Enrique Bermúdez

Enrique Bermúdez Varela (December 11, 1932 – February 16, 1991), known as Comandante 380, was a Nicaraguan soldier and rebel who founded and commanded the Nicaraguan Contras. In this capacity, he became a central global figure in one of the most prominent conflicts of the Cold War.

Bermúdez founded the largest Contra army that fought against Nicaragua's Sandinista government; in the war, the Contras were supported by the US and the Sandinistas were supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba. From 1979 until the end of the military conflict in 1990, Bermudez was the Contras' top military commander. In addition to being responsible for all of the Contras' military operations, Bermúdez ultimately helped manage the Contras' transition to an opposition political party in the early 1990s after the second election in post-Somoza Nicaragua ended in defeat for the Sandinistas. The first election, held in 1984 with alleged severe irregularities, resulted in a victory for the Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas; it was the rejection of this questionable outcome that led the Contras to continue their insurgency until Ortega and the Sandinistas were ultimately ejected from office in a peaceful and Democratic transfer of power in the 1990 Nicaraguan elections.

On February 16, 1991, Bermudez was assassinated in Managua.