---
category: Paramilitary
location: San Salvador, El Salvador
start: 1980
summary: The FMLN was the leftist guerrilla army in El Salvador that received arms
  from the Sandinista government, providing the Reagan administration's stated justification
  for the Contra war.
tags:
- organization
- nicaraguan
- contra-war
---

The FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional) was the leftist guerrilla army in [El Salvador](/places/el-salvador/) that received arms from the [Sandinista](/organizations/sandinistas/) government, providing the Reagan administration's stated justification for the [Contra](/organizations/contras/) war. Halting Sandinista arms shipments to the FMLN was the official reason [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) director [William J. Casey](/people/william-j-casey/) gave to Congress when informing lawmakers of the decision to launch covert operations against [Nicaragua](/places/nicaragua/).[^1]

### Justification for the Contra War

The Reagan administration argued that the Contras were needed to interdict the flow of weapons from Nicaragua to the FMLN guerrillas in El Salvador. [Felix Rodriguez](/people/felix-rodriguez/) was initially involved in a counter-based counterinsurgency operation against the FMLN before being reassigned to manage the Contra resupply operation at Ilopango Air Base. The FMLN threat provided the political cover for the CIA's larger covert war against the Sandinista government, even as the Contra operation itself became entangled in drug trafficking.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6, Ch. 15.