My History Can Beat Up Your Politics RONALD REAGAN PART FOUR: Central America, Lebanon, Poland and Grenada
Mar 9, 2026
A brisk tour of Reagan's foreign adventures in Central America, Lebanon, Poland and Grenada. Stories cover U.S. backing for brutal regimes, covert aid to rebels and a controversial harbor-mining scandal. The Beirut peacekeeping disaster and the Grenada invasion get sharp attention. Trade ties with China and the personal influence behind key decisions also come into focus.
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Reagan's Hangar Handshake With Ríos Montt
- Ronald Reagan warmly received Guatemalan leader Ríos Montt and removed restrictions on military aid after a handshake in a Honduran hangar.
- Decades later Ríos Montt was convicted for genocide tied to a "beans and guns" policy that targeted Mayan villages during the 1980s.
Covert Mining Produced A Political Disaster
- The CIA-mining of Nicaraguan harbors was intended to intimidate shipping but caused real damage and international outrage.
- Congress responded with bipartisan condemnation and the Boland Amendment restricting U.S. support for the Contras.
Covert Support Helped Keep Solidarity Alive
- U.S. support for Solidarity combined CIA clandestine supplies, AFL-CIO logistics, and Vatican channels to sustain underground media and organization in Poland.
- That multifront pressure helped weaken Poland's communist government and preserved Solidarity until reforms returned in the late 1980s.