Ráfaga : the life story of a Nicaraguan Miskito Comandante /
by Reynaldo Reyes and J.K. Wilson ; edited by Tod Sloan.
- First edition.
- [Norman, OK] : University of Oklahoma Press, c1992.
- xxxii, 192 pages : black and white illustrations, portraits, and map ; 22 cm.
Includes list of illustrations and further reading list. Includes ethnic map of Nicaragua.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-188) and index.
Preface / by Tod Sloan -- Preface / by J.K. Wilson -- 1. No one to protect us -- 2. Awastara -- 3. With a pain in my heart -- 4. 1980-1981: a new leader for the Miskitos -- 5. 1981-1982: I start to fight -- 6. The war name "Rafaga": a gift from the boys -- 7. Annealing of a Comandante -- 8. Alpha uno: the bishop, Moses, and me -- 9. MISURA lost / KISAN found -- 10. The splitting of KISAN -- 11. Autonomy -- 12. Legacy of a guerrillero / peacemaker.
"Rafaga is the life narrative of Reynaldo Reyes, a Miskito Indian born on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, a leader of the Miskito people in their struggle for political autonomy and cultural survival. The account tells of his childhood in peaceful Awastara, his efforts to get an education, his ordination to the ministry. Then, swept up by the Sandinista revolution, Reyes becomes a military man, fighting with the Sandinistas against the National Guard to depose the brutal Somoza regime. Later, when he perceives that the revolution is not benefiting the Miskitos, he joins his people's resistance against the Sandinista government. Through daring acts of 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. Rafaga's life narrative, based on two years of face-to-face interviews, has been constructed through the collaborative effort of Reynaldo Reyes, J. K. Wilson, and Tod Sloan and has won the approval of the council of Miskito elders. This volume is much more than a political autobiography or an ethnographic account. Rafaga is the unique story of a dynamic leader who had courage enough for war and the vision necessary for negotiation. It is also the all-too-common story of the devastation experienced by the indigenous people of a region undergoing full-scale militarization." - From book jacket.