Boland Amendment

Edward Boland (Right), Author of the Boland Amendment

The Boland Amendment is a term describing a series of U.S. legislative amendments passed between 1982 and 1986, aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. The Reagan Administration supplied funding and military training to the Contras until revelations of human rights abuses led Congress to cut off aid through the Boland Amendment.[1] The Boland Amendment was passed over a series of five legislative amendments that increasingly restricted forms of aids and the source of the aid.[2]

The most significant effect of the Boland Amendment was the Iran–Contra affair, during which the Reagan Administration circumvented the Amendment in order to continue supplying arms to the Contras.[3] This was achieved by funneling money to the Contras that was generated by secret arms sales to Iran. When revealed to the public, Congress attempted to prosecute Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter, U.S. Navy (USN), and his deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), for their direct role in the affair. President Ronald Reagan, while implicated, was not directly linked to the affair and avoided similar attempts at prosecution.[4]

  1. ^ "The Wars for Central America", We Begin Bombing in Five Minutes, University of Massachusetts Press, pp. 121–144, 2021-08-27, doi:10.2307/j.ctv1x675t8.11, retrieved 2024-11-25
  2. ^ Timbers, Edwin (1990). "Legal and Institutional Aspects of the Iran-Contra Affair". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 20 (1): 31–41. ISSN 0360-4918. JSTOR 20700112.
  3. ^ Douville, Alex (2012). The Iran-Contra Affair (Report). Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. pp. 87–148.
  4. ^ Douville, Alex (2012). The Iran-Contra Affair (Report). Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. pp. 87–148.

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