Eugene Hasenfus died this week. He had been part of a covert operation to supply weapons to the anti-Sandinista group known as the “contras.” As part of the operation, he was in an airplane shot down over Nicaragua while doing an arms delivery.
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His capture exposed a massive operation by the U.S. government to sell arms to Iran in exchange for freeing U.S. hostages taken by pro-Iranian militias in Beirut and use the money to fund the contras war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. It became known as the “Iran-contra” affair, or “Iran-contraGate.”
It reached the highest levels in the U.S. government. And led to a number of convictions (and presidential pardons.)
In our latest, we look into the history of Reagan’s wars in Central America, the Iran-contra scandal and subversion as foreign policy.
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