred to in the West as Persia''. It borders Pakistan (909km of border) and Afghanistan (936km) to the east, Turkmenistan (1000km) to the northeast, the Casp in spite of Reagan's public pledge not to deal with terrorists. In November, 19861986 is a common year starting on Wednesday. Events January January 1 Spain and Portugal enter the European Community January 1 Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands and is separated from the Netherlands Antilles. January 9 After losing a pa, a pro- SyriaThe Syrian Arab Republic is a country in Southwest Asia, bordering (from south to north) on Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. The border with Israel is subject to dispute, pending the resolution of outstanding conflicts over possession of the Golan newspaper in LebanonAlternate uses: see Lebanon (disambiguation The Lebanese Republic or Lebanon is a country in Southwest Asia, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered to be one of the fifteen lands that comprise the so-called " Cradle of Humanity". Lebanon is bor revealed the secret deal to the world. This came as Democratslogo depicts a stylized donkey in red, white, and blue. The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. The Party is currently the minority in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, as w won back control of Congress in the 1986 elections. In public hearings of a joint House-Senate committee convened for purposes of investigating the affair, angry Democrats sought to persecute Col. North for his role. The final report published after the hearings blamed Reagan's passive style of leadership for allowing the conduct of foreign policy without involvement of any elected official. However, a later Congress repealed the Boland Amendment and resumed funding. Elections in Nicaragua subsequently ousted the Marxists from power.

"An amendment to prohibit covert assistance for military operations in Nicaragua and to authorize overt interdiction assistance. The overt interdiction assistance consists of assistance furnished by the President on terms he may dictate to any friendly country in Central AmericaCentral America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. Some geographers classify Central America as a large isthmus, and in this geographic sense it sometimes in to enable that country to prevent the use of its territory for the transfer of military equipment from or through Cuba or Nicaragua or any other country. The assistance must be overt. For this overt aid $30,000,000 is provided for FY'83 and $50,000,000 is provided for FY'84."