During the 1980s , both the FSLN ( a leftist collection of political parties ) and the Contras ( a rightist collection of counter-revolutionary groups ) received Receiving large amounts of aid Assistance from the Cold War Hostile_encounter superpowers ( respectively , the Soviet Union and the United States ) .

It is associated Collaboration with the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War , with both sides receiving Receiving heavy external support in a proxy war Military_operation between the global Cold War superpowers .

Both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated Process_start massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war , and this led to Causation a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers .