sentences:  U.S. funding for the Contras, who opposed the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, was obtained from covert sources.The U.S. Congress did not authorize sufficient funds for the Contras' efforts, and the Boland Amendment barred further funding.In 1986, in an episode that became known as The Iran–Contra affair, the Reagan administration illegally facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo, in the hope that the arms sales would secure the release of hostages and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.