Customer Reviews

The Death of Ben Linder: The Story of a North American in Sandinista Nicaragua

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"Kruckewitt cuts through the turbulent politics of the 80's in Central America to tell the story of one young man's dream against the back drop of love, war and assassination.

With great care towards historic detail, Kruckewitt has performed a scholarly service to any student of history, as well as bringing to life the day to day struggle of this poor Latin American country under siege and those volunteers who flocked from allover the world to lend aid.

Kruckewitt's tale builds suspensefully, chapter after chapter as the thumbscrews of the United State's illegal war against Nicaragua tighten against modest social change and on Linder's personal journey into the Sandinista revolution. Kruckewitt reveals the effects of Washington's corrupt political policy that ultimately ends in the murder of this dedicated man and his Nicaraguan companions -poignantly told in a heartbreaking narrative that takes you deep into the Nicaraguan mountains filled with danger and hope. As the body count rises around him, Linder, an engineer, races against time to complete his small hydro-electric project in the rural village of El Cua - the ever increasing threat of death from military attacks takes on metaphorical proportions of David and Goliath. As those struggling to build and benefit from the tiny power plant are picked off, one by one, by the U.S. sponsored, trained and directed mercenaries known as the "Contras" we are swept breathlessly to his death.

This is a riveting, suspenseful drama, a study in courage and hope - hope in the face of the an enemy both ideological and lethally real. For those wishing to understand the passions, conflicts and historic context of the Nicaraguan controversy, set in a gripping , tragic context - read this book."

Evelyn Tully Costa Four Corners Radio/NPR Freelancer

If you are one of the many people who risked their lives when they traveled to Central America during the 1980's this book is for you! If you missed that experience but want to know what would motivate someone to risk their lives for peace and social justice by going to Nicaragua and participating in the revolution then, this book is for you!

During the 1980's U.S. foreign policy in Central America was driven by an obsessive effort to overthrow the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The Sandinistas had overthrown a dictator and were developing a society that put people before profits. They set up free health care, carried out a massive literacy campaign, and gave land to small farmers.

This threat of "a good example" was countered by the U.S. which created a mercenary army (the Contras) who set out to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Tactics included killing teachers, destroying health clinics, and forcing the Sandinistas to spend more and more of their resources on the military.

Ben Linder was an engineer from Portland who put his life on the line to support the people of Nicaragua. Ben was also a clown and often put on his red nose and clown make-up to juggle and unicycle in poor neighborhoods, where children had never seen a clown. He worked in a small rural village in Northern Nicaragua, maybe 30 miles from my communities sister city of Telpaneca, near the Honduran border. Like the Fresnan's who built a school in Telpaneca during the Contra War, Ben was working on a hydroelectric project trying in a positive way to support the revolution. THE DEATH OF BEN LINDER, THE STORY OF A NORTH AMERICAN IN SANDINISTA NICARAGUA is an insightful book that reminds us why people are willing to put their lives on the line for a cause they believe in. It shows the tragic results of U.S. foreign policy that seeks to make the world safe for corporations seeking to maximize profits.

Besides being a gripping story told well, this is the most important book yet about Sandinista Nicaragua, the US not so covert war against it, and the anti-interventionist movement in the United States (and other countries). I had to read it in small doses as it brought back the terror and anguish I experienced working in the war zone during the same period. For anyone who did, it is impossible not to feel that Ben Linder died in our place, and that we must never forget his sacrifice lest we forget the still unresolved crimes against humanity committed in our name.

This book offers an intimate view into Ben's life and dreams while he worked in Nicaragua. It effectiveley portrays what it was like for Ben and his co-workers to work in rural development while under threat of attack from the US organized Contra forces. The book gives clear insite into the motivations that kept Ben and others from giving into that threat. I highly recommend this book.

A vivid description of a young American's idealistic determination to bring to a Nicaraguan village electricity created by a hydroelectric source in a flowing stream. Worshipped by families and government officials, he worked valiantly and continuously at his task only to be killed by contra military personnel.

An important documentary. .

Anyone who wishes to understand the current administration's policies needs to read this book. At the time of Linder's assassination, the first George Bush declared his death okay because he was "on the other side". Pat Robertson blessed and funded his killers. The US State Dept. interviewed and released them. Their US controller in Honduras, Negroponte, remains big in the Bush administration and just got the CIA head, Goss, replaced after a personal conflict.

I was in Nicaragua at the time with WItness for Peace working as a photo lab technician and translator. I received the first photographs of Ben's body and tried to recover something from the very poor focussing. I also served as translator as a US journalist from a major New York newspaper did an in depth article on Linder. I am very grateful for this book. We must never forget those times, nor Ben, a courageous, unarmed wtieness for peace and justice and progress. Never forget. Learn the truth. ACT.

This book contains page after page of detailed accounts of attacks by the U.S.-bought-and-paid-for FDN-Contras, which can ONLY be described as terrorism: military assaults on agricultural co-ops (with loss of men, women & children and burning of health centers and private homes); assassinations and kidnapping of health workers and teachers (mostly women), as they walk from village to village in the Segovia Mountains; public-transport buses hitting land mines; and dynamiting of food caches and fuel caches. I would like to hear a Reagan fan dispute the veracity of these accounts!

So the U.S. is currently locked into its own "War On Terrorism", while the new "Sec. Def." of the U.S., Robert Gates, played a major role in sponsorship of terrorism, as he was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra affair.

Ben Linder and his great internacionalist cohorts, especially Don Macleay (a genius) and Mira Brown, are real heroes.

And how many times in the U.S. press do you read that Ortega "has renounced his Marxist-Leninst" past? Well, the Sandinistas always advocated a mixed economy and did indeed hold a fair election in 1984. Which is why such an individual as Reagan ever gained popularity- because of the lies that are spread about.

So, I highly recommend this book as a great source for knowing what it was like to be on the ground in the Segovia Mtns. during Reagan's War.

This book doesn't try very hard to hide its leftist agenda, but even if that's what you're looking for, this book is poorly written and an uninteresting read. I got the feeling that a family member or an ex-girlfriend commissioned it. This book sells itself as a persona-based history of that period in Nicaragua. It's weak on facts and gave me the feeling that Linder was too. Maybe it was poorly researched or maybe he really was just clowning around. Depressing on all fronts. Don't bother.

Longtime pro-Sandinista activist Joan Kruckewit's apotheistic account of "red-diaper" baby, part-time clown and part-time Sandinista militia man (read the AP, LA Times and Dallas Morning News accounts at the time of Linder's killing) is a truly painful exercise in dreadful, warmed over "Sandalista" tripe. Tendentious, poorly written and dull, and playing fast and loose with the facts. The ultimate critique must be that the red and black mafia for which Ben Linder gave his life hasn't won an election since 1984 and is a totally discredited and corrupt political force. A really misleading and mediocre book about a controversial period in Latin American politics that polarized America.

The book is, predictably, awash in Left Wing garbage. I would not waste my time with it if I were you. Linder simply made the choice to align himself with the wrong people, namely, Red Danny Ortega's Communist punks. Ortega was in bed with the USSR, and why anyone would support Ortega's regime is beyond comprehension. President Reagan came along just in the nick of time. Too bad Linder got in the way, but sometimes we make bad choices that are very costly.