• Ben Linder Room | University of Oregon
• April 28, 2009
• 7pm

Featuring the 30 minute 2008 documentary: American/Sandinista by Jason Blalock

Join us in celebrating the life of Ben Linder and the 30th anniversary of the Nicaraguan Revolution. Refreshments Provided.

Bryan Moore, UO faculty, will speak about the life and death of Ben Linder, mechanical engineer from Portland, OR, who went to Nicaragua in 1983 to work on hydroelectric projects that today provide energy to schools, clinics and campesinos. On April 28, 2987, while beginning construction on a small dam, Ben and two Nicaraguan co-workers were murdered by US-supported Contras.

American/Sandinista documentary by Jason Blalock (2008), 30 minutes:

n the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, a bloody civil war between the socialist Sandinistas and U.S.-backed Contras ravaged Nicaragua. Despite the danger, thousands of Americans disobeyed White House warnings and descended upon the Central American nation, determined to lend their skills and labor to the revolutionary Sandinista cause. Using an eclectic mixture of rare archival footage, arresting still photography, and contemporary interviews, American/Sandinista tells the story of a small group of controversial U.S. engineers who went further than anyone expected, and paid the ultimate price.