Bermúdez Varela, Enrique (1932–1991)

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Bermúdez Varela, Enrique (1932–1991)

Enrique Bermúdez Varela (b. 11 December 1932; d. 16 February 1991), former colonel in the Nicaraguan National Guard and military commander of the Nicaraguan Democratic Forces (Fuerzas Democráticas Nicaragüenses—FDN), an anti-Sandinista counterrevolutionary organization. Educated primarily at the Military Academy of Nicaragua, Bermúdez entered the National Guard in 1952. As a military engineer, he occupied various positions within the Department of Transit and the Department of Roads. In 1965, Bermúdez served with the Inter-American Peace Force in the Dominican Republic and later obtained appointment as military attaché to the Nicaraguan embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1981, Bermúdez helped establish the FDN, a radical group devoted to the overthrow of the Sandinista government.

See alsoContras; Inter-American Organizations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Christopher Dickey, With the Contras: A Reporter in the Wilds of Nicaragua (1985).

Roy Gutman, Banana Diplomacy: The Making of American Policy in Nicaragua, 1981–1987 (1988).

                                        D. M. Spears