prep. Member of a counterrevolutionary force that sought to overthrow Nicaragua's left-wing Sandinista government. The original contras had been National Guardsmen during the regime of Anastasio Somoza (see Somoza family). The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency played a key role in training and funding the group, whose tactics were decried by the international human-rights community. In 1984 the U.S. Congress banned military aid to the contras; the efforts of the administration of U.S. president Ronald Reagan to circumvent the ban led to the Iran-Contra Affair. A general peace in the region was negotiated by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias Sánchez, and in 1990 Nicaraquan president Violeta Chamorro negotiated the contras' demobilization. See also Daniel Ortega
The setting off of mutual debt For example, if a company owes $100 to another company that is owed $30 by that company in turn, the company is allowed to set off the $30 against the $100 and make a net payment of $70