Contra Right-wing Nicaraguan revolutionary group active between 1979 and 1990. Supporters of the former dictator General Anastasio Somoza, ousted in 1979, the Contra aimed to overthrow the elected, left-wing Sandinista government. The Contra received financial and military assistance from the US government from mid-1986. Elections were subsequently held in Nicaragua in 1990, at which the US-funded Union of National Opposition (UNO), effectively the political wing of the Contra, was victorious. The Contra were officially disbanded, but social conditions within Nicaragua remained unstable. See also Iran-Contra affair

con·tra / ˈkäntrə/ (also Con·tra) • n. a member of a guerrilla force in Nicaragua that opposed the left-wing Sandinista government 1979–90, and was supported by the U.S. for much of that time.

contra against; adv. on or to the contrary XIV; prep., esp. in absol. use in pro and contra (abbrev. CON 3) for a motion (etc.) and against it XV; sb. the contrary or opposite; now only in per contra on the opposite side of the account, as a set-off XVI; orig. an It. banking term. — L. contrā against (adv. and prep.).

CONTRA

Against; conflicting; opposite.

A contra-balance is the amount in an account of a creditor that is the opposite of the usual balance of such an account. It is an account receivable (a debt owed to the creditor) but with a credit balance (an amount owed to the debtor greater than what is owed to the creditor). The creditor therefore owes the debtor money, the opposite of the normal debtor-creditor relationship.