out of bullets, he'd had only 130 to start with. It turns out the other 4 compas by the house were also running out. Oscar shot his last bullet, and had to withdraw, going down across the gully, up through a coffee plantaion on the other side, and climbed up through the brush near the penstock to the compas position up on the hill above. There he (got) one of the soldiers to give him 45 more bullets. He loaded a magazine and, and ran back to the house from a different direction, yelling "Rindanse, hijos de la granputa Guardia, aqui viene la refueza de El Cuá!" (Roughly translated, this means, give up you sons of whores Guard, here come the reinforcements from El Cuá!) and firing off several rapid-fire bursts. The contra's light machine fire continued, but from further away, and the mortars and grenades stopped - they were retreating. A few minutes later, reinforcements from El Cuá did get there, more than an hour after the attack had started, but the 11 people at the plant had already successfully defended it. At 2 a.m. Oscar had the plant running again and the lights back on in El Cuá. At 9 a.m. the next day he found Gilda and the kids. In the short time that Oscar and the other 4 compas withdrew from their positions by the house due to lack of bullets, some contra entered the house, smashing picture frames, a mirror, their a.m. radio, and a guitar, and stealing Oscar's other guitar, a tape recorder and several cassettes (a goodbye gift from Donald to Gilda), 2 new pairs of boots, a new pair of sneakers, several sets of clothing, their daughter's blanket, a dozen baby diapers, the kids baby bottles, the kids shoes, a multi-meter, and I don't remember what else. Oh yes, all the seeds fro the vegetable garden the house was thoroughly ransacked, the internal partitions have holes in them from the grenade. Eight of the sheets of tin in the roof are full of holes from the schrapnel, and 2 were blown all the way off. The sink was ripped off the wall, and the electric wiring ripped out in two spots. A pig they had been fattening up was blown to bits by a mortar, and the horena stove Gilda and I built last year was also filled with schrapnel, making fatal a serious case of cracking it already had. Gilda and Gregoria got away wiht the kids. Bruised and scratched from their retreat in the gully, but otherwise unhurt physically. At about 4 a.m. they got to a neighbors house, where they stayed until Oscar found them the next a.m. (He went down the gully, looking for their bodies). Oscar (has) been in a lot of combat before he was in the guerillas before the Sandinista victory in 1979 and then was in the new army's border guard for a year and a half, before he went back to civilian life and got a job building a small hydro-electric plant in El Cuá. But he'd never before been defending his own family, seen his own house hit by a rocket, seen it ransacked. And Gilda's never been through a combat before. She has trouble sleeping at night, has her remaining belongings packed up in one little knapsack so that if they are attacked agin she can take them with her. . .truly, she'd like to leave now, but doesn't know where else to go. Each of these attacks, though they had their toll of dead and material losses, were military defeats for the contra and victories for the organized self defense of the local people against great odds. The following Friday, the 27th of March, there was another attack, that ended as a severe loss to the zone. A few weeks earlier the local militia began a campaign, to recruit volunteers for a 3 month mobilization. The army in the zone was shorthanded due to the return to civilian life of 110 young men who had just completed their 2 years of obligatory military service. One hundred and thirty men volunteered for the 3 months from all over the zone, 30 of them from El Cuá. The company was sent to Acypol, about 100 km north of San Jose de Bocay, to protect a military construction crew that was putting in a new highway. The second night they were there, before they new the territory well, they were attacked by 1500 - 2000 guardia (4 full contra "task forces"). It seems that most people withdrew pretty quickly, faced with the uneven numbers. But some, including the officers from the military construction crew, and a lot of the militia crew, stayed there, trying to save the construction equipment. Twentythree of them died, 14 of them from El Cuá, and the 3 neighboring cooperatives. One of the dead was Miguel Centeno Castro, president of the cooperative in La Chata, eldest son of Don Cosme, the old man Benjamin lives with (a veteran of Sandino's army), and father of Gregoria, the 3rd plant operator. When she heard the news on Sat. she quit and went back to La Chata to live with her mom. Nine of them were buried in one mass grave on Sunday in the cemetary in El Cuá, the cemetary the towns citizens have dug a trench through, and where they do night time guard duty, anticipating a contra attack. That, thank goodness has been the last attack we've had. There have been combats since then, but all have been the army out pursuing the contra. I gave more detail about the attack on the plant because I know more about it. I'm sure that the people in each of the other attack also acted with heroism and are suffering emotionally and physically as a result. I really haven't even begun here to talk of the effects I see in Oscar and Gilda, and in myself . . . that perhaps is material for another, more personal letter. Oscar's determination to stay there, and keep the lights on in El Cua amazes and inspires me. Forensic pathology report Mayo, 2 de 1987. El suscrito Dr. Bayardo González Vargas, Médico Forence de Matagalpa, hace constar que conforme Constancia Médica del Hospital "Car-man Pomarez Ordőnez" de Apanần, el Cro. BENJAMIN ERNEST LINDER, fa lleció a consecuencia de heridas por arma de fuego. En el examen presentaba multiples lesiones puntiformes en región frontal derecha, arco supercilial y restos de la mitad superior de hemicara del mismo lado compatibles con heridas por Arma Blanca (Aguja). En máslo izquierdo en su tercio medio y distal en Bu cara externa y posterior, en región popitlia izquierda y cara interna de rodilla derecha, se aprecian fltiples lesiones puntiformes que parecen corresponder con heridas por arma de Fuego de baja velocidad (Perdigo nes). En antebrazo izquierdo presenta herida por Arma de Fuego de alta ve acidad en número de dos, la primera asedal con orificio de entrada en tercio superior en su borde interno y orificio de salida en tercio medio en su cara posterior. La Segunda herida por Arma de Fuego de alta velocidad con solo orificio de entrada en el que se en-contro proyectil 7.62 mm. de fabricación coreana. Encontramos: Deformación de cráneo y cara, dada por herida por Arma de Fuego de alta velocidad con orificio de entrada puntiforme en re gión temporal derecha rodeado de tatuaje de polvora, lo que nos hace pensar que el disparo se realizó a menos de 65 Cms. de distancia; y orificio de salida en región parieto-temporal izquierda anfractuosi y avulsiva con múltiples fragmentos oseos y exposición franca de ma sa encefalica, que al explorar la comprobamos estallamiento cerebral casi universal. Además en su trayecto el proyectil produjo fractura temporal derecha, fractura frontal y perforación del globo ocular izquierdo a juzgar por la salida de material gelatinoso y la Ptosis bulbar izquierda. OIN De todo lo ant for podenda concluir que la causa directa de Muerte es herida por arma de fungo de alta velocidad (Balazo a corta distancia). 1. עוכס DR. BAYARDO GONZALEZ VARGAS MEDICO FORENSE Unofficial translation of forensic pathology report May 2, 1987 The undersigned Dr. Bayardo González Vargas, Doctor of Forensic Medicine of Matagalpa, makes known that according to the Medical Dictamen of the German Pomares Ordonez Hospital of Apanás, that BENJAMIN ERNEST LINDER, died as the result of injuries from firearms. Upon examination he presented multiple punctiform lesions in the right frontal region, supraorbital region and parts of the superior half of the right side of the face, compatable with injuries from a pointed weapon. The left thigh in its medium third and distal in its posteral-lateral surface, in the left popliteal region and the inner surface of the right knee, one observes multiple punctiforme lesiones that appear to correspond to injuries from a firearm of low velocity. (buckshot). LEFT In the right forearm there are two injuries from a firearm of high velocity, the first the entry hole in the superior third of its inner border and the exit hole in the medium third of the posterior surface. The second injury is by a firearm of high velocity with only the entry hole in which was found a 7.62 mm.projectile of Korean manufacture. Findings: Deformation of the cranium and face as the result of injuries from a high velocity firearm with a small round entry hole in the right temporal region surrouned by gun powder burns which makes us think that the shot was fired at less than 65 cm of distance; and the exit hole in the left parietal temporal region with factures and evulsion with multiple bone fragments and frank exposure of the encephalic mass, that upon exploration exhibited almost total cerebral destruction. trajectory the projectile produced right frontal fracture, and perforation of the judging from the discharge of gelatinous bulbar ptosis. In addition in its temporal fracture, left ocular globe material, and left From the above we conclude that the direct cause of death was injury from a high velocity firearm fired at short range. Unofficial English translation Dr. BAYARDO GONZALEZ VARGAS Mr. CROCKETT. Thank you very much, Dr. Linder. We will reserve questions until we hear from the next witness. The next witness is Ms. Mary Risacher, a practical nurse, who was also in Nicaragua. Welcome, Ms. Risacher. STATEMENT OF MARY RISACHER, L.P.N., HEALTH CARE VOLUNTEER IN NICARAGUA Ms. RISACHER. Thank you very much. I have been living and working in Nicaragua for the past three and a half years. I am very happy to have been able to come up here to be with you all today to share some of the experiences that I have had living in Nicaragua and perhaps to contribute to a better understanding of why so many Americans of many ages and different walks of life have decided to offer their services and their skills and time in a country that this Administration portrays as a threat and an enemy. I would also like to address the death of Benjamin Linder, as I was one of four medical personnel who received his body after the autopsy and dressed him for the wake. My work in Nicaragua is in popular health education. There is a tremendous shortage, not only of medical supplies, but also medical personnel in Nicaragua. And, so, the Nicaraguan Government has established-has developed a plan which includes the active participation of rural health promoters and midwives in order to be able to get primary health care to all of its citizens, especially in such areas as ours, which is the VI region, the same area that Ben lived and worked in. Every village and community elects one or two health promoters. Those promoters then receive training in both preventive and curative medicine and become a vital link between their community and the health system. My specific work is in direct training of the health promoters and midwives as well as in the formation of trainers in popular education techniques. This is some of the most exciting work I have ever done. The people have a tremendous thirst to learn, enthusiasm for their work. The promoters receive no pay for all of the works that they do in their communities and they show a tremendous dedication. They not only build latrines, vaccinate children, participate in the building of water projects, they rehydrate babies with diarrhea. They do many, many different forms of health and health education. Besides that, in certain areas, they are at constant risk because they are targeted by the contra as they cooperate with the program of the government. EXPERIENCES WITH THE CONTRAS Only two months ago, on March 8, Ambrosio Mondoy was a health promoter and a Delegate of the Word. In his community, he was making final preparations for the vaccination campaign when a group of contra went to his home, harassed him, threatened his wife, and later took him outside and slit his throat. And, still, right before I left to come up here, I received a report on the number of children from his same community that had been |