While the Reagan administration and the U.S. Congress were presenting, debating, and voting on additional U.S. aid to the Nicaraguan contras in March, the contras were continuing to kill, wound, and kidnap Nicaraguan civilians. The contras had also kidnapped and were holding a U.S. citizen, Witness for Peace (WFP) volunteer Richard Boren, but not even this fact deterred those who would resupply the U.S.-financed contra army.
Boren, a 30-year-old United Methodist from Elkin, North Carolina, had joined the Witness for Peace long-term team last November. He had been working in the northern province of Jinotega, documenting human rights abuses committed by the contras and leading short-term Witness for Peace delegations from the United States. When Boren was kidnapped by the contras, he was aiding a 13-year-old girl the contras had shot in the leg.
According to eyewitness accounts, the contras attacked the small community of Mancotal, 20 miles north of the city of Jinotega, about 10:30 p.m. on March 1. Using machine guns, the contras killed four Nicaraguans, injured 11, and kidnapped 12 civilians, including Boren and two 12-year-old boys. The contras also damaged the local health center and burned five houses.
Boren was sleeping in the home of a Mancotal family when the contras burst in, shooting 13-year-old Isabel Ramos. When Boren tried to administer first aid to Isabel, the contras ordered him outside at gunpoint.
Immediately upon receiving word of Boren's abduction by the contras, Witness for Peace workers had called on State Department officials and the U.S. Embassy in Managua to demand Boren's release. Then on March 7, Witness for Peace took the unprecedented step of publicly releasing a map showing the location of its long-term volunteers in Nicaragua, and stating " that the volunteers were prepared to receive Boren in those locations.
But day after day passed with no word or release of Boren by the contras, and no sign of State Department action. "Our feeling is that the State Department could get [Boren] released immediately if they demanded it," said Dennis Marker, director of WFP's Washington office. "And since he hasn't been released, we believe [the State Department] is allowing the contras to keep him."
A full eight days after Boren had been kidnapped by the Nicaraguan contras, Boren's captivity was "a real priority issue" for the U.S. State Department. "We hope something will break on it real soon," a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not explain why it had taken the State Department so long to act on Boren's case, saying simply, "We have urged that he be released as soon as it is safe to do so," adding that safety was of paramount concern since "he's in the middle of a war zone."
THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S indication that Boren's release was imminent came on March 9, the same day that Witness for Peace had scheduled a national phone-in to the State Department—and the day the contras did, in fact, later release Boren. By 10 a.m., just one of the four State Department offices targeted for the phone-in had already received more than 250 calls from activists demanding Boren's release. By the end of the day, the State Department had received more than 1,000 phone calls on the Boren case, and government workers fielding the calls were beginning to sound more than a little exasperated.
Yet when Boren finally was released, it appeared that the courage and initiative of WFP volunteers had more to do with it than the State Department. According to WFP's Marker, three WFP volunteers were traveling in the Quilali area March 9 when they came upon a civilian vehicle that had been ambushed by contras only hours earlier. Nicaraguan civilians told the WFP workers that one person had been killed in the ambush, and that they had seen Boren with the contras who had conducted the ambush.
The Witness for Peace volunteers decided to drive on, and they soon came upon the band of contras. The volunteers began talking with the contras, attempting to negotiate Boren's release. The discussions became tense when Boren told the contras he would not accept his own release unless they also released the sole remaining Nicaraguan civilian who had been kidnapped with him in Mancotal. The contras first refused, but when it became clear that Boren would not leave them unless they also released their other captive, the contras let both men go, Marker said.
As if to add one final flourish to the dramatic scenario, the WFP volunteers happened to have a video camera with them and managed to capture the entire discussion with the contras on videotape. Marker reported that, although exhausted, Boren appeared to have survived his ordeal without physical or mental harm.
Last October contras in Chontales kidnapped WFP volunteer Paul Fisher. When they finally released Fisher after 14 days, he was exhausted and sick, having been forced to march with the contras for more than 60 miles.
Ed Griffin-Nolan, spokesperson for WFP's Managua office, criticized the State Department's response to Boren's kidnapping. "The contras and the State Department have sought to present Richard Boren's kidnapping as somehow his own fault or the fault of the Nicaraguan government," he said. "This is tragically just one more example of how a criminal policy has distorted the thinking of U.S. policy-makers."
In a meeting with Witness for Peace representatives, William G. Walker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central America, suggested that WFP "thank" the contras for not harming Boren, Griffin-Nolan said. "The State Department has abandoned its responsibility for protection of its own citizens, and instead has become an apologist for terrorists who kidnap and kill."
Most U.S. media also remained silent about Boren's kidnapping. "This seems 10 be a clear example of a double standard being used by the media in this country," Marker said. "There is absolutely no doubt that if Richard had been kidnapped by the Nicaraguan government, it would be a huge story every day until he was released."
Boren's kidnapping, as well as the kidnappings of a Witness for Peace delegation in August 1985 and Paul Fisher last November, have not weakened the resolve of Witness for Peace, which currently has 32 long-term volunteers in Nicaraguan war zones.
"Witness for Peace reaffirms its commitment to stay in Nicaragua until our government changes course and adopts a policy of justice and friendship with the Nicaraguan people," Griffin-Nolan said. "Richard Boren's act of binding up Isabel Ramos' wounds is a symbol of the best of what our country is capable of—an act of true humanitarian aid."
Vicki Kemper was news editor of Sojourners when this article appeared.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!