The Contras were several groups of right winged terrorists who were supported by the United States and that were active between the years 1979 and 1990 in opposition to the socialist government in Nicaragua. During their war against the Nicaraguan government, the Contras committed several terrorist attacks and human rights violations towards the society.
The Iran-Contras affair was a secret US arm deal that traded different types of arms in order to free Americans who were held hostage in Lebanon wit the support of the Iran government, but the issue relied that the US government was also using some of the funds from the arm deal to support the Contras group in Nicaragua.