José Francisco Cardenal (born 1940) was a Nicaraguan businessman who became known as one of the most pugnacious opponents of the Somoza and then the Sandinista regimes of Nicaragua, and played an important role in the early days of the Contra rebellion.
A political triumvirate was formed, consisting of Cardenal and Mariano Mendoza from the UDN, and Aristides Sánchez from the Legion.
His dealings with his Argentine patrons, intended to show that this was a Nicaraguan struggle to which they were only advisors, they found insulting and ungrateful.
He also had contempt for the FDN's political executive committee in Miami, regarding them as a clique of corrupt, bickering petty politicians, who it turn began seeing him as a would-be caudillo.
However, he did not turn on the movement, and when Congress approved $100 million in aid to the Contras in 1986, he appeared at a press conference with the UNO (United Nicaraguan Opposition) leaders to join in the celebrations.