Peasants in Arms: War and Peace in the Mountains of Nicaragua, 1979-1994. LYNN HORTON: Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1998.

Abstract

Peasants in Arms is the study of the rural, mountainous Nicaraguan municipality of Quilalí. Located in the north-central province or departamento of Nueva Segovia, Quilalí, along with many other towns near the Honduras-Nicaragua frontier, experienced intense armed conflict in the 1980s. From bases inside Honduras, armed guerrillas (known as contras) opposing the Sandinista regime would target and attack populations and productive centers inside Nicaragua, later retreating back into Honduras. Beginning in the early eighties, thousands of rural residents supported the contra cause by joining the rebels or providing them with supplies.