View source for Dominican Civil War

{{short description|1965 civil war in the Dominican Republic}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Dominican Civil War
| partof            = the [[Cold War]]
| image             = Humanitarian G.I.'s. Firefight where G.I. pushes little kid under jeep for protection, Santo Domingo, May 5., 1965 - NARA - 541806 (cropped).jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = American soldiers engaged in a firefight while a child takes cover under a [[Military light utility vehicle|jeep]] for protection in Santo Domingo on May 5, 1965.
| date              = 24 April 1965 – 3 September 1965<ref name=NukEm/><br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1965|month1=04|day1=24|year2=1965|month2=09|day2=03}})
| place             = [[Santo Domingo]], [[Dominican Republic]]<ref name=NukEm/>
| result            = [[Military of the Dominican Republic|Loyalist]] victory
* [[Ceasefire]] declared
* Formation of the provisional government for new elections
* Deposition of [[Juan Bosch (politician)|Juan Bosch]] of the presidency
* Organization of presidential elections in 1966 under international supervision
* Election of [[Joaquín Balaguer]] as the new president
| combatant1        = {{flagicon image|Bandera de las Fuerzas Armadas (Engalanada en los bordes).svg}} Loyalist faction<br />{{flag|United States}}<br>{{Collapsible list
| bullets = no
| title ={{flagicon image|Fuerza Interamericana de Paz sello.svg}} [[Inter-American Peace Force|IAPF]]
| {{flag|Brazil|1960}}
| {{flag|Paraguay}}
| {{flag|Nicaragua|1908}}
| {{flag|Costa Rica}}
| {{flag|El Salvador}}
| {{flag|Honduras|1949}}<ref name=NukEm>{{cite web|url=http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/PowerPack.pdf|title=Power Pack: U.S. Intervention in the Dominican Republic 1965–1966|work=Lawrence Papers|author=Lawrence Yates|date=July 1988|access-date=June 28, 2015}}</ref>
}}
| combatant2        = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg}} Constitutionalist faction
* [[Dominican Revolutionary Party]]
* [[Social Christian Reformist Party#Background and formation|Social Christian Revolutionary Party]]
* {{flagicon image|Bandera Movimiento 14 de Junio (1J4)2.svg}} {{ill|June 14th Revolutionary Movement|es|Movimiento Revolucionario 14 de Junio}}
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Dominican Republic|air force}} [[Elías Wessin y Wessin]]<br />{{flagicon|Dominican Republic|army}} [[Antonio Imbert Barrera]]<br /> {{Flagicon|USA}} [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]<br />{{flagicon|USA|army}} [[Bruce Palmer Jr.|Bruce Palmer]]<ref name=NukEm/>
<!--<br />{{flagicon|Brazil|1889|size=25px}}  Hugo Panasco Alvim<ref>Celso Castro. «O golpe de 1964 e a instauração do regime militar». Fundação Getulio Vargas. Consultado em 16 de fevereiro de 2010</ref><br />{{Flagicon|Paraguay}} Roberto Cubas Barboza<ref>[http://www.portalguarani.com/574_helio_vera/19845_el_gobierno_del_general_alfredo_stroessner__por_helio_vera.html "El Gobierno del General Alfredo Stroessner"] by Helio Vera. ''Portal Guaraní''. Retrieved on March 18, 2017</ref><br />-->| commander2        = {{flagicon|Dominican Republic}} [[Juan Bosch (politician)|Juan Bosch]]<br />{{flagicon|Dominican Republic}} [[Francisco Caamaño]]<ref name=NukEm/>
| strength1         = '''Loyalists:'''<br />2,200 regulars<br />12 [[AMX-13]] light tanks<br />24 [[Stridsvagn L-60|L-60]] light tanks<br />13 [[Pansarbil m/39|Lynx]] armoured cars<br />1 frigate<br />4+ fighters<br />'''United States:'''<br />6,924 Marines<br>12,434 82nd Airborne<br>Unknown number of [[M48 Patton]] main battle tanks
| strength2         = '''Constitutionalists:'''<br />1,500 regulars<br />5,000 armed civilians<br />5+ light tanks
| casualties1       = {{flagicon|Dominican Republic}} '''Dominican Republic''':
*500 regulars killed{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=247}}
*325 police killed{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=247}}
*5 light tanks captured
*2 [[North American P-51 Mustang|P-51 Mustang]] fighters shot down
{{flagicon|United States}} '''United States''':
*44 dead (9 Marines and 18 82nd Airborne killed)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://medium.com/war-is-boring/in-1965-u-s-and-dominican-tanks-fought-brief-violent-skirmishes-f206040e66b3 | title=In 1965, U.S. And Dominican Tanks Fought Brief, Violent Skirmishes | date=June 22, 2016 }}</ref>
*283 wounded or injured{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=246}}
*1 [[M50 Ontos]] damaged
{{flagicon image|Fuerza Interamericana de Paz sello.svg}} '''IAPF''':
*11 wounded
| casualties2       = 600 regulars killed{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=247}}<br />unknown armed civilians killed<br />5 light tanks destroyed<br />1 cargo ship damaged{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=96}}
| casualties3       = 6,000 Dominican casualties and 350 U.S. casualties{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=247}}
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Dominican Civil War}}
| notes             = The Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF) was designed as a peacekeeping force and thus is not considered a war participant.
}}

The '''Dominican Civil War''' ({{Langx|es|Guerra Civil Dominicana}}), also known as the '''April Revolution''' ({{Langx|es|Revolución de Abril}}), took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in [[Santo Domingo]], [[Third Dominican Republic|Dominican Republic]]. It started when civilian and military supporters of the [[1963 Dominican coup d'état|overthrown]] democratically elected president [[Juan Bosch (politician)|Juan Bosch]] ousted the militarily installed president [[Donald Reid Cabral]] from office. The second [[Coup d'état|coup]] prompted General [[Elías Wessin y Wessin]] to organize elements of the military loyal to the dictator Reid ("loyalists"), initiating an armed campaign against the "constitutionalist" rebels.

Allegations of [[communist]] support for the rebels led to a United States invasion (codenamed '''Operation Power Pack'''),<ref>{{Cite web|title=US Invasion Dominican Republic 1965|url=http://sincronia.cucsh.udg.mx/dominican.html|access-date=2021-08-08|website=sincronia.cucsh.udg.mx}}</ref> which later transformed into an [[Organization of American States]] occupation of the country by the [[Inter-American Peace Force]]. Although ostensibly neutral, U.S. civilian and military leaders deployed troops in a way that aided the anti-Bosch forces.{{sfn|Rabe|2012|p=101}} [[1966 Dominican Republic general election|Elections were held in 1966]], in the aftermath of which [[Joaquín Balaguer]] was elected. Later in the same year, foreign troops departed from the country.

==Background==
[[File:Juan Bosch (1963).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Constitutionalist troops attempted to reinstate overthrown President [[Juan Bosch (politician)|Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño]] into power.]]
<!--On November 19, 1911, General [[Luis Tejera]] led a group of conspirators in an ambush on the horsedrawn carriage  was killed and Tejera wounded in the leg. In the ensuing power vacuum, General [[Alfredo Victoria]], the commander of the army, seized control and forced the [[Dominican Congress]] to elect his uncle, [[Eladio Victoria]], as the new president. The general was widely suspected of bribing the Congress, and his uncle, who took office on February 27, 1912, lacked legitimacy. The former president [[Horacio Vásquez]] soon returned from exile to lead his followers, the ''[[horacistas]]'', in a popular uprising against the new government.{{sfn|Maurer|2013|pp=194–96}}

The result was several years of great political instability and civil war. U.S. mediation by the [[William Howard Taft]] and [[Woodrow Wilson]] administrations achieved only short respites each time. A political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling Dominicans that unless they chose a president, they would see the United States impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later that year, relatively-free elections returned the former president (1899–1902) [[Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra]] to power. To achieve a government that was more broadly supported, Jimenes named opposition individuals to his cabinet. However, that brought no peace and, with his former [[Secretary of War]] [[Desiderio Arias]] maneuvering to depose him and despite a U.S. offer of military aid against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916.<ref name="congress">{{cite web| title=Dominican Republic: Occupation by the United States, 1916–1924| work=Country Studies| publisher=[[Library of Congress]]; Federal Research Division| url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/10.htm| access-date=May 29, 2007}}</ref>

Wilson thus ordered the [[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–24)|United States occupation of the Dominican Republic]]. The [[U.S. Marines]] landed on May 16, 1916, and controlled the country two months later. The U.S. military government, led by Rear Admiral [[Harry Shepard Knapp]], was widely repudiated by Dominicans, with some factions within the country leading guerrilla campaigns against the U.S. forces.<ref name="congress"/> The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified the general population. The occupying government also revived the Dominican economy, reduced the nation's debt, built a road network that finally connected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard to replace the warring partisan units.<ref name="congress"/>

Vigorous opposition to the occupation continued, nevertheless, and after [[World War I]], it increased in the US as well, where President [[Warren G. Harding]] (1921–23), Wilson's successor, worked to put an end to the occupation, as he had promised during his electoral campaign. The U.S. occupation ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924.<ref name="congress"/>
The victor was the former president (1902–03) [[Horacio Vásquez|Horacio Vásquez Lajara]], who had co-operated with the United States. He was inaugurated on July 13, 1924, and the last U.S. forces left in September. Vásquez gave the country six years of stable governance in which political and civil rights were respected and the economy grew strongly in a relatively-peaceful atmosphere.<ref name="congress"/><ref name=locdr11>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/11.htm |title=Dominican Republic&nbsp;– The era of Trujillo| work=Country Studies |publisher=[[Library of Congress]]; Federal Research Division}}</ref>

A [[rebellion]] or ''[[coup d'état]]''<ref name="Museo-Resistencia">{{cite web|title= Golpe de Estado a Horacio Vásquez|url= http://www.museodelaresistencia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=244:golpe-de-estado-a-horacio-vasquez-&catid=65:1924-1930&Itemid=101 |publisher= Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana |access-date= June 8, 2013 |location= Santo Domingo|language= es|year= 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Torres |first=José Antonio |title=Golpe de Estado a Horacio |url=http://www.elnacional.com.do/semana/2010/2/20/40448/aaaa |access-date=June 8, 2013 |newspaper=El Nacional |date=February 20, 2010 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927012456/http://www.elnacional.com.do/semana/2010/2/20/40448/aaaa |archive-date=September 27, 2013 }}</ref> against him broke out in February 1930 in Santiago. [[Rafael Trujillo]] secretly cut 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, which allowed Estrella's rebels to take the capital virtually unopposed. On March 3, Estrella was proclaimed acting president, with Trujillo confirmed as the head of the police and of the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the newly formed Patriotic Coalition of Citizens (Spanish: ''Coalición patriotica de los ciudadanos''), with Estrella as his running mate.<ref>Galindez, p. 44.</ref> The other candidates became targets of harassment by the army and withdrew when it became apparent that Trujillo would be the only person who would be allowed to campaign effectively. Ultimately, the Trujillo-Estrella ticket was proclaimed victorious with an implausible 99% of the vote. According to the U.S. ambassador, Trujillo received more votes than there were actual voters.<ref>Official results: 223,731 vs 1,883. Galindez, p. 51.</ref>

On May 30, 1961, Trujillo was shot and killed when his blue 1957 [[Chevrolet Bel Air]] was ambushed on a road outside the Dominican capital.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/trujillo.html |title=Moreorless: Heroes & Killers of the 20th century |last=Harris |first=Bruce |access-date=November 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120527031044/http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/trujillo.html |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was the victim of an ambush plotted by a number of men, such as General Juan Tomás Díaz, [[Antonio de la Maza]], [[Amado García Guerrero]], and General [[Antonio Imbert Barrera]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.museodelaresistencia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=329:heroes-del-30-de-mayo-resenas-biograficas&catid=40:1961-1964&Itemid=135|author=Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana |title=Heroes del 30 de Mayo. Resenas Biograficas |language=es |access-date=August 16, 2012}}</ref>

The country came under the rule of a military junta until 1963, when democratic elections were organized with U.S. aid. [[Juan Bosch (politician)|Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño]] emerged victorious in the elections, assuming office.-->

[[Juan Bosch (politician)|Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño]] was the first democratically elected president of the Dominican Republic. Sworn into office on February 27, 1963, he tried to implement a number of social reforms, which caused the anger of the [[business magnate]]s and members of the army, who initiated a rumor campaign that accused Bosch of being a communist. On September 25, 1963, a group of twenty-five senior military commanders, led by General [[Elías Wessin y Wessin]], expelled Bosch from the country and installed [[Donald Reid Cabral]] as the new president. Reid failed to gather popular support, and several factions prepared to launch a counter-''coup''; Constitutionalists under Bosch, a group in the Dominican army under Peña Taveras, supporters of the former [[Dominican Revolutionary Party]] leader Nicolás Silfa and plotters siding with [[Joaquín Balaguer]].<ref name=JiHx>{{cite web|url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnic/Random%20Narratives/Dominican%20RepublicRN1.2.pdf|title=Dominican Republic|work=[[Stanford University]]|author=James Fearon|date=June 26, 2006|access-date=June 27, 2015|archive-date=July 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703220151/http://web.stanford.edu/group/ethnic/Random%20Narratives/Dominican%20RepublicRN1.2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Civil war==
===April Revolution===
[[File:1965-04-29 Marines In Action.ogv|thumb|left|upright|A [[Universal Newsreel]] about the U.S. invasion.]]
On April 24, 1965, three junior officers requested a meeting with President Donald Reid Cabral, who rejected the offer after he had received news of a suspected anti-government plot. When Chief of Staff Riviera Cuesta was instead sent to discuss with the officers at the August 16 military camp, he was immediately detained. A group of military constitutionalists and [[Dominican Revolutionary Party]] (DRP) supporters then seized the Radio Santo Domingo building and issued calls of sedition while Constitutionalist officers distributed weapons and [[Molotov cocktail]]s to their civilian comrades. The transmissions prompted the garrison of the February 27 camp and a unit of the [[Dominican Navy|Dominican Navy's]] frogmen to defect. Large numbers of police officers abandoned their positions and changed into civilian clothing.<ref name=SqI/>

The following day, Reid appointed General Wessin y Wessin as the new chief of staff. Wessin rallied the government troops, branded them Loyalists, and announced his plans of suppressing the rebellion. At 10:30 am rebels stormed the presidential palace and arrested Reid. Several hours later, four Loyalist [[North American P-51 Mustang|P-51 Mustangs]] conducted aerial bombings of the National Palace and other Constitutionalist positions, and one plane was shot down by ground machine-gun fire during the incident.{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=50}} A single Loyalist vessel, {{ship|Dominican frigate|Mella|F451|2}}, on the [[Ozama River|river Ozama]], also bombarded the palace. Fearing that a mob, which had gathered at the palace, would lynch Reid, the rebel commander [[Francisco Caamaño]] allowed him to escape, as Reid had already lost the support of the Loyalists. The majority of the DRP leadership fled the capital, and Constitutionalists mobilized a total of 5,000 armed civilians and 1,500 members of the military.<ref name=JiHx/><ref name=SqI/> On April 26, [[José Rafael Molina Ureña]] was declared the provisional president, and large crowds gathered in the streets to demand Bosch's return from exile.

===U.S. intervention===
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965–1966)
| partof            = the Dominican Civil War
| image             = 1965-american01.jpg
| caption           = Wounded American soldier in Santo Domingo, 1965.
| date              = 28 April 1965 – 21 September 1966<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1965|month1=04|day1=28|year2=1966|month2=09|day2=21}})
| place             = [[Santo Domingo|Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic]]
| casus             = 
| result            = Allied victory
| combatant1        = {{flag|United States}} (pro-government state intervener)<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Organization of American States.svg}} [[Organization of American States]] (OAS)
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Dominican Republic}} Constitutionalists
| commander1        = 
| commander2        = 
| strength1         = 22,500 U.S troops (including most of the [[82d Airborne Division]] and most of the [[4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade]])<br>1,800 OAS troops
| strength2         = 2,000–4,000
| casualties1       = 27 killed<br>183 wounded{{efn|including 6 Brazilians and 5 Paraguayans wounded in action}}
| casualties2       = 67+ killed{{efn|Americans and Dominicans skirmished several times but fought only one battle, which occurred on June 15–16, 1965, in the Dominican-held [[Ciudad Nueva]] area of the city, where the 82nd Airborne Division lost 5 [[killed in action|KIA]] and 36 [[wounded in action|WIA]], while inflicting casualties of 67 KIA and 165 WIA on the Dominican forces.}}<br>165+ wounded
| notes             = 
}}

In the meantime, U.S. diplomats in Santo Domingo initiated preparations for evacuating 3,500 U.S. citizens. In the early morning of April 27, a group of 1,176 foreign civilians who had assembled in Hotel Embajador were airlifted to the [[Bajos de Haina]] naval facility, where they boarded {{USS|Ruchamkin|APD-89|6}} and {{USS|Wood County|LST-1178|6}}, as well as the helicopters of [[VMM-264|HMM-264]], which evacuated them from the island to {{USS|Boxer|CV-21|6}} and {{USS|Raleigh|LPD-1|6}}. Later that day, 1,500 Loyalist troops, supported by armored cars and tanks, marched from the [[San Isidro Air Base]], captured Duarte Bridge, and took position on the west bank of the Ozama River. A second force, consisting of 700 soldiers, left [[San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic|San Cristóbal]] and attacked the western suburbs of Santo Domingo. Wessin y Wessin ordered his armored units to cross the Duarte Bridge into Santo Domingo's center. However, the tanks quickly became bogged down in fierce combat within the narrow streets; armed civilians destroyed them. Unable to advance, the Loyalists retreated to San Isidro. The battle resulted in hundreds of casualties.

Rebels overran the [[Fortaleza Ozama]] police headquarters and took 700 prisoners. On April 28, armed civilians attacked the [[Villa Consuelo]] police station and executed all of the police officers who survived the initial skirmish. One [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] battalion landed in Haina and later moved to Hotel Embajador, where it provided assistance in the upcoming airlifts. During the night, 684 civilians were airlifted to USS ''Boxer''. One US Marine was killed by a rebel sniper during the operation.<ref name=SqI/> On April 29, the [[U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic]], [[William Tapley Bennett]], who had sent numerous reports to U.S. President [[Lyndon Johnson]], reported that the situation had reached life-threatening proportions for US citizens and that the rebels were Communists. Bennett stressed that the U.S. had to act immediately, as the creation of an international coalition would be time-consuming. Contrary to the suggestions of his advisers, Johnson authorized the transformation of evacuation operations into a large-scale military intervention through Operation Power Pack, which was aimed to prevent the development of what he saw as a second [[Cuban Revolution]].<ref name=JiHx/><ref name=SqI>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/093/93-5-1/CMH_Pub_93-5.pdf |title=United States Army Unilateral and Coalition Operations in the 1965 Dominican Republic Intervention |work=U.S. Army Center of Military History |author=Lawrence Greenberg |date=November 1986 |access-date=June 28, 2015 |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011223849/https://history.army.mil/html/books/093/93-5-1/CMH_Pub_93-5.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB513/ |title=The Dominican Intervention |work=NSA Archives |author=David Coleman|date=April 28, 2015|access-date=June 28, 2015}}</ref> It was the first overt U.S. military intervention in Latin America in more than 30 years, although it came on the heels of U.S.-backed coups in [[Guatemala]] and [[Military dictatorship in Brazil|Brazil]], as well as ongoing covert operations in [[Cuba]].<ref name="oxbib">{{cite web |last1=Gleijeses |first1=Piero |title=The United States Invasion of the Dominican Republic, 1961–1966 |url=http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766581/obo-9780199766581-0071.xml |website=Oxford Bibliographies Online |access-date=February 1, 2018 |doi=10.1093/OBO/9780199766581-0071 |date=October 28, 2011|isbn=978-0-19-976658-1 }}</ref>

[[File:Corridor of Santo Dominguo.gif|thumb|left|International Security Zone map.]]
At 2:16&nbsp;a.m. on April 30, 1965, the 3rd Brigade of the [[82nd Airborne Division]] landed at the [[San Isidro Air Base]] and started the U.S. military intervention in the conflict. During the next couple of hours, two brigade combat teams and heavy equipment were also dispatched. At sunrise the 1st Battalion, [[508th Infantry Regiment (United States)|508th Infantry Regiment]] moved up the San Isidoro highway under the cover of [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|F-4 Phantom]] jets flying from [[Puerto Rico]], securing a position east of the Duarte bridge. More units of the 82nd Airborne landed and secured the entire east bank of the Ozama River. Rebel positions across the river were destroyed by 105&nbsp;mm howitzers. U.S. soldiers crossed the bridge and occupied a six-block area on the western side of the Duarte Bridge, but suffered casualties from sniper fire. The 1st Battalion [[505th Infantry Regiment (United States)|505th Infantry Regiment]] remained at the airbase and sent out patrols to the perimeter. A force of 1,700 Marines of the 6th Marine Expeditionary Unit occupied an area containing a number of foreign embassies. The locale was proclaimed an International Security Zone by the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS). Earlier in the day, the OAS also issued a resolution calling the combatants to end all hostilities. At 4:30&nbsp;p.m., representatives of the loyalists, the rebels, and the U.S. military signed a ceasefire that was to take effect at 11:45&nbsp;p.m. That timing favored the [[demoralization (warfare)|demoralized]] Loyalists, who had lost control of [[Ciudad Colonial (Santo Domingo)|Ciudad Colonial]].<ref name=SqI/><ref name=SFaq>{{cite web|url=http://www.mccdc.marines.mil/Portals/172/Docs/SWCIWID/COIN/USMC%20Counterinsurgency%20History%20Pre-2000/U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20Operations%20In%20The%20Dominican%20Republic%20Apr-Jun%201965%20-%20USMC%20History%20Division%20%281992%29.pdf|title=U.S. Marine Corps Operations in the Dominican Republic April–June 1965|work=Historical Division Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps|author=Jack Ringler|date=1970|access-date=June 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703072807/http://www.mccdc.marines.mil/Portals/172/Docs/SWCIWID/COIN/USMC%20Counterinsurgency%20History%20Pre-2000/U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20Operations%20In%20The%20Dominican%20Republic%20Apr-Jun%201965%20-%20USMC%20History%20Division%20%281992%29.pdf|archive-date=July 3, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On May 5, the OAS Peace Committee arrived in Santo Domingo, and a second definite ceasefire agreement was signed, which ended the main phase of the civil war. Under the Act of Santo Domingo, the OAS was tasked with overseeing the implementation of the peace deal as well as distributing food and medication through the capital. The treaties failed to prevent some violations such as small-scale firefights and sniper fire. A day later, OAS members established the [[Inter-American Peace Force]] (IAPF) with the goal of serving as a peacekeeping formation in the Dominican Republic. The IAPF had 1,748 Brazilian, [[El Stronato|Paraguayan]], [[Somoza family|Nicaraguan]], [[Costa Rica]]n, [[Military dictatorship in El Salvador|Salvadoran]] and [[Honduras|Honduran]] troops and was headed by Brazilian General Hugo Panasco Alvim, with US Army General [[Bruce Palmer Jr.|Bruce Palmer]] serving as his deputy commander.<ref name=NukEm/><ref name=SFaq/> General Palmer proposed sending U.S. troops to eliminate the northern rebel sector and shut down the rebel-held radio station, but Washington blocked any offensive operations involving U.S. troops.
[[File:Illio Capocci.png|thumb|upright|Italian mercenary Illio Capocci during the civil war. He fought with the Constitutionalists and was killed by Loyalist forces on May 19, 1965.]]
Utilizing Radio Santo Domingo as their primary weapon, the rebels launched a psychological campaign against the United States, the OAS, and the Loyalists. Through numerous outlets, studios, and transmission sites nationwide, they employed Radio Santo Domingo to incite a nationwide rebellion. In response, American forces initiated jamming operations, deploying [[United States Army Security Agency|Army Security Agency]] (ASA) units on land, air force units in the skies, and naval ships at sea. Additionally, a reinforced company from the army's [[7th Special Forces Group (United States)|7th Special Forces Group]], led by Col. Edward Mayer, attacked critical relay sites beyond the capital. Their initial efforts were not effective, however, and rebel broadcasts continued to make their influence felt countrywide.{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=98}}

On May 13, the Loyalists launched an air attack on Radio Santo Domingo and its main transmitter sites. One of the planes accidentally strafed U.S. troops, prompting the Americans to return fire and shoot down another P-51 of World War II vintage.{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=99}} The following day, the Loyalists initiated an offensive against the rebel-held northern sector. They overwhelmed the rebels' initial defense line, seizing control of the majority of the city's industrial sector. By May 20, the Loyalists had completed the destruction of the rebel northern zone and captured Radio Santo Domingo.

On June 15, the Constitutionalists launched a second and final attempt to expand the boundaries of their stronghold. In the bloodiest battle of the intervention, the rebels began their attack on U.S. outposts. Using the greatest firepower yet, they used tear gas grenades, .50-caliber machine guns, 20&nbsp;mm guns, mortars, rocket launchers, and tank fire. The 1st battalions of the 505th and 508th Infantry quickly went on the offensive. Two days of fighting cost the 82nd Airborne 5 killed and 36 wounded in action.{{sfn|Palmer|2015|p=142}} The OAS forces, whose orders were to remain at their defenses, counted five wounded. The Constitutionalists lost 67 killed and 165 wounded.

The civil war formally ended on August 31, 1965, with a ceasefire agreement, followed by the establishment of a provisional government on September 3, 1965.

==United States withdrawal==
On May 26, 1965, U.S. forces began gradually withdrawing from the island. By June 6, no U.S. Marines remained on the island, leaving elements of the 82nd Airborne as the primary U.S. combat force. The total U.S. troop strength at that time had decreased to about 12,000.

The first postwar elections were held on July 1, 1966, and pitted the conservative Reformist Party candidate, [[Joaquín Balaguer]], against the former president [[Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño]]. Balaguer emerged victorious in the elections after he built his campaign on promises of reconciliation. On September 21, 1966, the last OAS peacekeepers withdrew from the island, which ended the foreign intervention in the conflict.<ref name=NukEm/><ref name=JiHx/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Dominican Republic|United States}}
* [[History of the Dominican Republic]]
* [[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–24)]]
* [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]]
* [[Johnson Doctrine]]
* [[United States involvement in regime change]]
* [[Latin America–United States relations]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Bruce|title=Intervention in the Caribbean: The Dominican Crisis of 1965 (ePub version)|date=2015|publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]]|isbn=9780813150024|location=Lexington, United States}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=L'Ère de Trujillo|first=Jésus |last=Galindez |publisher=Gallimard |year=1962 |location=Paris |isbn=0816503591}}
* {{cite book| url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/contingency/domrep/index.htm| publisher = Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army| first = Darrell G.| last = McPherson| location = Washington, D.C.| title = The Role of the Army Medical Service in the Dominican Republic| access-date = July 2, 2015| archive-date = December 24, 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101224181554/http://www.history.army.mil/books/contingency/domrep/index.htm| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite book |title=The Empire Trap: The Rise and Fall of U.S. Intervention to Protect American Property Overseas, 1893–2013 |first=Noel |last=Maurer |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2013 |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691155821}}
* {{cite book |title=Dominican Crisis: Operation POWER PACK. Short of War: Major USA Contingency Operations|first=Timothy |last=Warnock |publisher= Air Force History and Museums Program|year=2000 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AVJWiTc_Z4 Lyndon Johnson - On the Situation in the Dominican Republic]
* [http://www.psywarrior.com/DomRepublicPsyop.html Dominican Republic PSYOP]
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26966|name=Staff Film Report 66-17A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26967|name=Staff Film Report 66-18A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26968|name=Staff Film Report 66-19A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26971|name=Staff Film Report 66-20A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26973|name=Staff Film Report 66-22A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26977|name=Staff Film Report 66-25A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26979|name=Staff Film Report 66-27A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.26980|name=Staff Film Report 66-28A (1966)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.23436|name=Marines 65 (1966)}}

{{Dominican Republic topics}}
{{Cold War}}
{{Armed conflicts involving Costa Rica|state=collapsed}}
{{Armed conflicts involving the United States Armed Forces}}
{{Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominican Civil War}}
[[Category:1965 in the Dominican Republic]]
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[[Category:Conflicts in 1965]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1966]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Cold War conflicts]]
[[Category:Invasions of the Dominican Republic]]
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[[Category:United States involvement in regime change]]
[[Category:Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson]]
[[Category:Dominican Republic–United States military relations]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Dominican Republic]]
[[Category:Civil wars involving the states and peoples of North America]]
[[Category:Communism in the Dominican Republic]]
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[[Category:Wars involving El Salvador]]
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[[Category:Proxy wars]]
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