For about 10 years, helping a guerrilla group in Nicaragua fight the Cuban-backed Sandinista regime dominated U.S. policy toward Central America -- drawing the attention and support of the Nicaraguan exile community in South Florida.
However, a lot of what was going on in the 1980s in Washington and Miami was secret -- at first, part of a CIA covert operation to overthrow the Sandinistas in Managua, and then a reflection of unauthorized aid to the contra rebels by then National Security Council staffer Oliver North.
A figure in that history, Bosco Matamoros, stopped at a Coral Gables Barnes & Noble bookstore Sunday to talk about his newly updated Spanish-language book, La Contra, movimiento nicaraguense, a narrative of the U.S.-backed civil war.
About 35 people gathered to hear Matamoros speak in Spanish, reading excerpts from the book and reminiscing about the era when the Iran-contra affair engulfed the Reagan administration, prompting the firing of North in 1986 as a central figure in the scandal. North was accused of diverting Iran arms-sale profits to the contras at a time when the U.S. Congress had prohibited military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels.
''At the time, this was a very important episode in the history of Central America,'' Matamoros told his listeners. ``In terms of U.S. policy debate at the time, we were the center of the universe.''
Fast forward to 2008, he added, and Nicaragua no longer commands such U.S. attention.
''We no longer have the weight we once had,'' Matamoros said.
Matamoros was not a guerrilla fighter himself. He was the contras' representative in Washington and as such dealt with senior U.S. officials and American reporters assigned to cover U.S. policy toward Central America.
Some who came to listen to Matamoros sat on folding chairs while others stood, snapping pictures of the once-prominent contra spokesman as he sat at a table, copies of his book stacked next to him.
Some of his comments drew applause, others laughter.
''The book shows how difficult it is to have a relationship with the U.S.,'' Matamoros told The Miami Herald before his presentation. ``How difficult it is to democratize a country. In Iraq, the U.S. is trying to export democracy, but it's a gradual process.''
Leonte Bolaños, a contra commander known by his comrades as Atila, brought photos of himself in fatigues to give to Matamoros.
''It's really important because the Nicaraguan people need to know how we got to democracy and the importance of the contras and what they did,'' said Bolaños, now living in Miami Springs.
Matamoros inscribed in Bolaños' copy: ``To Atila, a comrade of many memories. A true example for many youngsters. With a lot of appreciation.''
While the Iran-contra scandal rocked the Reagan administration, it did not destroy the contras.
The Nicaraguan rebels continued to fight until they reached an agreement with the Sandinistas in 1990 on a cease-fire.
Miami Herald staff writer Alfonso Chardy contributed to this report.
