"" Once again the communist "virus- created by the Soviets was spreading throughout Latin America. The FSLN was rapidly growing because there was many supporters and the popularity of the FSLN was large. "Once in power, the Sandinistas quickly set about building their armed forces and transforming their rag-tag guerrilla army into a well-equipped professional military."" With the Soviets on their side, Nicaragua indeed became militarily powerful when compared to the rest of the Central American countries. The infantry forces were equipped with AK-47 assault rifles, the Army was facilitated with T-5 tanks and with PT-76 tanks which was amphibious; the Air Force received many helicopters and jet fighters. They prepared themselves very well because they knew that an opposite force would soon stand up against them. The United States prepared an opposing force that fought against the Sandinistas. They were known as the "contras-, a guerrilla force supported financially and militarily by the United States to overthrow the Sandinista government. The U.S. knew that the contras where too weak for the Sandinistas, so on July 4, 1985 the U.S. along with the contras invade Nicaragua and use heavy artillery to destroy the FSLN army. This was the beginning of what is known as the Nicaraguan War in which 1,580 Americans lost their lives in a period of 3-4 years.
Another nation in Latin America that was attacked by communist guerrilla forces was El Salvador, located in between of Guatemala and Honduras in Central America. Communists influences began when a Marxist, named Agustan Farabundo MartÃ, returned to El Salvador (after leaving the country to Guatemala for two years) as a representative of International Red Aid (Socorro Rojo) so that he can support the communist workers' movement. El Salvador was known very well for its coffee, when the Great Depression struck the U.S. it also affected El Salvador because the average price of a coffee was $15.