Rebel with a Cause: A Cuban in the Congo

By Eduardo Barreto

A forgotten chapter of the Cold War. A man who lived-and fought-for an idea.

The involvement of Cuban exiles in the African Congo remains one of the lesser-known episodes of twentieth-century history. In 1964, the CIA deployed more than a hundred Cuban exiles to confront communist-backed forces in the heart of Africa. Among them was ngel Manuel Ben tez, a young man whose journey from revolutionary student in Havana to CIA-trained commando in the Congo encapsulates the turbulent story of exile and defiance.

Told by his nephew, Eduardo Barreto, this book reconstructs ngel's path: his childhood in pre-revolutionary Cuba, his disillusionment after 1959, his escape to Miami, and the secret missions that followed. It culminates in the dramatic 1964 rescue at Kilometer 8 near Stanleyville, when a small unit of Cuban exiles-known as Makasi, "the strong"-risked their lives to save hostages and missionaries in a forgotten corner of Africa.

But Rebel with a Cause is more than a chronicle of war and espionage. It is a meditation on the power of ideas, on what drives ordinary men to fight for something greater than themselves. In the end, it is the story of a rebel who found his purpose far from home...and of a community that kept his memory alive.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G2Y69HNL
• ISBN13: 9798273428805
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"