Rafael has worked extensively for governmental bodies and national institutions, as well as a number of NGOs in Mexico and Canada, including the Mexican ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economy, Education, Transport and Telecommunications, Health, the President's Office, Canadian Heritage, La Ville de Montréal, Canadian Ministry of Environment, among others. He has translated large numbers of documents pertaining to these various governmental areas for more than 10 years.

Rafael has translated numerous articles for the best renowned magazines and academic publications in Mexico and abroad. In particular he wrote and translated for Plural and Vuelta magazines, both under the direction of the Nobel prize winner poet Octavio Paz, as well as for magazines such as Revista de la Universidad de México, Arts in America, Les Cahiers du Chemin (Gallimard), among many others.

Rafael has translated more than 28 books for the best renowned editorial houses, in fields including fiction, philosophy, social sciences, education, poetry, drama, history, art, and many others. He has been recognized for the quality of his translations and obtained in two occasions the National Council of the Arts' Grant for Literary translation.

Rafael has translated extensively for international organisations, such as the UN, UNESCO, OAS, UNCAC, UN-Women, ICMM, World Bank, OECD, etc. Most of the documents translated in this field were white papers, but there also country reports, legislation projects, baseline documents, executive summaries, and conference reports or key conference papers, among others.