Saturday, April 29, 2017

To Die in Nicaragua, thoughts on the 30th anniversary of Ben Linder's assassination.

Mural of Ben Linder in Esteli, Nicaragua by Mike Alewitz. Painted in  1989. 

Thirty years ago, on April 28th, a young American was killed in Nicaragua. His name was Ben Linder and he was twenty-seven years old.
Because Ben Linder studied circus arts, he was almost certainly knowledgable about the archetype of the holy fool. While a fool is someone who behaves in ways that invite ridicule, the holy fool is someone who uses foolish behavior  to reveal deeper truths and show a better way. The holy fool has taken many forms in different times and places. In early Christianity fools for Christ, sometimes naked, roamed from town to town testing the populace’s capacity for compassion. Shakespeare's plays are full of fools who make king’s laugh only to realize mid-guffaw that the laugh is on them. The holy fool is prominent in Native American cultures tweaking vanity and self-importance at every turn. Circus clowns come on like buffoons , but by the end of the show the audience realizes they are the smartest ones under the big top.
Ben Linder dressed up as a clown, peddled his unicycle, and juggled in the Nicaraguan countryside  while a US funded war was raging. He was assassinated by Contra troops. The term “assassinated” is the correct one to use. The Contras were funded, trained, and supervised by the CIA in order to overthrow the Sandinista revolution. It strains credibility to think that these mercenaries would have killed a well known American Citizen on their own. You can bet someone gave the nod to take out Ben Linder. 
It is apparent that Linder was also a hell of an engineer, since in the middle of a war, he managed to get a damn constructed that brought electricity to El Cuá, the village where he had settled. However it was his clowning that caught the imagination of people in Nicaragua and the US. He is depicted on murals across Nicaragua and he is always shown on his unicycle, made up, red nose in place, objects flying from his hands into the air. He performed for children during vaccination campaigns, distracting them, making them laugh, filling them with wonder while they waited for their drops and injections. However, as a holy fool, his true audience was the US and the world. He modeled that the US could relate to Nicaragua in a better way. It was possible to be loving, helpful, collaborative, and delightful. Instead of hateful, destructive, imperialistic and brutal. This example was more threatening and enraging to then president Ronald Reagan and his cronies than building damns. 
The CIA set the policy during the Contra war of killing non-combatants who were working to make Nicaragua a better place. They kill teachers, literacy workers, farmers, medical personnel, and a holy fool; a sweet, decent, American kid.


        On the anniversary of Ben Linder's assassination I visited his grave with a group organized by Casa Ben Linder. Several people on the trip had known him well and they shared personal stories. One man told me they had been friends as young men and that his first child had been born two days after Ben's death. Another woman said that he had lived with her family for an extended period. Later, I heard these two people talking and the woman said to the man, I remember you. You use to come over to play pingpong with Ben on my grandfather's table. Many people spoke of Ben in political, anti-imperialistic terms, but what came across more clearly for me was the personal connection that he had with his friends in his adopted country. His grave is in a cemetery on a hillside on the outskirts of Matagalpa. The grave is not easy to find and it is a steep climb to get to it. On this day, there was a large, beautiful arrangement of roses provided by the Sandinistas in recognition of his status as a national hero and martyr.


"He was the sunrise in the smile of the children who saw him in his clown suit, illuminating the future we are constructing together in the new Nicaragua", Daniel Ortega. 

Now it is 2017, and thirty years later, the US continues to meddle in the internal affairs of this tiny, impoverished country. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida and Albio Sires, Democrat of New Jersey, recently introduced, for the second year in a row, the NICA Act. This bill would block international credit to Nicaragua unless it complied with the US’s wishes about how it runs itself. Nicaragua is not perfect. We know this because no country in the world is. However, sovereign states, especially those like Nicaragua who are not a threat to anyone, have the right to struggle with their own imperfections without outside interference.

The anniversary of Ben Linder’s assassination would be an appropriate time for for us to swear off imperialism toward Nicaragua or any other country.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Adios, viejo

This story was written in Spanish and translated into English. It is a children's story for adults about saying goodbye.


Parte 1
En la mañana, cuando el viejo estaba todavía acostado en su cama, llegaron todos sus hijos, nietos y bisnietos para decir adios.
Su hijo mayor le preguntó: ?Papi, a donde vas?
El viejo le respondió: No se.
El bisnieto mas joven le dijo: ?Papi, porque se va?
“Es mi tiempo, mi principe. Escuchen me, nos vamos a ver otra vez. No se donde. No se cuando, pero nos vamos a ver en un día muy alegre.”

(In the morning, when the old man was still laying in his bed, all his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren came to say goodbye.
His oldest son asked him, "Dad, where are you going?"
The old man responded, "I don't know."
His youngest great grandchild said, "Pop, why are you going?"
"It is my time, my prince. Listen to me, we are going to see each other again. I don't know where. I don't know when, but we will see each other on a very happy day.")


Parte 2

Mas tarde en la mañana, cuando el viejo estaba sentado tomando un cafecito en  ropa interior, llegaron todos sus amigos para decir adios.
?Loco, a donde vas? le pregunto Memo.
El viejo le respondió: No se, hermano.
Pancho le dijo: ?Maje, porque te vas?
“Es mi tiempo, mis compadres. Escuchen me, nos vamos a ver otra vez. No se donde. No se cuando, pero nos vamos a ver en un día muy amistoso.”

(Later in the morning, when the old man was sitting and drinking a cup of coffee in his underware, all his friends arrived to say goodbye.
"Crazy-one, where are you going?" Memo asked him.
The old man responded, "I don't know, brother."
Pancho said to him, "Buddy, why are you leaving?"
"It is my time, my companions. Listen to me, we are going to see each other again. I don't know where. I don't know when, but we will see each other on a very friendly day.")

Parte 3

A medio día, cuando el viejo estaba almorzando, vestido con pantalones, llegaron todos sus amantes para decir adios.
La flaquita y la gordita dijeron: ?Desgraciado, a donde vas?
“No se.”
La negrita y la morena le preguntaron: ?Porque se va, maldito?
“Es mi tiempo, mis amores. Escuchen me, nos vamos a ver otra vez. No se donde. No se cuando, pero nos vamos a ver en un día muy caliente.”

(In the middle of the day, when the old man was eating his lunch, wearing his pants, all his old girlfriends came to say goodbye.
The lithe one and the voluptuous one said, "You wretch, where are you going/"
"I don't know."
The black one and the brown one asked him, "Damn you, why are you going?"
"It is my time, my loves. Listen to me, we are going to see each other again. I don't know where. I don't know when, but we will see each other on a very horny day.")


Parte 4

En la tarde, cuando el viejo estaba acostado en su hamaca, vestido en pantalones y camisa, llegaron todos sus enemigos para decir adios.
Chancho le preguntó: ?Hijo de la grand puta, a donde vas?
“No se.”
“?Porque se va, imbecil?”
“Es mi tiempo, hombres. Escuchen me, nos vamos a ver otra vez. No se donde. No se cuando, pero nos vamos a ver en un día muy indulgente.”

(In the afternoon, when the old man was laying in his hammock, dressed in his pants and shirt, all his enemies showed up to say goodbye.
Piggy asked him, "You son of a whore, where are you going?"
"I don't know."
"Why are you going, asshole?"
"It is my time, fellows. Listen to me, we are going to see each other again. I don't know where. I don't know when, but we will see each other on a very forgiving day.")


Parte 5

  A noche, cuando el viejo estaba esperando su tiempo, vestido con toda su ropa bonita incluyendo su sombrero elegante, su cinturón de piel de culebra, y su corbata con la piedra de turquesa, llego la señora.
Ella le dijo: Yo se donde vas, mi amor.
“Si.”
“Yo se porque tu se va.”
“Si.”
“Llevamé contigo.”
“Si. Por supuesto! En mi corazón. En mi sangre. En mis huesos. Escuche me, mi vida, nos vamos a ver otra vez. No se donde. No se cuando, pero nos vamos a ver en un día muy glorioso.”

El viejo subió volando en el aire, encima del techo, encima de los arboles, encima de los nubes, y se desapareció. 

(At night, when the old man was waiting for his time, dressed in his prettiest clothes, including his elegant hat, his snakeskin belt, and his tie with the turquoise stone, his wife came.
She told him, "I know where you're going."
"Yes"
"I know why you are going."
"Yes"
"Take me with you."
"Yes. Of course! In my heart. In my blood. In my bones. Listen to me, my life, we are going to see each other again. I don't know where. I don't know when, but we will see each other on a very glorious day.

The old man flew up into the air, above the roof, above the trees, above the clouds, and disappeared.)