 The Contras carried out atrocities in Nicaragua to topple the leftist government there.Perpich was the plaintiff in the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court case "Perpich v. Department of Defense," which established that the U.S. Department of Defense could send state National Guard units overseas over the governor's objection.After leaving office in 1991, Perpich went to Zagreb, Croatia, to assist its post-communist government.