SHADOW WARRIOR

Rating:
Summary: A Cuban-American tale of the struggle for liberty.
Review: Felix Rodriguez, a Cuban-born CIA Agent better known to many by his nom de guerre, Max Gomez, relates how the brutality and oppression of Castro's communist regime led his family to emigrate to the US and him to become one of the youngest participants in the Bay of Pigs landing. After successfully evading capture, he made his way back to the US where he became a US Army Officer and later a CIA Agent. In Bolivia, he trained the forces which captured Che Guevarra. As one of his last acts before the Bolivians executed him, Che gave his wristwatch to Rodriguez who wore it constantly thereafter. Despite their adherance to different systems, each recognized the other as a fellow warrior. He also writes of his years in Vietnam where he worked with William Buckley, the Agent who was later taken hostage in Lebanon and ultimately tortured to death. Finally, he relates his involvement in extending US support to Nicaraguan freedom fighters seeking to liberate their own country from the secret police and political prisons which proliferated under the Sandinista government. The book is very inspirational and should, if they would read it, open the eyes of those who live in a fool's paradise regarding the fate which awaits them should America ever lose its strength and resolve. It is also a tribute to the contribution, to that strength and resolve, made by those Cubans who came to our country and proved to be better Americans than many who were born here. Felix Rodriguez is an American hero, and this is his story. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent personal history of fight for freedom over 40 yrs
Review: This is an exciting and detailed look autobiography of Cuban exile, Felix Rodriguez, who became famous during the Iran/Contra hearings. He details and justifies his life long fight against Communism. He comes off as fair and not always kind to some of the others in the Iran/Contra intrigue. The only problem I had with this book was a minor one. There is some repetition and many names and their respective aliases are over-repeated. If you want to understand the cuban exile (not pro-Batista) perspective on Communism, this is the book. This book also takes us to VietNam, briefly to Lebanon, and throughout Central America.