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147-570: Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( / t r uː ˈ h iː j oʊ / troo- HEE -yoh , Spanish: [rafaˈel leˈoniðas tɾuˈxiʝo moˈlina] ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed El Jefe ( Spanish: [el ˈxefe] ), was a Dominican military commander and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, ruling for

294-624: A tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen Am ), with hot weather year-round and heavy rainfall from May to November, when hurricanes are a major risk. Goya Foods has its Dominican Republic offices in San Cristóbal. The city has considerable sources of work, in which the Nestlé factory (maggi), the Sancela Family group plant, the Goya processing plant as well as the glass industrial park, the armory free zone,

441-577: A 16-year-old girl. Colonel Richard Malcolm Cutts trained Trujillo further and many Marine leaders praised his abilities at the time, approving his rise among the ranks: he was promoted to lieutenant in 1919 and assigned to the San Pedro de Macorís garrison; he was later promoted to captain in 1922 while stationed in San Francisco de Macorís and given command of the National Guard 10th Company. In 1923 he

588-558: A 1944 plot and then published their correspondence to discredit him. Lescot fled into exile in 1946 after demonstrations against him. In 1947, Dominican exiles, including Juan Bosch , had concentrated in Cuba. With the approval and support of Cuba's government, led by Ramón Grau , an expeditionary force was trained with the intention of invading the Dominican Republic and overthrowing Trujillo. However, international pressure, including from

735-556: A Hispanic Caribbean environment particularly susceptible to dictators. In the countries of the Caribbean Basin alone, his dictatorship overlapped with those in Cuba , Nicaragua , Guatemala , El Salvador , Honduras , Venezuela and Haiti . In perspective, the Trujillo dictatorship has been judged more prominent and more brutal than its contemporaries. Trujillo remains a polarizing figure in

882-412: A U.S. offer of military aid against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916. Wilson thus ordered the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. U.S. Marines landed on May 16, 1916, and seized the capital and other ports, while General Arias fell back to his inland Santiago stronghold. A significant weaponry disparity between the U.S. Marines and Arias's forces led to the latter's defeat. The clashes with

1029-555: A brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican Restoration War of 1863–1865. From 1930, the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963 . The Dominican Civil War of 1965 preceded the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978,

1176-483: A collection of over ten thousand. Trujillo doused himself with perfume and liked gossip. His sexual appetite was rapacious, and he preferred mulatta women with full bodies. Trujillo was married three times and kept other women as mistresses. On 13 August 1913, Trujillo married Aminta Ledesma Lachapelle, with whom he had 2 daughters, Julia, who died as an infant, and Flor de Oro, who died of lung cancer in 1978. On 30 March 1927, Trujillo married Bienvenida Ricardo Martínez,

1323-741: A corridor for the Marines guarding the U.S. Embassy. However, the Loyalists withdrew to San Isidro airfield instead. On May 2, U.S. forces were authorized to link up, and the outgunned Constitutionalists retreated to the southeastern part of the city. On May 6, U.S. diplomats persuaded the OAS to establish an Inter-American Peace Force to support American troops. The following countries volunteered: Brazil (1,250 soldiers), Costa Rica (25 police), Honduras (250 soldiers), Nicaragua (164 soldiers), and Paraguay (286 soldiers). U.S. and OAS peacekeeping troops remained in

1470-419: A deal with the rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña . In return for Trujillo letting Estrella take power, Estrella would allow Trujillo to run for president in new elections . As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them. However, feigning "neutrality", Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Estrella's rebels to take the capital virtually unopposed. On 3 March, Estrella

1617-618: A figure that does not include the Dominicans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans fighting alongside them. The Dominicans fighting for independence against Spain suffered more than 4,000 dead. Political strife again prevailed in the following years; warlords ruled, military revolts were extremely common, and the nation amassed debt. It was now Báez's turn to act on his plan of annexing the country to the United States , where two successive presidents were supportive. U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant desired

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1764-436: A girl from Monte Cristi and the daughter of Buenaventura Ricardo Heureaux. A year later he met María de los Angeles Martínez Alba (nicknamed " la españolita ", or "the little Spanish girl"), and had an affair with her. He divorced Bienvenida in 1935 and married Martínez. A year later he had a daughter with Bienvenida, named Odette Trujillo Ricardo. Trujillo's three children with María Martínez were Rafael Leónidas Ramfis , who

1911-581: A grand scale, and went into meat and milk production, operations that soon evolved into monopolies . Salt, sugar, tobacco, lumber, and the lottery were other industries which he or his family members dominated. Family members also received positions within the government and the army, including one of Trujillo's sons who was made a colonel in the Dominican Army when he was only four years old. Two of Trujillo's brothers, Héctor and José Arismendy, also held positions in his government. José Arismendy Trujillo oversaw

2058-400: A great deal of the wealth was taken by the dictator and other regime elements. There was progress in healthcare, education, and transportation, with the building of hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and harbors. Trujillo also carried out an important housing construction program and instituted a pension plan. He finally negotiated an undisputed border with Haiti in 1935, and achieved the end of

2205-421: A half weeks after Trujillo ascended to the presidency, the destructive Hurricane San Zenón hit Santo Domingo and left 2000 dead. As a response to the disaster, Trujillo placed the Dominican Republic under martial law and began to rebuild the city. He renamed the rebuilt capital of the Dominican Republic, Ciudad Trujillo ("Trujillo City") in his honor and had streets, monuments, and landmarks to honor him throughout

2352-494: A member of the Spanish reinforcement troops during the annexation era . Trujillo's mother was Altagracia Julia Molina Chevalier, later known as Mamá Julia , daughter of peasant Pedro Molina Peña, also of colonial Dominican origin, and teacher Luisa Erciná Chevalier, whose parents were of creole Haitian origin. Chevalier, Trujillo's maternal grandmother, was the daughter of Justin Victor Turenne Carrié Blaise, who

2499-591: A military revolt against the government of Vásquez. A few of the former caudillos initially opposed the new dictator. General Cipriano Bencosme led an uprising but was defeated and killed in November 1930 during a confrontation with the army near Puerto Plata. General Desiderio Arias attempted to rebel but was unsuccessful, dying in combat near Mao in June of the following year. There was considerable economic growth during Rafael Trujillo 's long and iron-fisted regime, although

2646-494: A naval base at Samaná and also a place for resettling newly freed African Americans. The treaty was defeated in the United States Senate in 1870. Báez was toppled in 1874, returned, and was toppled for good in 1878. Relative peace came to the country in the 1880s, which saw the coming to power of General Ulises Heureaux . "Lilís", as the new president was nicknamed, put the nation deep into debt while using much of

2793-616: A park he ordered to be built from rocks and stones collected from each city of the Dominican Republic to honor himself (hence the park's name "Living Stones"). San Cristóbal is located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) on the DR-2 from Santo Domingo and close to Bajos de Haina . It is located near the coast of the Caribbean Sea . The topography is hilly as you go farther inland into the Cordillera Central mountain range. San Cristóbal has

2940-420: A second military coup ousted the military-installed president Donald Reid Cabral . Despite tank assaults, strafing , and aerial bombardment by the opposing Loyalists, the pro-Bosch Constitutionalists maintained control of most of the capital. By April 26, armed civilians outnumbered the original rebel military regulars. Radio Santo Domingo, now fully under rebel control, began to call for more violent actions and

3087-404: A violent fight he had with another colonist, he moved to this place where he married an indigenous woman by the name of Catalina. According to legend, fearing being abandoned by her spouse, she revealed to him the existence of a place where they found gold deposits; Díaz then returned to La Isabela to inform the colonial authorities of his find. Upon confirming the existence of gold on the banks of

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3234-496: A violent gang of robbers called The 42 . In 1916, the United States began its occupation of the Dominican Republic following 28 revolutions in 50 years. At the time, Trujillo was twenty-five years old and worked as a guarda campestre (overseer) at a sugar cane plantation in Boca Chica . The occupying force soon established a Dominican army constabulary to impose order. Trujillo joined the newly created National Guard in 1918 with

3381-622: Is reported variously as 48,442 km (18,704 sq mi) (by the embassy in the United States) and 48,670 km (18,792 sq mi), making it the second largest country in the Antilles , after Cuba . The Dominican Republic's capital and largest city Santo Domingo is on the southern coast. The Dominican Republic is located near fault action in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic has four important mountain ranges. The most northerly

3528-878: Is the Cordillera Septentrional ("Northern Mountain Range"), which extends from the northwestern coastal town of Monte Cristi , near the Haitian border, to the Samaná Peninsula in the east, running parallel to the Atlantic coast. The highest range in the Dominican Republic ;– indeed, in the whole of the West Indies ;– is the Cordillera Central ("Central Mountain Range"). In the Cordillera Central are

3675-607: Is the largest of the plains in the Dominican Republic. Stretching north and east of Santo Domingo, it contains many sugar plantations in the savannahs that are common there. West of Santo Domingo its width is reduced to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) as it hugs the coast, finishing at the mouth of the Ocoa River. Another large plain is the Plena de Azua ("Azua Plain"), a very arid region in Azua Province . A few other small coastal plains are on

3822-679: The Sierra de Bahoruco is a continuation of the Massif de la Selle in Haiti. There are other, minor mountain ranges, such as the Cordillera Oriental ("Eastern Mountain Range"), Sierra Martín García , Sierra de Yamasá , and Sierra de Samaná . Between the Central and Northern mountain ranges lies the rich and fertile Cibao valley. This major valley is home to the cities of Santiago and La Vega and most of

3969-782: The Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean . It shares a maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and a land border with Haiti to the west, occupying the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola which, along with Saint Martin , is one of only two islands in the Caribbean shared by two sovereign states . In the Antilles , the country is the second-largest nation by area after Cuba at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi) and second-largest by population after Haiti with approximately 11.4 million people in 2024, of whom 3.6 million reside in

4116-670: The Greater Antilles , with the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. It shares the island roughly at a 2:1 ratio with Haiti , the north-to-south (though somewhat irregular) border between the two countries being 376 km (234 mi). To the north and north-west lie The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands , and to the east, across the Mona Passage , the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico . The country's area

4263-527: The Haitian massacre later that year forced Trujillo to announce his "return to private life." Consequently, the Dominican Party nominated Trujillo's handpicked successor, 61-year-old vice-president Jacinto Peynado , with Manuel de Jesús Troncoso his running mate. They appeared alone on the ballot in the 1938 election. Trujillo kept his positions as generalissimo of the army and leader of the Dominican Party. It

4410-622: The Marines in Haiti was largely absent in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. government's rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924. The victor was former president (1902–03) Horacio Vásquez . He was inaugurated on July 13, 1924, and the last U.S. forces left in September. In 1930, General Rafael Trujillo , who was trained by the U.S. Marines during the occupation, seized power following

4557-481: The Nobel Peace Prize by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion. Trujillo was eligible to run again in 1938, but, citing the United States example of two presidential terms, he stated, "I voluntarily, and against the wishes of my people, refuse re-election to the high office." In fact, a vigorous re-election campaign had been launched in the middle of 1937 but the international uproar that followed

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4704-548: The Organization of American States , for the first time in its history, decreed sanctions against a member state. The United States severed diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960, and in January 1961 suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also took advantage of OAS sanctions to cut drastically purchases of Dominican sugar,

4851-404: The Organization of American States , he ceded the presidency to his brother, Héctor . Despite being officially out of power, Rafael Trujillo organized a major national celebration to commemorate 25 years of his rule in 1955. Gold and silver commemorative coins were minted with his image. Brutal oppression of actual or perceived members of the opposition was the key feature of Trujillo's rule from

4998-563: The Spanish crown as Spanish Haiti , on November 30, 1821. This period is also known as the Ephemeral independence. The newly independent republic ended two months later, when it was occupied and annexed by Haiti, then under the leadership of Jean-Pierre Boyer . For twenty-two years, Haiti controlled Santo Domingo, which it called Partie de l'Est , treating it as a colonial territory. The unpaid Haitian army sustained itself by taking resources from

5145-812: The United States government . During World War II , Trujillo symbolically sided with the Allies and declared war on Germany , Italy and Japan on 11 December 1941. While there was no military participation, the Dominican Republic thus became a founding member of the United Nations . Trujillo encouraged diplomatic and economic ties with the United States, but his policies often caused friction with other nations of Latin America, especially Costa Rica and Venezuela . He maintained friendly relations with Franco of Spain , Perón of Argentina , and Somoza of Nicaragua . Towards

5292-604: The Yaque del Sur River . In 1934 he banned the slash-and-burn method of clearing land for agriculture, set up a forest warden agency to protect the park system, and banned the logging of pine trees without his permission. In the 1950s the Trujillo regime commissioned a study on the hydroelectric potential of damming the Dominican Republic's waterways. The commission concluded that only forested waterways could support hydroelectric dams , so Trujillo banned logging in potential river watersheds. After his assassination in 1961, logging resumed in

5439-488: The metropolitan area of Santo Domingo , the capital city. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola prior to European contact , dividing it into five chiefdoms . Christopher Columbus claimed the island for Castile , landing there on his first voyage in 1492 . The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas . In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over

5586-460: The " New World ". The Spaniards created a plantation economy . Initially, after friendly relationships, the Taínos resisted the conquest, led by female Chief Anacaona of Xaragua and her ex-husband Chief Caonabo of Maguana, as well as Chiefs Guacanagaríx , Guamá , Hatuey , and Enriquillo . The latter's successes gained his people an autonomous enclave on the island. Within a few years after 1492,

5733-454: The 1930s, and exiles from Spain following its civil war . At the 1938 Évian Conference the Dominican Republic was the only country willing to accept many Jews and offered to accept up to 100,000 refugees on generous terms. In 1940 an agreement was signed and Trujillo donated 26,000 acres (110 km) of his properties for settlements. The first settlers arrived in May 1940; eventually, some 800 settlers came to Sosúa and most moved later on to

5880-560: The 1937 Dominican championship at Estadio Trujillo in Ciudad Trujillo. Trujillo was energetic and fit. He was generally quite healthy but suffered from chronic lower urinary infections and, later, prostate problems. In 1934, Dr. Georges Marion was called from Paris to perform three urologic procedures on Trujillo. Over time Trujillo acquired numerous homes. His favorite was Casa Caobas , on Estancia Fundacion near San Cristóbal . He also used Estancia Ramfis (which, after 1953, became

6027-507: The 50-year customs agreement in 1941, instead of 1956. He made the country debt-free in 1947. This was accompanied by absolute repression and the copious use of murder, torture, and terrorist methods against the opposition. Several Dominicans were assassinated in New York City after taking part in anti-Trujillo activities. In October 1937, Dominican troops murdered 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian men, women, and children—mostly with machetes—along

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6174-561: The American Secretary of State Cordell Hull signed the Hull–Trujillo Treaty, whereby the United States relinquished control over the collection and application of customs revenues, and the Dominican Republic committed to deposit consolidated government revenues in a special bank account to guarantee repayment of foreign debt. The government was free to set custom duties with no restrictions. This diplomatic success gave Trujillo

6321-607: The Benefactor of the Nation). An electric sign was erected in Ciudad Trujillo so that "Dios y Trujillo" could be seen at night as well as in the day. Eventually, even churches were required to post the slogan "Dios en el cielo, Trujillo en la tierra" (God in Heaven, Trujillo on Earth). As time went on, the order of the phrases was reversed (Trujillo on Earth, God in Heaven). Trujillo was recommended for

6468-495: The CEDELCA piping factory, the tropical products factory (coco López) as well as the marmotech, Tecnotiles and Star marble marble plants, among other companies. However, due to its proximity to Santo Domingo, the population moves to work in the capital city, as well as in the towns of Bajo de Haina and Nigua. Currently in the city they are installing new businesses in its main streets and avenues. The economic activities are influenced by

6615-418: The Caribbean from South America during the 1st millennium BC, reaching Hispaniola by around 600 AD. These Arawakan peoples engaged in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering, and the widespread production of ceramic goods. The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary widely, ranging from tens of thousands to 2,000,000. By 1492, the island was divided into five Taíno chiefdoms. The Taíno name for

6762-527: The Caribbean's largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo . The island has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great climatic and biological diversity. The country is also the site of the first cathedral , palace , monastery , and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone , a World Heritage Site . The name Dominican originates from Saint Dominic ,

6909-585: The Caribbean. The country did not make a military contribution to the war, but Dominican sugar and other agricultural products supported the Allied war effort. Over a hundred Dominicans served in the American armed forces. The arsenal at San Cristóbal , operated under Trujillo's regime, produced rifles, machine guns, and ammunition. Trujillo also formed a Foreign Legion of 3,000 mercenaries to attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba. Major William Morgan agreed to lead

7056-665: The Directorate of Attention to the Early Childhood (DAPI). The large number of high school graduates in this city are concentrated in the Liceo Enedina Puello Renville, located in the Madre Vieja Sur sector. In said center there is a population of more than 1500 students in their morning, afternoon and evening shifts. San Cristóbal has numerous educational centers at the basic, middle and higher levels, among which

7203-559: The Dominican Republic and the international community and ushered in OAS sanctions and economic and military assistance to Dominican opposition forces. After this momentous year, large segments of the Dominican establishment, including the military, turned against him. On 30 May 1961, Trujillo was assassinated by a group of conspirators led by general Antonio Imbert Barrera . In the immediate aftermath, Trujillo's son Ramfis took temporary control of

7350-547: The Dominican Republic has moved towards representative democracy . The Dominican Republic has the largest economy in the Caribbean and the seventh-largest in Latin America . Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively,

7497-468: The Dominican Republic, as the sheer longevity of his rule makes a detached evaluation difficult. While his supporters credit him for bringing long-term stability, economic growth and prosperity, doubling life expectancy of average Dominicans and multiplying the GDP, critics denounce the heavy-handed and violent nature of his regime, including the murder of tens of thousands, and xenophobia towards Haitians, as well as

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7644-563: The Dominican Republic, but the Haitian forces were defeated after a short war. After defeating a new Haitian invasion in April 1849 at the Battle of Las Carreras , Santana marched on Santo Domingo and deposed president Manuel Jimenes (who had ousted Santana as president) in a coup d'état . At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president, but Báez was unwilling to serve as Santana's puppet. In November–December 1849, Dominican seamen raided

7791-519: The Dominican Republic, compounding the dictator's paranoia. Trujillo began to interfere more and more in the domestic affairs of neighboring countries. He expressed great contempt for Venezuela's president Rómulo Betancourt ; an established and outspoken opponent of Trujillo, Betancourt associated with Dominicans who had plotted against the dictator. Trujillo developed an obsessive personal hatred of Betancourt and supported numerous plots by Venezuelan exiles to overthrow him. This pattern of intervention led

7938-529: The Dominican Republic. Squatters burned down the forests for agriculture, and logging companies clear-cut parks. In 1967, President Joaquín Balaguer launched military strikes against illegal logging. Trujillo encouraged foreign investment in the Dominican Republic, particularly from Americans. He gave a concession with mineral rights in the Azua Basin to Clem S. Clarke , an oilman from Shreveport , Louisiana . Trujillo tended toward peaceful coexistence with

8085-477: The Dominican Republic. The brutal murder on Friday, 25 November 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters , Patria, María Teresa and Minerva, who opposed Trujillo's dictatorship, further increased discontent with his repressive rule. The dictator had become an embarrassment to the United States, and relations became especially strained after the Betancourt incident. Trujillo's "central arch" was his instinct for power. This

8232-481: The Dominican forces had confined the Spanish troops to Santo Domingo, and the Spaniards were afraid to venture outside the capital. After nearly two years of fighting, Spain abandoned the island in July 1865. One military historian estimates Spanish casualties at 10,888 killed or wounded in action and thousands dead from yellow fever , while the Dominican forces fighting for Spain suffered 10,000 casualties. Another military historian estimates that Spain lost 18,000 dead,

8379-437: The Dominican people and land without compensation. In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte founded a secret society called La Trinitaria , which sought the complete independence of Santo Domingo without any foreign intervention. Also Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramon Matias Mella , despite not being among the founding members of La Trinitaria, were decisive in the fight for independence. Duarte, Mella, and Sánchez are considered

8526-447: The Foreign Office), Estancia Rhadames , and a home at Playa de Najayo. Less frequently he stayed at places he owned in Santiago de los Caballeros , Constanza , La Cumbre , San José de las Matas , and elsewhere. He maintained a penthouse at the Embajador Hotel in the capital. While Trujillo was nominally a Roman Catholic , his devotion was limited to a perfunctory role in public affairs; he placed faith in local folk religion . He

8673-515: The Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic. On February 27, 1844, the members of La Trinitaria , now led by Tomás Bobadilla , declared independence from Haiti. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana , a wealthy cattle rancher, who became general of the army of the nascent republic. The decades that followed were filled with tyranny, factionalism, economic difficulties, rapid changes of government, and exile for political opponents. Archrivals Santana and Buenaventura Báez held power most of

8820-422: The French were expelled from the island and Santo Domingo returned to Spanish rule . After a dozen years of discontent and failed independence plots by various opposing groups, including a failed 1812 revolt led by Dominican conspirators José Leocadio, Pedro de Seda, and Pedro Henríquez, Santo Domingo's former Lieutenant-Governor (top administrator), José Núñez de Cáceres , declared the colony's independence from

8967-407: The Garde d'Haiti, and Élie Lescot , at that time the Haitian ambassador in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo). After the settlement, when further border incursions occurred, Trujillo initiated the Parsley Massacre . Known as La Masacre del Perejil in Spanish, the massacre was started by Trujillo in October 1937. Claiming that Haiti was harboring his former Dominican opponents, he ordered an attack on

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9114-399: The Haina River, the Spanish proceeded to arrange for the settlement of a group of settlers and the installation of a fort called Buenaventura and later San Cristóbal, in honor of the admiral. Between the banks of the Haina and Nigua rivers, herds, haciendas and ranches were formed, as well as sugar mills that contributed to a notable development of the place. The Partido de los Ingenios de Nigua

9261-437: The Haitian coasts, plundered seaside villages, as far as Dame Marie , and butchered crews of captured enemy ships. A fourth and final invasion by Haiti in November 1855 was defeated by Dominican forces by January 27, 1856, resulting in thousands of Haitian casualties. Again Santana and Báez plotted against each other for political dominance, with Báez winning the first encounter and expelling Santana in 1857, and Santana winning

9408-462: The Haitian-Dominican border under the orders of Trujillo. During World War II , Trujillo symbolically sided with the Allies and declared war on Japan the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and on Nazi Germany and Italy four days later. Soon after, German U-boats torpedoed and sank two Dominican merchant vessels—the San Rafael off Jamaica and the Presidente Trujillo off Fort-de-France . German U-boats also sank four Dominican-manned ships in

9555-607: The Haitians. By April 15, Dominican forces had defeated the Haitian forces on both land and sea. In early July 1844, Duarte was urged by his followers to take the title of President of the Republic. Duarte agreed, but only if free elections were arranged. However, Santana's forces took Santo Domingo on July 12, and they declared Santana ruler of the Dominican Republic. Santana then put Mella, Duarte, and Sánchez in jail. On February 27, 1845, Santana executed María Trinidad Sánchez , heroine of La Trinitaria, and others for conspiracy. In August of that year, Haiti made another attempt to conquer

9702-427: The PRD's Hipólito Mejía won the election. This was a time of economic troubles. Under Mejía, the Dominican Republic participated in the US-led coalition, as part of the Multinational Plus Ultra Brigade , during the 2003 invasion of Iraq , suffering no casualties. In 2008, Fernández was elected for a third term. Fernández and the PLD are credited with initiatives that have moved the country forward technologically, on

9849-423: The SIM, the Servicio de Inteligencia Militar , efficiently organized by Johnny Abbes , who operated in Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, New York, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. Some cases reached international notoriety such as the disappearance of Jesús de Galíndez and the murder of the Mirabal sisters , which further eroded Trujillo's critical support by the US government. After Trujillo approved an assassination attempt on

9996-459: The San Juan Valley is provided by the San Juan River, tributary of the Yaque del Sur , which empties into the Caribbean, in the south. The Artibonito is the longest river of Hispaniola and flows westward into Haiti. There are many lakes and coastal lagoons. The largest lake is Enriquillo , a salt lake at 45 metres (148 ft) below sea level, the lowest elevation in the Caribbean. San Crist%C3%B3bal, Dominican Republic San Cristóbal

10143-444: The Spanish forces. The Haitian rebel Sylvain Salnave , fearful of the reestablishment of Spain as colonial power, gave refuge and logistics to revolutionaries seeking to reestablish the independent nation. The ensuing civil war, known as the War of Restoration , killed more than 50,000. The war began on August 16, 1863. The Spanish garrison of Santiago was forced to retreat to Puerto Plata by mid-September. The Dominicans bombarded

10290-444: The Trujillo family's nepotism, widespread corruption and looting of the country's natural and economic resources. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo y Molina was born on 24 October 1891 in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic , into a lower-middle class family. His father was José Trujillo Valdez, the son of Silveria Valdez Méndez of colonial Dominican origin and José Trujillo Monagas, a Canary Islander sergeant who arrived in Santo Domingo as

10437-443: The Trujillos attempted to "reassert dictatorial domination". Following this warning, and the arrival of a 14-vessel U.S. naval task force within sight of Santo Domingo, Ramfis and his uncles fled the country on November 19. The OAS lifted its sanctions on January 4, 1962. In February 1963, a democratically elected government under leftist Juan Bosch took office but it was overthrown by a military coup in September. On April 24, 1965,

10584-571: The U.S. Marines marked the first time the Dominicans had ever encountered a machine gun. A peace delegation from Santiago surrendered the city on July 5, coinciding with General Arias' surrender to the Dominican governor. The military government established by the U.S. under the Navy and Marine Corps on November 29, led by Vice Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp , was widely repudiated by the Dominicans, but organized resistance ceased. The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified

10731-427: The U.S. occupation of 1916–24, peasants from the countryside, called Gavilleros, would not only kill U.S. Marines, but would also attack and kill Arab vendors traveling through the countryside. From 1902 on, short-lived governments were again the norm, with their power usurped by caudillos in parts of the country. Furthermore, the national government was bankrupt and, unable to pay its debts to European creditors, faced

10878-765: The UASD San Cristóbal, also called CURSCEN, the Loyola Polytechnic Institute (recently endorsed and certified as a Loyola Specialized Institute of Higher Studies) stand out. teach technical engineering careers such as: Network and Telecommunications Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Agricultural Engineering, with all the prestige of the Loyola Polytechnic Institute.), Loyola Cooperative School, Francisco José Peynado Polytechnic Institute, Santa Rita School, Center for Ronda Del Saber Studies, Baptist School, San Rafael School, English Learning Center, Canaan Academy, etc. Studies are offered at

11025-519: The United States, made the exiles abort the expedition. In turn, when Fulgencio Batista was in power, Trujillo initially supported anti-Batista supporters of Carlos Prío Socarrás in Oriente Province in 1955; however, weapons Trujillo sent were soon inherited by Fidel Castro 's insurgents when Prío allied with Castro; Dominican-made Cristóbal carbines and hand grenades became the rebels' standard weapons. After 1956, when Trujillo saw that Castro

11172-454: The United States. Refugees from Europe broadened the Dominican Republic's tax base and added more whites to the predominantly mixed-race nation. Trujillo's government favored white refugees over others while Dominican troops expelled illegal immigrants, resulting in the 1937 Parsley Massacre of Haitian migrants. The Trujillo regime greatly expanded the Vedado del Yaque, a nature reserve around

11319-641: The Venezuelan President Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello , the Organization of American States and the United States blocked Trujillo's access to US sugar quota profits. In April 1962, after the flight of the Trujillo family from the country, Attorney General Eduardo Antonio Garcia Vasquez reported that in the previous five years, the former regime was responsible for 5,700 deaths, either as known murders, or of those missing but presumed dead. The SIM often denied victims' families

11466-557: The Venezuelan government to take its case against Trujillo to the Organization of American States (OAS), a move that infuriated Trujillo, who ordered his agents to plant a bomb in Betancourt's car. The assassination attempt, carried out on Friday, 24 June 1960, injured but did not kill the Venezuelan president. The Betancourt incident inflamed world opinion against Trujillo. Outraged OAS members voted unanimously to sever diplomatic relations with his government and impose economic sanctions on

11613-637: The abduction and disappearance in New York City of the Basque exile Jesús Galíndez in 1956, and the murder of Spanish writer José Almoina in Mexico, also in 1960. These acts, particularly the presumed murder of Galíndez, a naturalized US citizen, the attempted murder of Betancourt, a staunch critic of Trujillo, and the murder of the Mirabal sisters , who were among his most notable opponents, in 1960, eroded relations between

11760-471: The adjectival form of "Domingo", and as such, the revolutionaries named their newly independent country the "Dominican Republic" ( la República Dominicana ). In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic ( himno nacional de la República Dominicana ), the poetic term "Quisqueyans" ( Quisqueyanos ) is used instead of "Dominicans". The word "Quisqueya" derives from the Taíno language , and means "mother of

11907-427: The assassinations of political opposition, the massacre of Haitians , and Trujillo's plots against other countries. The U.S. finally broke with Trujillo in 1960, after Trujillo's agents attempted to assassinate the Venezuelan president, Rómulo Betancourt , with a car bomb, as he was a fierce critic of Trujillo. After its representatives confirmed Trujillo's complicity in the nearly successful assassination attempt,

12054-491: The attack for $ 1 million, but Castro learned of the plot and instructed Morgan to go along with it and report back. Trujillo was tricked into believing that Morgan had captured Trinidad . On August 13, 1959, a C-47 transport flying from the Dominican Republic carrying military advisors and supplies landed at Trinidad airport. Castro seized the aircraft and the ten occupants and arrested some 4,000 suspects throughout Cuba. On November 25, 1960, Trujillo's henchmen killed three of

12201-657: The beaches of Najayo, Palenque, El Balnearios de La Toma, Cuevas del Pomier and the Haina and Nizao rivers. Currently, San Cristóbal is one of the cities with the best rates in the area of telecommunications. It has the services of the main telephone companies in the country, as well as various cable and satellite television companies. There are a total of 72 educational centers and 92 center boards. The Educational District 04-03 has under its jurisdiction 56 Basic Centers, 10 Middle Schools, 6 Adult Centers, an Initial Education Center "National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani)" and

12348-565: The beginning of the conquest and colonization of Hispaniola with the second Voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1493. There were various haciendas, herds and ranches that existed in the Partido de los Ingenios de Nigua (today San Cristóbal) during the Spanish colonial era. The formation of the town is credited to Miguel Díaz. Fleeing from the punishment that awaited him from the authorities of La Isabela (the first city created by Columbus in America), due to

12495-413: The border that slaughtered tens of thousands of Haitians as they tried to escape. The number of dead is still unknown, but it is now calculated between 12,000 and 30,000. The Dominican military used machetes to murder and decapitate many of the victims; they also took people to the port of Montecristi, where many victims were thrown into the sea to drown with their hands and feet bound. The Haitian response

12642-619: The budget for national defense. A foreign legion was formed to defend Haiti, as it was expected that Castro might invade the Haitian part of the island first and remove François Duvalier as well. A Cuban plane with 56 fighting men landed near Constanza , Dominican Republic, on Sunday, 14 June 1959, and six days later more invaders brought by two yachts landed at the north coast. However, the Dominican Army prevailed. In turn, in August 1959, Johnny Abbes attempted to support an anti-Castro group led by Escambray near Trinidad, Cuba . The attempt, however,

12789-410: The country against Medina's government), marking the end to 16 years in power of the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). In May 2024, President Luis Abinader won a second term in elections . Especially his tough policies towards migration from neighbouring Haiti was popular among voters. The Dominican Republic comprises the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola , the second-largest island in

12936-538: The country for over a year and left after supervising elections in 1966 won by Joaquín Balaguer . He had been Trujillo's last puppet-president. Balaguer remained in power as president for 12 years. His tenure was a period of repression of human rights and civil liberties. His rule was criticized for a growing disparity between rich and poor. It was, however, praised for an ambitious infrastructure program, which included construction of large housing projects, sports complexes, theaters, museums, aqueducts, roads, highways, and

13083-403: The country's major export. This action ultimately cost the Dominican Republic almost $ 22,000,000 in lost revenues at a time when its economy was in a rapid decline. Trujillo had become expendable, and dissidents inside the Dominican Republic argued that assassination was the only certain way to remove him. On May 30, 1961, Trujillo was shot and killed by Dominican dissidents. Ramfis Trujillo ,

13230-461: The country, executing most of the conspirators. By November 1961, the Trujillo family was pressured into exile by the titular president Joaquín Balaguer , who introduced reforms to open up the regime. The murder ushered in civil strife which concluded with the Dominican Civil War and a US-OAS intervention, eventually stabilised under a multi-party system in 1966. The Trujillo era unfolded in

13377-487: The country. On 16 August 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the Dominican Party , founded two weeks earlier, the nation's sole legal political party. However, the country had effectively become a one-party state with Trujillo's inauguration. Government employees were required by law to "donate" 10% of their salaries to the national treasury and there was strong pressure on adult citizens to join

13524-446: The creation of the main radio station, La Voz Dominicana , and later the television station, the fourth in the Caribbean. By 1937 Trujillo's annual income was about $ 1.5 million ($ 32 million in 2023); at the time of his death the state took over 111 Trujillo-owned companies. His love of fine and ostentatious clothing was displayed in elaborate uniforms and suits, of which he collected almost two thousand. Fond of neckties, he amassed

13671-453: The dictator's son, remained in de facto control of the government for the next 6 months, as commander of the armed forces. Trujillo's brothers, Hector Bienvenido and Jose Arismendi Trujillo, returned to the country and plotted against President Balaguer. On November 18, 1961, as a planned coup became more evident, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk issued a warning that the US would not "remain idle" if

13818-452: The end of his rule, his relationship with the United States deteriorated. Early on, Trujillo determined that Dominican financial affairs had to be put in order, and that included ending the United States's role as collector of Dominican customs—a situation that had existed since 1907 and was confirmed in a 1924 convention signed at the end of the occupation. Negotiations started in 1936 and lasted four years. On 24 September 1940, Trujillo and

13965-461: The entire island was either Ayiti or Quisqueya . Christopher Columbus arrived on the island on December 5, 1492, during the first of his four voyages to the Americas. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Española , due to its diverse climate and terrain, which reminded him of the Spanish landscape. In 1496, Bartholomew Columbus , Christopher's brother, built the city of Santo Domingo , Western Europe's first permanent settlement in

14112-643: The fact that it is the main city in the southern region and the fifth in the country and are industry (in San Cristóbal and the free zones of Bajo de Haina, Nigua and Villa Altagracia), small-scale agriculture (except citrus plantations in Villa Altagracia, coffee in the mountains and onions in the Najayo-Palenque plains) and port plantations (in Bajo de Haina and Palenque). It has an intense tourist activity, especially national or internal tourists. The main centers are

14259-780: The farming areas of the nation. Rather less productive are the semi-arid San Juan Valley, south of the Central Cordillera, and the Neiba Valley, tucked between the Sierra de Neiba and the Sierra de Bahoruco. Much of the land around the Enriquillo Basin is below sea level, with a hot, arid, desert-like environment. There are other smaller valleys in the mountains, such as the Constanza , Jarabacoa , Villa Altagracia , and Bonao valleys. The Llano Costero del Caribe ("Caribbean Coastal Plain")

14406-460: The four Mirabal sisters , nicknamed Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). Along with their husbands, the sisters were conspiring to overthrow Trujillo in a violent revolt. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed on the anniversary of their deaths. For a long time, the U.S. and the Dominican elite supported the Trujillo government. This support persisted despite

14553-473: The four highest peaks in the Caribbean: Pico Duarte (3,098 metres or 10,164 feet above sea level), La Pelona (3,094 metres or 10,151 feet), La Rucilla (3,049 metres or 10,003 feet), and Pico Yaque (2,760 metres or 9,055 feet). In the southwest corner of the country, south of the Cordillera Central, there are two other ranges: the more northerly of the two is the Sierra de Neiba , while in the south

14700-488: The game of baseball , the dictator invited many black American players to the Dominican Republic, where they received good pay for playing on first-class, un-segregated teams. The great Negro league star Satchel Paige pitched for the Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo , a team organized by Trujillo. Paige later claimed, jokingly, that his guards positioned themselves "like a firing squad" to encourage him to pitch well. Los Dragones won

14847-582: The general population. The occupying government also revived the Dominican economy, reduced the nation's debt, built a road network that at last interconnected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard to replace the warring partisan units. Additionally, with grass-roots support from local communities and assistance from both Dominican and US officials, the Dominican education system expanded significantly during US occupation. Between 1918 and 1920, more than three hundred schools were established nationwide. The system of forced labour used by

14994-468: The help of his employer along with US Major James J. MacLean, who was his maternal uncle Teódulo Pina Chevalier's friend, and was soon promoted to second lieutenant and began training with the US Marines . Allegations of forgery were ignored when Trujillo applied and he was later acquitted by a panel of Marines following plausible accusations against him, including the alleged rape and subsequent extortion of

15141-568: The highest in the Western Hemisphere. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest (in terms of production) gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine . The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte , and

15288-459: The infamous SIM , were responsible for perhaps as many as 50,000 murders. These included between 12,000 and 30,000 Haitians in the infamous Parsley massacre in 1937, which continues to affect Dominican-Haitian relations to this day. During his long rule, the Trujillo government's extensive use of state terrorism was prolific even beyond national borders, including the attempted assassination of Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt in 1960,

15435-455: The killing of all police officers. On April 28, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson deployed U.S. Marines to Santo Domingo to protect American citizens, with U.S. forces subsequently expanded to 24,000 troops. On April 30, two battalions of the 82nd Airborne Division landed at San Isidro airfield . Hours later, U.S. troops crossed the Duarte Bridge to link up with Loyalists, who were to secure

15582-454: The lands". It is often used in songs as another name for the country. The name of the country in English is often shortened to "the D.R." ( la R.D. ), but this is rare in Spanish. The islands of the Caribbean were first settled around 6,000 years ago by hunter-gatherer peoples originating from Central America or northern South America. The Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taíno moved into

15729-550: The massive Columbus Lighthouse , completed in 1992 during a later tenure. In 1978, Balaguer was succeeded to the presidency by opposition candidate Antonio Guzmán Fernández , of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Hurricane David hit the Dominican Republic in August 1979, which left upwards of 2,000 people dead and 200,000 homeless. The hurricane caused over $ 1 billion in damage. Another PRD win in 1982 followed, under Salvador Jorge Blanco . Balaguer regained

15876-512: The name of the capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo . The province of San Cristóbal was renamed to "Trujillo" and the nation's highest peak, Pico Duarte to Pico Trujillo. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across the Dominican Republic, and bridges and public buildings were named in his honor. The nation's newspapers had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included slogans such as "¡Viva Trujillo!" and "Año del Benefactor de la Patria" (Year of

16023-550: The neighboring French colony of Saint-Domingue —the wealthiest colony in the Caribbean and whose population of half a million was 90% enslaved and four times as numerous as Santo Domingo. In 1795, Spain ceded Santo Domingo to France by the Treaty of Basel as a result of its defeat in the War of the Pyrenees . Saint-Domingue achieved independence as Haiti from France on January 1, 1804. In 1809,

16170-634: The northern coast and in the Pedernales Peninsula. Four major rivers drain the numerous mountains of the Dominican Republic. The Yaque del Norte is the longest and most important Dominican river. It carries excess water down from the Cibao Valley and empties into Monte Cristi Bay, in the northwest. Likewise, the Yuna River serves the Vega Real and empties into Samaná Bay, in the northeast. Drainage of

16317-614: The occasion to launch a massive propaganda campaign that presented him as the savior of the nation. A law proclaimed that the Benefactor was also now the Restaurador de la independencia financiera de la Republica (Restorer of the Republic's financial independence). Haiti formerly occupied what is today called the Dominican Republic for 22 years – from 1822 to 1844. Prior to their occupation, Spanish colonial rule prevailed. Encroachment by Haiti

16464-530: The other candidates pulled out. Ultimately, the Trujillo-Estrella ticket was proclaimed victorious with an implausible 99% of the vote. In a note to the State Department, American ambassador Charles Boyd Curtis wrote that Trujillo received far more votes than there were actual voters. Upon taking office on 16 August, Truijllo assumed dictatorial powers which he retained for the next three decades. Two and

16611-470: The other hand, his administrations have been accused of corruption. Danilo Medina of the PLD was elected president in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. On the other hand, a significant increase in crime, government corruption and a weak justice system threaten to overshadow their administrative period. He was succeeded by the opposition candidate Luis Abinader in the 2020 election (weeks after protests erupted in

16758-417: The party. Members had to carry a membership card, nicknamed the " Palmita " since the cover had a palm tree on it, and a person could be arrested for vagrancy without one. Those who did not join or contribute to the party did so at their own risk. Opponents of the régime were mysteriously killed. In 1934, Trujillo, who had promoted himself to generalissimo of the army, was up for re-election . By then, there

16905-628: The patron saint of astronomers , and founder of the Dominican Order . The Dominican Order established what is now known as the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo , the first university in the New World. For most of its history, up until independence, the colony was known simply as Santo Domingo and continued to be commonly known as such in English until the early 20th century. The residents were called "Dominicans" ( Dominicanos ),

17052-533: The population of Taínos had declined drastically due to smallpox , measles, and other diseases that arrived with the Europeans. African slaves were imported to replace the dwindling Taínos. The last record of pure Taínos in the country was from 1864. Still, Taíno biological heritage survived due to intermixing. Census records from 1514 reveal that 40% of Spanish men in Santo Domingo were married to Taíno women, and some present-day Dominicans have Taíno ancestry. By

17199-429: The port of Puerto Plata and destroyed much of the town. In the south, Spanish forces were successful in driving the rebels out of several towns and into Haiti. However, the capture of Azua proved to be a costly endeavor, with two months of fighting and a significant loss of lives for the Spanish. Spanish forces from Cuba attacked and captured Monte Cristi on the north coast, but sustained heavy casualties. By 1865,

17346-422: The presidency in 1986 and was re-elected in 1990 and 1994, in the latter defeating PRD candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez , a former mayor of Santo Domingo. The 1994 elections were flawed, bringing international pressure, to which Balaguer responded by scheduling another presidential contest in 1996. Balaguer was not a candidate. The PSRC candidate was his Vice President Jacinto Peynado Garrigosa . In 1996, with

17493-416: The proceeds for his personal use and to maintain his police state. In 1899, he was assassinated. However, the relative calm over which he presided allowed improvement in the Dominican economy. The sugar industry was modernized, and the country attracted foreign workers and immigrants. Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, and Palestinians began to arrive in the country during the latter part of the 19th century. During

17640-479: The remains of their loved ones, disposing of them clandestinely. In the aftermath of Trujillo's assassination, very few of those arrested and killed in the subsequent crackdown had their remains returned, the majority believed by investigators from Vasquez's office to have been tossed to sharks, or were stuffed into an incinerator at nearby San Isidro airbase. Trujillo was known for his open-door policy, accepting Jewish refugees from Europe, Japanese migration during

17787-455: The rest of his life as an unelected military strongman under figurehead presidents. His rule of 31 years, known to Dominicans as the Trujillo Era ( Spanish : El Trujillato or La Era de Trujillo ), was one of the longest for a non-royal leader in the world, and centered around a personality cult of the ruling family. It was also one of the most brutal; Trujillo's security forces, including

17934-539: The second and expelling Báez in 1859. In 1861, after imprisoning, exiling, and executing many of his opponents and due to political and economic reasons, Santana asked Queen Isabella II of Spain to retake control of the Dominican Republic. Spain, which had not come to terms with the loss of its mainland American colonies 40 years earlier, made the country a colony again. The island was occupied by 30,000 Spanish troops bolstered by battalions of Cuban and Puerto Rican volunteers and 12,000 Dominicans who aligned themselves with

18081-503: The sister of Toussaint Louverture , the Father of the Nation of Haiti . Trujillo was the third of eleven children; he also had an adopted brother, Luis Rafael "Nene" Trujillo (1935–2005), who was raised in the home of Trujillo Molina. In 1897, at the age of six, Trujillo was registered in the school of Juan Hilario Meriño. One year later, he transferred to the school of Pablo Barinas, where he

18228-659: The support of Joaquín Balaguer and the Social Christian Reform Party in a coalition called the Patriotic Front, Leonel Fernández achieved the first-ever win for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which Bosch had founded in 1973 after leaving the PRD. Fernández oversaw a fast-growing economy: growth averaged 7.7% per year, unemployment fell, and there were stable exchange and inflation rates. In 2000,

18375-512: The threat of military intervention by France, Germany , and Italy . United States President Theodore Roosevelt sought to prevent European intervention, largely to protect the routes to the future Panama Canal . He made a small military intervention to ward off European powers, to proclaim his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine , and also to obtain his 1905 Dominican agreement for U.S. administration of Dominican customs, which

18522-458: The time of the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, which ceded the western one-third of the island to France, the population of Santo Domingo consisted of a few thousand whites, approximately 30,000 black slaves, and a few Taínos. By 1789, the population had grown to 125,000, but Santo Domingo remained one of Spain's less wealthy and strategically important colonies in the New World. The population composition of Santo Domingo sharply contrasted with that of

18669-411: The time, both ruling arbitrarily. They promoted competing plans to annex the new nation to a major power. The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844, and its population in 1845 was approximately 230,000 people (100,000 whites; 40,000 blacks; and 90,000 mulattoes). In March 1844, Haiti invaded, but the Dominicans put up stiff opposition and inflicted heavy casualties on

18816-538: The very beginning in 1930 when his gang, "The 42", led by Miguel Angel Paulino, drove through the streets in their red Packard " carro de la muerte " ("car of death"). Trujillo also maintained an execution list of people throughout the world who he felt were his direct enemies or who he felt had wronged him. He even once allowed an opposition party to form and permitted it to operate legally and openly, mainly so that he could identify those who opposed him and arrest or kill them. Imprisonments and killings were later handled by

18963-519: The western third of the island, which became the independent First Empire of Haiti in 1804. A group of Dominicans deposed the Spanish governor and declared independence from Spain in November 1821, but were annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence . The next 72 years saw several civil wars, failed invasions by Haiti, and

19110-511: Was an ongoing process, and when Trujillo took over, specifically the northwestern border region had become increasingly "Haitianized". The border was poorly defined. In 1933, and again in 1935, Trujillo met the Haitian President Sténio Vincent to settle the border issue. By 1936, they reached and signed a settlement. At the same time, Trujillo plotted against the Haitian government by linking up with General Calixte, Commander of

19257-553: Was born on 5 June 1929, María de los Ángeles del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Angelita), born in Paris on 10 June 1939, and Leónidas Rhadamés, born on 1 December 1942. Ramfis and Rhadamés were named after characters in Giuseppe Verdi 's opera Aida . In 1937, Trujillo met Lina Lovatón Pittaluga, an upper-class debutante with whom he had two children, Yolanda in 1939, and Rafael, born on 20 June 1943. In spite of Trujillo's indifference to

19404-403: Was coupled with an intense desire for money, which he recognized as a source of and support for power. Up at four in the morning, he exercised, studied the newspaper, read many reports, and completed papers before breakfast. At the office by nine, he continued his work, and took lunch by noon. After a walk, he continued to work until 7:30 pm. After dinner, he attended functions, held discussions, or

19551-662: Was driven around incognito in the city "observing and remembering." Until Santo Domingo 's National Palace was built in 1947, he worked out of the Casas Reales , the colonial-era Viceregal center of administration. Today the building is a museum; on display are his desk and chair, along with a massive collection of arms and armor that he bought. He was methodical, punctual, secretive, and guarded; he had no true friends, only associates and acquaintances. For his associates, his actions towards them were unpredictable. Trujillo and his family amassed enormous wealth. He acquired cattle lands on

19698-568: Was educated by disciples of Eugenio María de Hostos and remained there for the rest of his primary schooling. As a child, he was obsessed with his appearance and would place bottle caps on his clothes that mimicked military decorations. At the age of 16, Trujillo got a job as a telegraph operator, which he held for about three years. Shortly after Trujillo, aided by his brother José Arismendy Petán , turned to petty crime: cattle rustling, check counterfeiting, and postal robbery. He spent several months in prison, which did not deter him, as he later formed

19845-425: Was founded in the late 16th century. The Constitution of the Dominican Republic was signed in San Cristóbal in 1844. The city is also notable for being the birthplace of Rafael Trujillo , dictator from 1930 to 1961, who was killed by anti-dictatorial Dominicans on his way to San Cristóbal in 1961 as part of a successful plot to end his 30-year authoritarian regime. The first explorations in San Cristóbal date back to

19992-472: Was gaining ground, he started to support Batista with money, planes, equipment, and men. Trujillo, convinced that Batista would prevail, was very surprised when Batista showed up as a fugitive after he had been ousted . Trujillo kept Batista until August 1959 as a "virtual prisoner". Only after paying US$ 3–4 million could Batista leave for Portugal , which had granted him a visa. Castro made threats to overthrow Trujillo, and Trujillo responded by increasing

20139-647: Was muted, but its government eventually called for an international investigation. Under pressure from Washington, Trujillo agreed to a reparation settlement in January 1938 of US$ 750,000. By the next year, the amount had been reduced to US$ 525,000 (US$ 11.13 million in 2024); 30 dollars per victim, of which only two cents were given to survivors because of corruption in the Haitian bureaucracy. In 1941, Lescot, who had received financial support from Trujillo, succeeded Vincent as President of Haiti. Trujillo expected that Lescot would be his puppet, but Lescot turned against him. Trujillo unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him in

20286-472: Was no organized opposition left in the country, and he was re-elected unopposed. In addition to the widely rigged (and regularly uncontested) elections, he instated "civic reviews" with large crowds shouting their loyalty to the government, which would in turn create more support for Trujillo. In 1936, at the suggestion of Mario Fermín Cabral , the Congress of the Dominican Republic voted overwhelmingly to change

20433-511: Was of French descent, and Eleonore Juliette Chevallier Moreau, who was part of Haiti's mulatto class. From her mother's side, Chevalier was granddaughter of Louise Moreau and her husband Bernard Chevallier Louverture, a mulatto Haitian high-ranking officer and politician that established in San Cristóbal with the Haitian occupation , from whom countless Dominican families descend, who was the son of French nobleman Jean Baptiste Chevallier, Marquis de Pouilboreau and his wife Marie-Noëlle Louverture,

20580-404: Was popularly known as "El Jefe" ("The Chief") or "El Benefactor" ("The Benefactor") but was privately referred to as Chapitas ("Bottlecaps") because of his indiscriminate wearing of medals. Dominican children emulated Trujillo by constructing toy medals from bottle caps . Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a North American country located on the island of Hispaniola in

20727-500: Was proclaimed acting president, with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and of the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the Patriotic Coalition of Citizens (Spanish: Coalición patriotica de los ciudadanos ), with Estrella as his running mate. The other candidates became targets of harassment by the army. When it became apparent that the army would allow only Trujillo to campaign unhindered,

20874-565: Was promoted to major and appointed Inspector of the 1st military district . President Horacio Vásquez named Trujillo the commander of the National Police in 1924, he was named brigadier general in 1928, Trujillo militarized the police, turning it into an army. It evolved into a de facto independent body under his control. A rebellion or coup d'état against President Vásquez broke out in February 1930 in Santiago. Trujillo secretly cut

21021-645: Was several years of great political instability and civil war . U.S. mediation by the William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson administrations achieved only a short respite each time. A political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling the Dominicans to choose a president or see the U.S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president (1899–1902) Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra back in power. With his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite

21168-422: Was the chief source of income for the Dominican government. A 1906 agreement provided for the arrangement to last 50 years. The United States agreed to use part of the customs proceeds to reduce the immense foreign debt of the Dominican Republic and assumed responsibility for said debt. After six years in power, President Ramón Cáceres (who had himself assassinated Heureaux) was assassinated in 1911. The result

21315-657: Was the name given to the route between the indicated rivers, it was not until 1782 when it was elevated to the category of parish, constituting the San Gregorio de Nigua Church as the seat of the parish, which is undoubtedly one of the oldest construction of San Cristóbal still standing. Rafael Trujillo , dictator from 1930 to 1961, was born in San Cristóbal in 1891 and had several properties in San Cristóbal among which were: All of these buildings are still standing, though in poor conditions. He built many monuments in his hometown, such as Balneario La Toma, and Parque Piedras Vivas –

21462-536: Was thwarted when Cuban troops surprised a plane he had sent when it was unloading its cargo. By the late 1950s, opposition to Trujillo's regime was starting to build to a fever pitch, especially among a younger generation who had no memory of the poverty and instability that had preceded the dictatorship. Many clamored for democratization. The Trujillo regime responded with greater repression. The Military Intelligence Service (SIM) secret police, led by Johnny Abbes , remained as ubiquitous as before. Other nations ostracized

21609-560: Was understood that Peynado was merely a puppet, and Trujillo still held all governing power in the nation. Peynado increased the size of the electric "Dios y Trujillo" sign and died on 7 March 1940, with Troncoso serving out the rest of the term. However, in 1942, with US President Franklin Roosevelt having run for a third term in the United States, Trujillo ran for president again and was elected unopposed. He served for two terms, which he lengthened to five years each. In 1952, under pressure from

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