Joe Biden was a prominent and outspoken opponent of the Reagan administration’s dirty wars in Central America throughout the 1980s, specifically in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Despite his opposition to the administration’s policies, Biden at times flirted with support for President Ronald Reagan’s wars if certain congressional and executive procedures were followed. When the CIA laid mines around three Nicaraguan harbors — an act of state terrorism for which the U.S. was convicted at the World Court of violating international law — Biden spoke out ferociously against the practice. “On the question of whether or not anyone should be mining the harbor, the answer is no,” Biden said in 1984. “I think it is outrageous. There is no reason to mine the harbor. It is an act of war.” Biden voted in support of an overwhelmingly bipartisan Senate rebuke, led by firebrand conservative Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, of the Reagan administration policy. Biden also voted against funding for the Contra death squads. But then things get murkier.
When the Reagan administration requested $28 million in additional aid to the Contras, Biden attempted to broker a compromise that would have approved the funds but “specified the types of activities the rebels could engage in and conditions under which the American funding could be ended.” As Biden said in 1984, “I attempted to fashion a compromise that clearly stated the goals of the program and prescribed very tightly what the Contras could and couldn’t do with the money.” After Biden’s attempt failed, he denounced the funding, saying, “Support for the Contras is alive and well in the Senate Intelligence Committee.” Biden frequently cast his opposition to supporting the Contras in terms of the risks to U.S. “prestige” and portrayed the policy as strategically problematic. At the same time, he occasionally reinforced the Reagan administration’s attempts to cast its policies in Nicaragua and El Salvador as countering Soviet influence.
Despite congressional restrictions, the administration kept funding the Contras, including by illicit means — leading to the Iran-Contra scandal in Reagan’s second term.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
Contact the author:
Latest Stories
License to Kill
CIA Was Behind Venezuela Drone Strike, Source Says
The December 24 drone strike in Venezuela is the latest in a long tradition of CIA interventions in Latin America — which often lead to destabilization and blowback.
Midterms 2026
AIPAC Is Retreating From Endorsements and Election Spending. It Won’t Give Up Its Influence.
The lobbying group is taking a quieter approach this midterms cycle, but it’s still seeking to keep Congress in Israel’s pocket.
License to Kill
Did Trump Just Confess to Attacking Venezuela?
“They have a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. We hit them very hard.”