Israel Galeano; Nicaraguan Contra Leader

Israel Galeano, 38, a former leader of the Nicaraguan Contra rebels who was known as Comandante Franklin. Galeano at one point was chief of staff for the U.S.-backed rebels who battled the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua through most of the 1980s. The civil war ended with President Violeta Chamorro’s 1990 election victory over the Sandinistas. After demobilizing his forces, Galeano was named to a government post on the Agrarian Commission, but he resigned in January, complaining of government corruption. In Managua, Nicaragua, on Monday of injuries suffered in a car accident.