Central American crisis

[4] However, the United States opposed the Nicaraguan revolution due to FSLN's communist sympathies and support from Castro's Cuba, and backed an anti-left wing Counter-revolutionary rebellion against the Sandinista government.

Fought between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or umbrella organization of five left-wing militias.

[9][10] In Guatemala, the Rebel Armed Forces (FAR) fighting against the government were based exclusively in rural areas, and were made up of a large peasant and indigenous population.

[13][14] Nevertheless, fears that the civil wars wracking its neighbors might spread to the country led to the murder, torture, and disappearances of any individual identified as a dissident, spearheaded by the Honduran army's death squad Battalion 3-16, who received training and support from Central Intelligence Agency of the United States.

In 1986, they began to see armed conflicts on the border with Nicaragua, which ended in the aerial bombardment of two Nicaraguan towns by the Honduran Air Force.

By 1998, Hurricane Mitch left more than 2 million Hondurans without a home or job, a good portion of the infrastructure that was totally damaged, dragging Honduras into more poverty.

[17] A common legacy of the Central American crisis was the displacement and destruction of indigenous communities, especially in Guatemala where they were considered potential supporters of both the government and guerrilla forces.

Later, Costa Rican President Óscar Arias succeeded in convincing the other Central American leaders to sign the Esquipulas Peace Agreement, which eventually provided the framework for ending the civil wars.