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[[File:10th anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution in Managua, 1989.jpg|thumb|10th anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution in Managua, 1989]]
They engaged in a systematic campaign of terror among the rural Nicaraguan population to disrupt the social reform projects of the Sandinistas. Several historians have criticized the contra campaign and the [[Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration|Reagan administration's support for it]], citing the brutality and numerous human rights violations of the contras. LaRamee and Polakoff, for example, describe the destruction of health centers, schools, and cooperatives at the hands of the rebels,<ref>{{cite book|author=LaRamee, Pierre |author2=Polakoff, Erica|isbn=9780333751992|title=The Undermining of the Sandinista Revolution|year=1999|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|pages=141–205}}</ref> and others have contended that murder, rape, and torture occurred on a large scale in contra-dominated areas.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chomsky|first=Noam|title=Turning the Tide|url=https://archive.org/details/turningtideusint00chom|url-access=registration|year=1985|publisher=South End Press|location=Boston, MA}}</ref> The United States also carried out a campaign of economic sabotage, and disrupted shipping by planting underwater mines in Nicaragua's port of [[Corinto, Nicaragua|Corinto]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Truver |first=SC |title=Mines and Underwater IEDs in U.S. Ports and Waterways... |url=http://www.mast.udel.edu/873/Spring%202007/ScottTruves.pdf |page=4 |accessdate=2007-08-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428050841/http://www.mast.udel.edu/873/Spring%202007/ScottTruves.pdf |archivedate=2008-04-28 }}</ref> an action condemned by the [[International Court of Justice]] as illegal.<ref>[http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=360&code=nus&p1=3&p2=3&case=70&k=66&p3=5 Summary of the Order] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107024852/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=360&code=nus&p1=3&p2=3&case=70&k=66&p3=5 |date=2007-11-07 }} of the [[International Court of Justice]] of 10 May 1984</ref> The U.S. also sought to place economic pressure on the Sandinistas, and the Reagan administration imposed a full trade embargo.<ref>{{cite news|title=US Policy: Economic Embargo: The War Goes On|publisher=Central American University – UCA|url=http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2695|work=Envío|accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref> The Sandinistas were also accused of human rights abuses.<ref>Moore, John Norton (1987) ''The Secret War in Central America''. University Publications of America. p. 143. {{ISBN|978-0890939611}}</ref><ref>Miranda, Roger and Ratliff, William (1993) ''The Civil War in Nicaragua''. Transaction. p. 193. {{ISBN|9781412819688}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/92eng/chap.4b.htm|title=Annual Report 1992–1993|date=1993-03-12|publisher=Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|accessdate=2009-03-30}}</ref> Approximately 45,000 - 50,000 people lost their lives in the war, most of them civilians and more than 400,000 people were forced to flee Nicaragua as a result of the actions, violence and bloodbaths undertaken by the political groups and counter terror of cliques. The national debt increased and by the end of 1989, inflation in the country had reached 36,000%. In the 1980s, almost 50% of the state budget was used for military purposes, despite the fact that at that time, the state was not even able to meet the most elementary requirements of its people.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nicaragua|url=https://communistcrimes.org/en/countries/nicaragua|access-date=2020-10-23|website=Nicaragua {{!}} Communist Crimes|language=en}}</ref>
In the [[Nicaraguan general election, 1984|Nicaraguan general elections of 1984]], which were judged to have been free and fair, the Sandinistas won the parliamentary election and their leader [[Daniel Ortega]] won the presidential election.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/5/newsid_2538000/2538379.stm|title=1984: Sandinistas claim election victory|work=BBC News|date=November 5, 1984}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=NICARAGUAN VOTE:'FREE, FAIR, HOTLY CONTESTED'|work=The New York Times|page=30|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/16/opinion/l-nicaraguan-vote-free-fair-hotly-contested-089345.html}}</ref> The Reagan administration criticized the elections as a "sham" based on the charge that [[Arturo Cruz]], the candidate nominated by the [[Coordinadora Democrática Nicaragüense]], comprising three right wing political parties, did not participate in the elections. However, the administration privately argued against Cruz's participation for fear his involvement would legitimize the elections, and thus weaken the case for American aid to the contras.<ref>{{cite news|last=Taubman|first=Philip|title=KEY AIDES DISPUTE U.S. ROLE IN NICARAGUAN VOTE|work=The New York Times|page=12|date=21 October 1984|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/21/world/key-aides-dispute-us-role-in-nicaraguan-vote.html}}</ref> According to Martin Kriele, the results of the election were rigged.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kriele, Martin |chapter=Power and Human Rights in Nicaragua|year=1986|pages= 56–57, 63–67|title=Nicaragua: Das blutende Herz Amerikas |publisher=Piper}}</ref><ref>Leiken, Robert S. (December 5, 1985) [https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1985/12/05/the-nicaraguan-tangle/ "The Nicaraguan Tangle,"] New York Review of Books.</ref><ref>[https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1986/06/26/the-nicaraguan-tangle-another-exchange/ "The Nicaraguan Tangle: Another Exchange,"] New York Review of Books, June 26, 1986</ref><ref>Cuzan, Alfred G. (Summer 1994) Letter, Commentary, December 1985 and "The Latin American Studies Association vs. the United States," Academic Questions.</ref>
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