By Stalin Vladimir Centeno

(Stalin Centeno is a Nicaraguan print and radio journalist living in Managua. This article was first published by Chicago Alba Solidarity. Read the article in Spanish here.)

In a corner of northern Nicaragua, where the mountains embrace the dignity of humble people, a young engineer born in Portland, Oregon, decided to write his story with light, laughter, and blood. His name was Benjamín Linder, and although he came from far away, Nicaragua was his chosen homeland, his trench, and his last breath.

In the early 1980s, when the Sandinista Revolution had just overthrown the Somoza dictatorship, Ben, as he was affectionately known, made a life-changing decision: to leave behind the comforts of the First World, his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Washington, and his promising professional career in the United States, to come to a wounded but reborn country, to offer his hands, his intellect, and his soul.

Ben left behind no wife or children. His dedication was total, and his family was the Nicaraguan people. His parents, doctors committed to social causes, raised him in an environment of justice and solidarity. From a young age, he participated in rallies against the Vietnam War and in defense of civil rights. An anecdote that became endearing to those who knew him is that, in his days as a clown, he sometimes changed his name to “Uncle Ben” and juggled stones because he didn’t have circus balls. He said, “Joy doesn’t need a budget, only willpower.” That ability to transform want into laughter, and sadness into dignity, was his greatest act of magic.

Benjamín Linder didn’t come to give speeches. He came to build. With plans, tools, and a lot of love, he began working in the most remote areas of Nicaragua, particularly in San José de Bocay, Jinotega. There, where the state barely reached and where darkness was part of the routine, he designed and helped build small hydroelectric plants that continue to provide light to entire communities today. He wasn’t just an engineer: he was a sower of the future.

But Ben didn’t stop at cables and turbines. He also dressed up as a clown, with a red nose, big shoes, and a ridiculous hat, to bring joy to poor children, to whom he gave beanies, food, shelter, and tenderness. He visited hospitals, delivered vaccinations, collaborated with health brigades, and never asked for anything in return. What he wanted was clear: a more just world, a more dignified country, a homeland free from foreign impositions.

Ben understood the Revolution not only as a change of government, but as a profound act of love and social justice. His entire life was a denunciation of indifference. Every light bulb lit in the mountains, every laugh of a sick child, every drop of sweat he left on the dusty roads of the north was his manifesto of peace. He didn’t bring weapons, he brought ideas. He didn’t come to give orders; he came to learn, to give himself with humility, with tenderness, with courage.

On April 28, 1987, while working in the rural area of El Cuá, he was ambushed and murdered by the Nicaraguan Contras, the armed group financed by the CIA, intent on destroying the Revolution and returning power to imperialism’s lackeys. They cowardly murdered him, along with two Nicaraguan comrades, Sergio Hernández and Pablo Rosales. He died unarmed, with a notebook in his pocket and a work helmet on his head. That’s how they killed the good gringo. The one who didn’t come to exploit, but to liberate.

After his passing into immortality, Benjamin Linder remains a beacon and a seed. In acts of international solidarity, in community energy projects, in the brigade members who reach out to poor neighborhoods with love and conviction, his spirit lives on. And whenever someone asks if it’s worth it to give oneself for others, the answer lies in his example. Because he gave everything, even his life, without asking for anything.

Today, more than four decades after his sowing, Benjamín continues to illuminate the soul of this nation. Every child who studies with electricity in a remote area, every family who lights their stove without fear, every health worker who brings smiles to the poorest neighborhoods carries a little bit of Ben.

If the Revolution had an angel on a bicycle, an engineer with the soul of a clown, it would be him. And if the Nicaraguan people had to paint a picture of solidarity on a foreign face, it would be Benjamín Linder.

He didn’t die, we planted him. He didn’t leave, he stayed. And as long as there are children who dream, people who resist, and hearts that love freedom, Benjamin will live in every corner of Nicaragua.

* * * * *

Briefs
By Nan McCurdy

Tribute Paid to Luis Alfonso Velásquez
On May 2, in commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the killing of the child martyr Luis Alfonso Velásquez, representatives of the Ministry of the Family, the Luis Alfonso Velázquez Children’s Movement (MILAVF), and the Sandinista Youth Association placed flowers at the monument built in his memory, located in the large city park that bears his name in Managua. On May 2, 1979, Luis Alfonso died in the Eastern Hospital in Managua after fighting for his life for five days. His nickname was “El Grillo”, the Cricket, and during the last few years of his short life he was a messenger boy for the FSLN. The Somoza National Guard shot him in the head and ran him over on April 27 to silence his voice. The incident occurred in one of the streets near the Colonia Máximo Jerez. Luis Alfonso Velásquez Flores was born on July 4, 1969, to a working-class family. His parents were Daniel Velazquez and Valentina Flores. He was the youngest of six siblings. He began his primary school studies at the age of four and reached the third grade at the Máximo Jerez School in Managua. Carol Herrera, director of the Amor Program of the Ministry of the Family, said that, in honor of Luis Alfonso’s legacy, about 16,000 children nationally attend Child Development Centers and about 25,000 benefit from the Childhood at Risk Program. (La Primerisima, 2 May 2025)

Women’s Cooperatives Produce and Export Organic Coffee
Las Diosas is an organization composed of a number of feminist women-led coffee coops in the departments of Estelí, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Nueva Segovia and Madriz. Las Diosas was founded in 2012 and has 730 artisan, peasant, and Indigenous women members who produce and process annually 1,000 quintals of organic coffee which is exported to international markets in countries including the United States, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. These hard-working and enterprising women also produce honey, hibiscus flowers and their derivatives such as hibiscus wine, jam, instant tea and infusions, which are marketed nationally. In addition, they produce 11,960 bags of ecological mineralized compost per year, which is used for production, soil restoration and more – an initiative that allowed them to obtain the National Cleaner Production Award 2024. As part of their environmental focus, the cooperatives support the national campaign “Verde Que Te Quiero Verde” (Green I Want You Green), achieving by 2024 the planting of about 6,000 forest plants along the streams and rivers of the municipalities involved. The goal for 2025 is to plant 30,000 forest plants in coordination with MARENA-Estelí. The Sandinista government promotes the circular economy and the economic development of women, families and communities in harmony with Mother Earth. (La Primerisima, 1 May 2025)

Matagalpa Inaugurates National Agrarian University
On April 30, the authorities of the National Agrarian University and the Mayor’s Office of Matagalpa inaugurated the University Center for Agricultural Technology and Technologies for Agro-exports, named for Fr. Camilo Torres and located in the Molino Norte sector. In addition to classrooms, the center has laboratories for Biology, Chemistry, Agronomy, Anatomy, Soil and Water, and Information Technology. So far, the center has an enrollment of about two thousand students in Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. Degrees will be offered in Animal Husbandry, Agribusiness, Agroindustry and Agricultural Engineering. (La Primerisima, 1 May 2025)

Nicaragua Withdraws from UNESCO
On May 3, Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Valdrak Jaentschke sent a letter in the name of the Republic of Nicaragua to Director General Audrey Azoulay of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) stating that out of its deep national pride, Nicaragua rejected and condemned UNESCO’s recognition of the newspaper La Prensa with the 2025 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. UNESCO’s prize jury had hailed La Prensa’s work in the face of what it called “severe repression.” The Nicaraguan government’s letter said, however, that La Prensa has been a media outlet serving, promoting and defending United States military and political occupation and intervention in Nicaragua. It went on to say that it was shameful that UNESCO appeared as the promoter of actions that offend the deepest values of Nicaragua’s national identity noting that at all times, the people of Nicaragua have rejected foreign impositions, fought against them, and have triumphed. By means of the same letter, the Nicaraguan Government stated that it was withdrawing from UNESCO. (La Primerisima, 3 May 2025)

Karawala, an Ulwa Community, Celebrates 172 Years
On May 6 the National Assembly greeted with a special mention the 172nd anniversary of the founding of the community of Karawala by seven Ulwa families in the South Caribbean Coast. The Ulwa people are part of the Sumu Mayagna, Panamahka and Ulwa families, based mainly in the community of Karawala, in the Rio Grande de Matagalpa basin. The Indigenous community settled there in 1853 and has some 3,500 inhabitants. The decision of seven Ulwa families to found Karawala in 1853 preserved much of their culture going back possibly thousands of years and ensured their existence as a people. Only the Ulwa that moved to Karawala survived as a people. Others were culturally exterminated or assimilated.

The name “Ulwa” means “people of the south” in their language. They share many traditions with the Mayangna, another Sumu people. The Ulwa – also known as Woolwa or Sumu Ulwa – live mainly in the Autonomous Region of the Southern Caribbean Coast especially in the area of the Rio Grande of Matagalpa and its tributaries. There are also Ulwa communities in eastern Honduras. The Ulwa language belongs to the Misumalpa linguistic family (Sumalpa branch), related to the languages of the Miskitu and Mayangna (Sumu) peoples. Currently, Ulwa is in danger of extinction, as most of its speakers are older adults, and the new generations tend to use Miskito or Spanish. Traditionally, the Ulwa have been hunters, fishermen and subsistence farmers growing corn, beans, cassava and bananas. Their territory is tropical forest and rich in biodiversity. They live in small communities organized in territorial councils, under the autonomous government system of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast, promoted by the Sandinista Popular Revolution. Their worldview is linked to nature, with animist beliefs and a strong connection to rivers and forests. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/karawala-simbolo-del-pueblo-ulwa-cumple-172-anos/ (La Primerisima, 6 May 2025)

Families of León Receive Property Titles
Several families in the neighborhoods and communities of León Sur received titles to their property, thus confirming them as legitimate owners. The document guarantees legal security to the beneficiaries, who will now be able to get permits to build onto their homes. The young people of the Solidarity Promotion Group of the Sandinista Youth delivered the documents house to house. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/familias-de-leon-reciben-sus-titulos-de-propiedad/ La (Primerisima, 3 May 2025)

Virtual Courtrooms at Jorge Navarro Prison in Tipitapa
On May 6 the authorities of the National Penitentiary System located in Tipitapa, inaugurated virtual judicial hearing rooms for prisoners that can speed up their judicial processes. Seven courtrooms were inaugurated in the Jorge Navarro prison and three in the Integral Penitentiary System for Women, with technology enabling hearings to be carried out without delays. The project is part of the policy of ensuring that prisoners have due process in safe conditions and pleasant environments, hence the quality of these rooms that have state-of-the-art technology. Deputy Commissioner Aleyda Valle, director of national penal control, indicated that “in all of the penitentiaries, some 1,152 hearings are held monthly.” See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/crean-salas-virtuales-de-audiencia-en-penal-jorge-navarro-de-tipitapa/  (La Primerisima, 6 May 2025)