Rafaga: The Life Story of a Nicaraguan Miskito Comandante

Rafaga is the life story of Reynaldo Reyes, a Miskito Indian born in Nicaragua and a leader of the Miskito people in their struggle for political autonomy and cultural survival. Here Reyes tells of his childhood, his efforts to get an education, and his ordination to the ministry. Swept up by the revolution, Reyes becomes a military man, fighting with the Sandinistas against the National Guard to depose the brutal Somoza regime. When he realizes the revolution is not helping the Miskitos, Reyes joins his people's resistance against the Sandinista government. Through daring leadership, he quickly emerges as a field commander of the Miskito counterrevolutionary forces, allied with the Contras and funded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. But Reyes - known by his nom de guerre, Rafaga - realizes that war is prolonging his people's suffering. Sickened by the corruption among Contra political and military leaders, Rafaga works with Miskito leaders toward peace with the Sandinistas, in hopes of restoring the rights of the Miskito nation. Much more than a political autobiography or an ethnographic account, Rafaga is the story of a dynamic leader who had the courage for war and the vision for negotiation. It is also the gripping story of the devastation experienced indigenous people in a region undergoing full-scale militarization.