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Witness History: Germans kidnapped by Nicaragua's rebels

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Germans kidnapped by Nicaragua's rebels

02/07/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Germans kidnapped by Nicaragua's rebels

Two German left-wing activists recall their ordeal as hostages of Nicaragua's Contras

Two left-wing activists from Germany recall their 25-day ordeal as hostages of the US-backed Contra rebels, who were fighting Nicaragua's left-wing Sandinista government.

In the 1980s thousands of young activists from around the world flocked to Nicaragua to support the fledgling left-wing Sandinista revolution. They came to build houses, pick coffee, or work in local health centres. Some of the foreigners were caught in the middle of the ongoing civil war between the Sandinista government and right-wing rebels, or Contras, supported by the US government. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to two Germans who were kidnapped by the Contras in the summer of 1986 and held in the jungle for 25 days. 

Photo: Anti-Sandinista Contras practice military drills and exercises at military bases in Honduras (Getty Images)

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