U.S. Activist Honored in Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Some 200 protesters, many in wheelchairs, gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy on Thursday to honor peace activist Brian Willson, who lost his legs when struck by a train while demonstrating against military aid to the contras .

The group, mostly Americans, sang protest songs in English and Spanish, prayed, read poetry and listened to a message Willson had recorded from his hospital bed.

Willson, who has visited Nicaragua and opposes U.S. aid to the contras, lost his legs Sept. 2 when he failed to get out of the path of a train at Concord Naval Weapons Center near San Francisco.

In his brief message, Willson said that he was well, had received artificial legs and that the accident would bring about “a revolution of consciousness” in the United States to oppose the Reagan Administration’s policy of supporting the rebels trying to topple the leftist Nicaraguan government.