Nicaragua: Surviving the legacy of U.S. policy

March 22, 2012

The Latin American and Latino Studies Program at Wake Forest University will host Paul Dix and Pam Fitzpatrick for a discussion on the effects of the U.S. policy in Nicaragua. The financial support received by Nicaragua’s rebel groups during the 1980s from the U.S. had catastrophic and lasting consequences on the country’s civilian population.

Dix, a professional photojournalist, used his camera to illustrate the effects of the United States’ international policy on the poor of Nicaragua throughout the whole of country’s Civil War. Since 2002, he has worked closely with Fitzpatrick, a professional community organizer, to reconnect with and document the stories of the dozens of people he photographed.

Dix and Fitzpatrick will discuss their journey and efforts in a lecture to take place in DeTamble Auditorium on March 22 at 7 p.m. Admission to the event is free and open to the general public.

Dix is a professional freelance photographer. He has traveled the world-over photographing nature as well as people and the impact of wars and poverty. From 1985 to 1990, he lived in Nicaragua while working for Witness for Peace. He has lived in and traveled to many conflict-ridden zones throughout the country. He used his camera during his stay in Nicaragua to document many of the atrocities of the U.S.-sponsored Contra War, as well as the beauties of the Nicaraguan countryside and people. Dix has also worked as photographer for the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office and has done contract work for various government agencies and corporations, including the Environmental Protection Agency. His photographs have been published in many magazine, including TIME, Reader’s Digest, Rolling Stone, and Harrowsmith Country Life.

Fitzpatrick is a professional community organizer. She worked with the Sanctuary movement in the early 1980s and served as director of the North Pacific Witness for Peace office in Eugene, Oregon from 1985 to 1993. She has led various delegations to Nicaragua, the Texas border, and more. Fitzpatrick has also worked for a Legal Aid office in North Carolina, and as Director of Lane County, Oregon’s Women, Infants, and Children program.

This is the fourth and final event of Wake Forest’s first-ever Latino Awareness Week. Latino Awareness Week is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino Studies Program, the Organization of Latin American Students, the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Dean of the College, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Department of Political Science and the Department of American Ethnic Studies. It is a four-day event during which speakers come to campus to share their experiences with and knowledge of Latino culture and politics.