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Three weeks after he ascended to the Presidency the destructive [[1930 Dominican Republic hurricane|Hurricane San Zenon]] hit Santo Domingo and left more than 3,000 dead. With relief money from the [[American Red Cross]], he rebuilt the city. On August 16, 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the [[Dominican Party]] the nation's sole legal political party; however, the country had effectively been a one-party state since Trujillo's swearing in. Government employees were required to "donate" 10 percent of their salary to the national treasury,<ref name="Block pp. 870-72">[[#refBlock1941|Block 1941]], pp. 870-72.</ref><ref name="Diamond p.">[[#refDiamond2005|Diamond 2005]], p.</ref> and there was strong pressure on adult citizens to join the party. Party members were required to carry a membership card, the "palmita", and a person could be arrested for vagrancy without one. Those who did not contribute, or join the party, did so at their own risk. Opponents of the regime were mysteriously killed.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} In 1934, Trujillo, who had promoted himself to [[generalissimo]] of the army, was [[Dominican Republic general election, 1934|up for re-election]]. By this time, there was no organized opposition left in the country, and he was elected as the sole candidate on the ballot. In extension to the widely rigged (and regularly uncontested) elections, which never saw a functioning opposition, he instated "civic reviews", with large crowds shouting their loyalty to the government.<ref name="Block pp. 870-72"/>
Three weeks after he ascended to the Presidency the destructive [[1930 Dominican Republic hurricane|Hurricane San Zenon]] hit Santo Domingo and left more than 3,000 dead. With relief money from the [[American Red Cross]], he rebuilt the city. On August 16, 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the [[Dominican Party]] the nation's sole legal political party; however, the country had effectively been a one-party state since Trujillo's swearing in. Government employees were required to "donate" 10 percent of their salary to the national treasury,<ref name="Block pp. 870-72">[[#refBlock1941|Block 1941]], pp. 870-72.</ref><ref name="Diamond p.">[[#refDiamond2005|Diamond 2005]], p.</ref> and there was strong pressure on adult citizens to join the party. Party members were required to carry a membership card, the "palmita", and a person could be arrested for vagrancy without one. Those who did not contribute, or join the party, did so at their own risk. Opponents of the regime were mysteriously killed.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} In 1934, Trujillo, who had promoted himself to [[generalissimo]] of the army, was [[Dominican Republic general election, 1934|up for re-election]]. By this time, there was no organized opposition left in the country, and he was elected as the sole candidate on the ballot. In extension to the widely rigged (and regularly uncontested) elections, which never saw a functioning opposition, he instated "civic reviews", with large crowds shouting their loyalty to the government.<ref name="Block pp. 870-72"/>


==Cult of Peronaliy==
==Personality cult==
In 1936, at the suggestion of Mario Fermín Cabral, [[Congress of the Dominican Republic|Congress]] voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the capital from [[Santo Domingo]] to [[Ciudad Trujillo]]. The province of [[San Cristóbal Province|San Cristobal]] was changed to "Trujillo", and the nation's highest peak, [[Pico Duarte]], was renamed [[Pico Trujillo]]. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across the 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 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 cielo, Trujillo en 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 the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion.
In 1936, at the suggestion of Mario Fermín Cabral, [[Congress of the Dominican Republic|Congress]] voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the capital from [[Santo Domingo]] to [[Ciudad Trujillo]]. The province of [[San Cristóbal Province|San Cristobal]] was changed to "Trujillo", and the nation's highest peak, [[Pico Duarte]], was renamed [[Pico Trujillo]]. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across the 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 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 cielo, Trujillo en 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 the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion.
[[File:Era de Trujillo sign.jpg|thumb|Era de Trujillo sign: An insatiable appetite for adulation]]
[[File:Era de Trujillo sign.jpg|thumb|Era de Trujillo sign: An insatiable appetite for adulation]]

Revision as of 16:05, 9 September 2014

This article is about the former ruler of the Dominican Republic. For the Spanish sailor, see Rafael Trujillo (sailor).

Template:Spanish name

Generalisimo
Rafael Trujillo
File:Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.jpg
36th & 39th President of the Dominican Republic
In office
16 August 1930 – 16 August 1938
Vice PresidentRafael Estrella Ureña (1930-1932)
Vacant (1932-1934)
Jacinto Peynado (1934-1938)
Preceded byRafael Estrella Ureña (acting)
Succeeded byJacinto Peynado
In office
18 May 1942 – 16 August 1952
Vice PresidentNone
Preceded byManuel de Jesús Troncoso de la Concha
Succeeded byHéctor Trujillo
Personal details
Born
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina

(1891-10-24)24 October 1891
San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
Died30 May 1961(1961-05-30) (aged 69)
Ciudad Trujillo (now Santo Domingo), Dominican Republic
NationalityDominican
Political partyDominican
SpouseMaria Martínez de Trujillo
ChildrenOdette Trujillo Ricardo
Ramfis Trujillo
María de los Angeles del Sagrado Corazón de Jesus (Angelita)
Leonidas Rhadamés
Yolanda
Rafael
ResidenceSanto Domingo
ProfessionSoldier

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (Spanish pronunciation: [rafaˈel leˈoniðas tɾuˈxiʝo]; October 24, 1891 – May 30, 1961), nicknamed El Jefe (Spanish: [el ˈxefe], The Chief or The Boss), was a Dominican politician and soldier who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961.[1] He officially served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, ruling for the rest of the time as an unelected military strongman under figurehead presidents.[note 1] His 31 years in power, to Dominicans known as the Trujillo Era (Template:Lang-es), is considered one of the bloodiest eras ever in the Americas, as well as a time of a classic personality cult, when monuments to Trujillo were in abundance. It has been estimated that Trujillo's tyrannical rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 people, including possibly as many as 25,000 in the infamous Parsley Massacre.[2][3][4][5]

The Trujillo tyranny unfolded in a Latin American environment that was particularly fertile for dictatorial regimes.[6] In the countries of the Caribbean basin alone, his dictatorship was concurrent, in whole or in part, with those of Machado and Batista and Castro in Cuba, the two Somozas (Anastasio Somoza Garcia and Anastasio Somoza Debayle) in Nicaragua, Ubico and Castillo Armas in Guatemala, Hernández Martínez in El Salvador, Carías Andino in Honduras, Juan Vicente Gómez and Pérez Jiménez in Venezuela, Laureano Gómez and Rojas Pinilla in Colombia, and François Duvalier in Haiti. But in retrospect, the Trujillo dictatorship has been characterized as more naked, more achieved, and more brutal than those that rose and fell around it.[7]

Trujillo's rule brought the country more stability and prosperity than any living Dominican had previously known. The price, however, was high — civil liberties were nonexistent and human rights violations were routine. Due to the longevity of Trujillo's rule, a detached evaluation of his legacy is difficult. Supporters of Trujillo claim that he reorganized both the state and the economy, and left vast infrastructure to the country. His detractors point to the brutality of his rule, and also claim that much of the country's wealth wound up in the hands of his family or close associates.

Early life

Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was born in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic to José (Pepito) Trujillo Valdez,[8] whose father was a Spaniard sergeant[9] and Altagracia Julia Molina Chevalier, later known as Mamá Julia, whose mother was of Franco-Haitian and mulatto Haitian origin.[9][10] He was the third of eleven children.[11] He also had a brother, Luis-Rafael-Nene (21 January 1935 – 14 August 2005), who was raised in the home of Trujillo Molina.[9]

In 1897 at the age 6 was Trujillo registered in the school of Juan Hilario Meriño. One year later he transferred to the school of Broughton, where he became a pupil of Eugenio María de Hostos, and remained there for the rest of his primary schooling. At the age of 16 Trujillo got a job as a telegraph operator, which he held for about 3 years. Shortly after Trujillo turned to crime; stealing cattle, counterfeiting checks, and postal robbery, a crime for which he spent several months in prison. This would not deter Trujillo, as he would later form a violent gang of robbers called the "42".[12][13]

Rise to power

In 1916, the U.S. occupied the island due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts. The occupying force soon established a Dominican army constabulary to impose its order. Trujillo joined the National Guard in 1918 and trained with the U.S. Marines.[14] Seeing opportunity, Trujillo impressed the recruiters and was promoted from lieutenant to general and commander-in chief of the Army in only 9 years.[13]

A rebellion (or coup d’etat[15][16]) against President Horacio Vásquez broke out in February 1930 in Santiago. Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña; in return for letting Estrella take power, Trujillo would be allowed 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 unmolested. On March 3, Estrella was proclaimed acting president with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and 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.[17] The other candidates were the targets of harassment by the army, and withdrew when it became apparent that Trujillo would be the only person who would be allowed to effectively campaign. Ultimately, the Trujillo-Estrella ticket was proclaimed victorious with an implausible 99 percent of the vote. According to the American ambassador, Trujillo received more votes than actual voters.[18] Trujillo was sworn in on June 16, and immediately assumed dictatorial powers. However, he'd already begun jailing opponents even before his swearing-in.

Trujillo government

Three weeks after he ascended to the Presidency the destructive Hurricane San Zenon hit Santo Domingo and left more than 3,000 dead. With relief money from the American Red Cross, he rebuilt the city. On August 16, 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the Dominican Party the nation's sole legal political party; however, the country had effectively been a one-party state since Trujillo's swearing in. Government employees were required to "donate" 10 percent of their salary to the national treasury,[19][20] and there was strong pressure on adult citizens to join the party. Party members were required to carry a membership card, the "palmita", and a person could be arrested for vagrancy without one. Those who did not contribute, or join the party, did so at their own risk. Opponents of the regime were mysteriously killed.[citation needed] In 1934, Trujillo, who had promoted himself to generalissimo of the army, was up for re-election. By this time, there was no organized opposition left in the country, and he was elected as the sole candidate on the ballot. In extension to the widely rigged (and regularly uncontested) elections, which never saw a functioning opposition, he instated "civic reviews", with large crowds shouting their loyalty to the government.[19]

Cult of Peronaliy

In 1936, at the suggestion of Mario Fermín Cabral, Congress voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo. The province of San Cristobal was changed to "Trujillo", and the nation's highest peak, Pico Duarte, was renamed Pico Trujillo. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across the 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 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 cielo, Trujillo en 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 the Nobel Peace Prize by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion.

Era de Trujillo sign: An insatiable appetite for adulation

Trujillo was eligible to run again in 1938, but, citing the U.S. example of two presidential terms, he stated: "I voluntarily, and against the wishes of my people, refuse re-election to the high office."[21] In fact, a vigorous reelection campaign had been launched in the middle of 1937 but the international uproar that followed the Haitian massacre later that year forced Trujillo to announce his "return to private life".[22] Consequently, the Dominican Party nominated Trujillo's handpicked successor, 71 year old vice-president Jacinto Peynado, with Manuel de Jesús Troncoso as 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 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 March 7, 1940, with Troncoso serving out the rest of the term. However, in 1942, with President Franklin D. 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 the Organization of American States, he ceded the presidency to his brother, Héctor. Despite being officially out of power, Trujillo organized a major national celebration to commemorate twenty-five years of his rule in 1955. Gold and silver commemorative coins were minted with his image.

Trujillo with President Magloire of Haiti. Hector and Ramfis Trujillo in attendance
Rafael Trujillo and guest Anastasio Somoza at the inauguration of Héctor Trujillo as president in 1952

From the very beginning, Trujillo considered the Dominican Republic as his private property. In contrast to other Latin American strongmen and dictators, he had streets, provinces, mountains, schools and bridges named not only in his honor, but in honor of various members of his family as well.

Oppression

Brutal oppression of actual or perceived members of any opposition was the key feature of Trujillo's rule right from the beginning in 1930 when his gang, "The 42", under its leader Miguel Angel Paulino, drove through the streets in their red Packard “carro de la muerte” (“car of death”).[23] Trujillo also maintained an execution list of people throughout the world who he felt were his direct enemies or whom he felt had wronged him. He did even at one point allowed an opposition party to legally form and permitted them to operate openly. This was mainly so he could identify his opposition and arrest or kill them.[24]

Imprisonments and killings were later handled by the SIM, the Servicio de Inteligencia Militar, efficiently organized by Johnny Abbes. Some cases reached international notoriety such as the Galindez case and the murder of the Mirabal sisters further eroding Trujillo's critical support by the US government.

Immigration

Trujillo was known for his open-door policy, accepting Jewish refugees from Europe, Japanese migration during the 1930s, and exiles from Spain following its civil war. He developed a uniquely Dominican policy of racial discrimination, Antihaitianismo ("anti-Haitianism"), targeting the mostly-black inhabitants of his neighboring country and those within the Platano Curtain, including many Afro-Dominican citizens. At the 1938 Evian 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.[25] In 1940 an agreement was signed and Trujillo donated 26,000 acres (110 km2) of his properties for settlements. The first settlers arrived in May 1940; eventually some 800 settlers came to Sosua and most moved later on to the United States.[25]

Refugees from Europe broadened the Dominican Republic's tax base and added more whites to the predominantly mixed-race nation. The government favored white refugees over others while Dominican troops expelled illegal aliens, resulting in the 1937 Parsley Massacre of Haitian immigrants.

Environmental policy

The Trujillo regime greatly expanded the Vedado del Yaque, a nature reserve around the Yaque del Sur River. In 1934 he created the nation's first national park, 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 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.[20]

Foreign policy

Trujillo tended toward a peaceful coexistence with the United States government. During World War II Trujillo sided with the Allies and declared war on Germany and Japan on December 11, 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 U.S., 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 the end of his rule, his relationship with the United States deteriorated.

Trujillo paid special attention to improving the armed forces. Military personnel received generous pay and perks under his rule, and their ranks as well as equipment inventories expanded. Trujillo maintained control over the officer corps through fear, patronage, and the frequent rotation of assignments, which inhibited the development of strong personal followings. The establishment of state monopolies over all major enterprises in the country brought riches to the Trujillos through price manipulation and embezzlement.

Hull-Trujillo Treaty

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 September 24, 1940, Trujillo and 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.[26]

This diplomatic success gave Trujillo 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).[27]

Haiti

Trujillo–Vincent border meeting, 1933

Haiti had historically occupied the Dominican Republic from 1822 to 1844, when the nation was much less populated.[28] Encroachment by Haiti was an ongoing process, and when Trujillo took over, specifically the northwest border region had become increasingly "Haitianized."[29] 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 the Garde d'Haiti, and Élie Lescot, at that time the Haitian ambassador in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo).[29] After the settlement, when further border incursions occurred, the Parsley Massacre was initiated by Trujillo.

Parsley Massacre

Main article: Parsley Massacre

In 1937, claiming that Haiti was harboring his former Dominican opponents, Trujillo ordered an attack on the border, slaughtering tens of thousands of Haitians as they tried to escape. The number of dead is still unknown, though it is now calculated between 20,000[30] and 30,000.[31]

The Haitian response was muted, but its government eventually called for an international investigation. Under pressure from Washington, Trujillo agreed to a reparation settlement in January 1938 that involved the payment of US$750,000. By the next year the amount had been reduced to US$525,000 (US$ 11,127,083.33 in 2024); 30 dollars per victim, of which only 2 cents were given to survivors, due to corruption in the Haitian bureaucracy.[21][32]

In 1941, Lescot, who had received financial support from Trujillo, succeeded Vincent as President of Haiti. Trujillo expected Lescot to be a puppet, but Lescot turned against him. Trujillo unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him in a 1944 plot, and then published their correspondence and discredited him.[29] Lescot was exiled after a 1946 palace coup.

Cuba

In 1947 Dominican exiles, including Juan Bosch, had concentrated in Cuba. With the approval and support of the Grau government, an expeditionary force was trained with the intention of invading the Dominican Republic and overthrowing Trujillo; however, international pressure, including from the United States, caused the expedition to be aborted.[33] 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. After 1956, when Trujillo saw that Castro was gaining ground, he started to support Batista with money, planes, equipment, and men. Trujillo, convinced that Batista would prevail, was very surprised when he showed up as a fugitive after being ousted. Trujillo kept Batista until August 1959 as a "virtual prisoner".[34] Only after paying between three to four million dollars could Batista leave for Portugal, which had granted him a visa.[34]

Castro made threats to overthrow Trujillo, and Trujillo responded by increasing 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 on Sunday, June 14, 1959, and six days later more invaders brought by two yachts landed at the north coast. However, the Dominican Army prevailed.[34]

In turn, in August 1959, Johnny Abbes attempted to support an anti-Castro group led by Escambray near Trinidad, Cuba. The attempt, however, was thwarted when Cuban troops surprised a plane he had sent when it was unloading its cargo.[35]

Betancourt incident

By the late 1950s, opposition to Trujillo's regime was starting to build to a fever pitch. A younger generation of Dominicans had been born who had no memory of the instability and poverty that had preceded him. 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 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 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, June 24, 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 the Dominican Republic. The brutal murder on Friday, November 25, 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.

Personal life

Trujillo's "central arch" was his instinct for power.[36] This 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 was driven around incognito in the city "observing and remembering."[36] 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.

Postage stamps honoring family members

Trujillo and his family amassed enormous wealth. He acquired cattle lands on 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 dominated by him or members of his family. 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 4 years old.[37][38] Two of Trujillo's brothers, Héctor and José Arismendy, also held positions in his government. José Arismendy Trujillo oversaw 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 ($24.3 million in 2013 dollars).;[39] 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.[40] Known to be fond of neckties, he amassed a collection of over ten thousand of them. Trujillo doused himself with perfume and liked gossip.[41] His sexual appetite was rapacious, and he preferred mulatto women with full bodies, later tending to rape "very young" women.[36] Women were supplied and procured by many who sought his favors, and later he had an official on his Palace staff to organize the sessions. Encounters typically lasted for one or two sessions, but favorites were kept for longer terms. If women resisted, Trujillo would apply pressure on their families to get his way.[36]

Trujillo with his second wife Bienvenida in 1934.

Trujillo was married three times and kept other mistresses. On August 13, 1913 Trujillo married Aminta Ledesma. On March 30, 1927, Trujillo married Bienvenida Ricardo, a girl from Montecristi and the daughter of Buenaventura Ricardo Heureaux. A year later he met María de los Angeles Martínez Alba "la españolita", 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 Leonidas Ramfis born on June 5, 1929, María de los Angeles del Sagrado Corazón de Jesus (Angelita), born in Paris on June 10, 1939, and Leonidas Rhadamés, born on December 1, 1942. Ramfis and Rhadamés were named after characters in Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida.

In 1937, Trujillo met Lina Lovatón Pittaluga,[42] an upper-class debutante with whom he had two children, Yolanda in 1939, and Rafael, born on June 20, 1943.

In spite of Trujillo's indifference to the game of baseball, the dictator invited many black American players to the Dominican Republic, where, though carefully minded by armed guards, they received good pay for playing on first-class, un-segregated teams. The great Negro League star Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige pitched for Los Dragones of Ciudad Trujillo, a team organized by Trujillo. Paige would later claim, jokingly, that his guards positioned themselves "like a firing squad" to encourage him to pitch well. After winning the 1937 Dominican championship at Estadio Trujillo in Ciudad Trujillo, Paige and his American teammates left the country without delay.

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.[43]

Over time Trujillo acquired numerous homes. His favorite was Casa Caobas, on Estancia Fundacion near San Cristóbal.[44] He also used Estancia Ramfis (which, after 1953, became the Foreign Office), Estancia Rhadames, and a home at Playa de Najayo. Less frequently he stayed at places he owned in Santiago, Constanza, La Cumbre, San José de las Matas, and elsewhere. He maintained a penthouse at the Embajador Hotel in the capital.[45]

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.[36]

He 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 El Jefe by constructing toy medals from bottle caps. He was also known as "el chivo" ("the goat").

Assassination

On Tuesday, May 30, 1961 Trujillo was shot and killed when his blue Chevrolet Bel Air was ambushed on a road outside the Dominican capital.[46] He was the victim of an ambush plotted by a number of men among them General Juan Tomás Díaz, Antonio de la Maza, Amado García Guerrero, and General Antonio Imbert Barrera.[47] The plotters, however, failed to take control as the later-to-be-executed General José ("Pupo") Román betrayed his co-conspirators by his inactivity, and contingency plans had not been made.[48] On the other side, Johnny Abbes, Roberto Figueroa Carrión, and the Trujillo family put the SIM to work to hunt down the members of the plot and brought back Ramfis Trujillo from Paris to step into his father's shoes. The response by SIM was swift and brutal. Hundreds of suspects were detained, many tortured. On November 18 the last executions took place when six of the conspirators were executed at the "Hacienda Maria Massacre".[49] Imbert was the only one of the seven assassins who survived the manhunt.[50] A coconspirator named Luis Amiamo Tio also survived.

Trujillo's funeral was that of a statesman with the long procession ending in his hometown of San Cristóbal, where his body was first buried. President Joaquín Balaguer gave the eulogy. The efforts of the Trujillo family to keep control of the country ultimately failed. A military uprising in November and the threat of American intervention set the final stage and ended the Trujillo regime.[51] Ramfis tried to flee with his father's body upon his boat Angelita, but was turned back. Balaguer allowed Ramfis to leave the country and to relocate his father's body to Paris. There the remains were interred in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise on August 14, 1964, and six years later moved to the El Pardo cemetery near Madrid, Spain.[52]

The role of the Central Intelligence Agency in the killing has been debated. Imbert insists that the plotters acted on their own.[50] In a report to the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, CIA officials described the agency as having "no active part" in the assassination and only a "faint connection" with the groups that planned the killing.[53] Another internal CIA memorandum states that an Office of Inspector General investigation into Trujillo's murder disclosed "quite extensive Agency involvement with the plotters."[54] The weapons of the assassins included three M1 carbines that had been supplied with the approval of the CIA.[50] President Kennedy learned of Trujillo's death during a diplomatic meeting with French President Charles de Gaulle while he was travelling in Paris with his wife Jacqueline.[55]

Honors and awards

Trujillo in media

Media type Title Release date Details
Book In the Time of the Butterflies 1994 Authored by Julia Alvarez, the book describes the lives of the four Mirabal Sisters, who lived under Trujillo's regime and eventually were killed after joining the resistance against his rule.
Book The Terrible Ones 1966 Authored by Valerie Moolman, the book describes the attempts of The Terrible Ones (the widows of murdered Trujillo opponents), Cuban fidelistas and Chinese communist forces to locate and recover US$100 million in gold and precious stones accumulated by Trujillo during his dictatorship.
Book Day of the Jackal 1971 Authored by Frederick Forsyth, the book of the same title, fictitiously attributes "credit" for this assassination to its assassin, known only as, ""The Jackal". Also, in the book, the suspected assassin had a meeting with Trujillo's chief of police in Ciudad Trujillo on May 30, 1961, trying to sell the police British surplus submachine guns. However, just then, Trujillo had been assassinated outside the city and he had had to flee Dominican Republic.
Film The Day of the Jackal (film) 1973 Directed by Fred Zinnemann, the film, like the book of the same title, fictitiously attributes "credit" for this assassination to its assassin, known only as, "The Jackal".
Book Memorias de un Cortesano de la Era de Trujillo 1988 Authored by Joaquín Balaguer, the last puppet president of the Dominican Republic appointed by Trujillo, in 1960, and who went on to rule in his own right for most of the period 1966–1996.
Book La era de Trujillo: un estudio casuístico de dictadura hispanoamericana 1990 Manuel Vazquez Montalbán, a Catalan writer, wrote about Galíndez en 1990. The book is a fictional recreation of the life and disappearance of the diplomat.
Documentary El Poder del Jefe I 1994 Directed by René Fortunato
Documentary Ken Burns' Baseball 1994 Winning the Dominican National Championship with Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson discussed in Inning Five: Shadow Ball.
TV Film Soul of the Game 1996 Brief appearance during a baseball game in Santo Domingo.
Documentary El Poder del Jefe II 1996 Directed by René Fortunato
Documentary El Poder del Jefe III 1998 Directed by René Fortunato
Book The Feast of the Goat 2000 A book by Mario Vargas Llosa, set in the Dominican Republic and portraying the assassination of the Dominican dictator, and its aftermath, from two distinct standpoints a generation apart: during and immediately after the assassination itself, in May 1961; and thirty-five years later, in 1996.
TV Film In the Time of the Butterflies 2001 Directed by Mariano Barroso and Trujillo played by Edward James Olmos. Based on the novel by Julia Alvarez (1994) about the regime assassination of the dissident Mirabal sisters
Film El Misterio Galíndez - The Galindez File 2003 Gerardo Herrero directed El Misterio Galíndez, a movie about Jesús de Galíndez Suárez, activist of the PNV party and Basque diplomat who disappeared in 1956; allegedly because of his opposition to Trujillo's regime.
Film The Feast of the Goat (*) 2006 Directed by Luis Llosa and Trujillo played by Tomás Milián
Book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 2007 Junot Diaz, a native of Santo Domingo wrote Pulitzer Prize–winning book about a Dominican/American family. The book is a fictional account of the family's misfortunes experienced as a result of the atrocities of Trujillo's regime.
Book Before We Were Free 2007 Julia Alvarez, a Dominican-American writer, wrote this young-adult novel about Anita, a twelve-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic in 1960, who realizes that life under the reign of Trujillo is much darker and more dangerous than she had previously known.
Film Code Name: Butterflies 2009 Directed by Cecilia Domeyko Film about the life and death of the Mirabal sisters with interviews with people involved, and recreations of key events.
Film Trópico de Sangre 2010 Directed by Juan Delancer and Trujillo played by Juan Fernández de Alarcon. The film focuses on Minerva Mirabal and tells the true story of how she and her sisters dared to stand up against dictator Rafael Trujillo, and were assassinated in 1960 as a result. The film further details how this crime led to the assassination of Trujillo.

Notes

  1. ^ Rafael Estrella from 3 March 1930 to 16 August 1930; Jacinto Peynado from 16 August 1938 to 7 March 1940; Manuel Troncoso from 7 March 1940 to 18 May 1942; Héctor Trujillo from 16 August 1952 to 3 August 1960; Joaquín Balaguer from 3 August 1960 until 16 January 1962, 8 months after Trujillo's death
  1. ^ "'I shot the cruellest dictator in the Americas'". BBC News. 2011. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  2. ^ url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001432/http://www.lalupa.com.do/2012/10/la-matanza-de-1937/
  3. ^ Crassweller mentions those estimates and adds that "a figure of 15,000 to 20,000 would be reasonable, but this is guesswork". Robert D. Crasweller, The Life and Times of a Caribbean Dictator, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1966, p. 156.
  4. ^ Lauro Capdevila, La dictature de Trujillo : République dominicaine, 1930–1961, Paris, L'Harmattan, 1998
  5. ^ Roorda mentions 12,000 as a likely figure. Eric Paul Roorda, "Genocide Next Door: The Good Neighbor Policy, the Trujillo Regime, and the Haitian Massacre of 1937" in Diplomatic History, Vol 20, Issue 3, July 1996, p. 301.
  6. ^ Jésus de Galindez points out in the introduction of his book La Era de Trujillo that "In this summer of 1955, half the Latin American republics are ruled by dictatorships, most of them of the military type".Jésus de Galindez, L'Ère de Trujillo, Gallimard, Paris, 1962, p. 15 (Translation of La Era de Trujillo, Santiago de Chile, 1956
  7. ^ Lauro Capdevilla, La dictature de Trujillo, République dominicaine, 1930-1961, L'Harmattan, Paris, Montreal 1998, p. 10.
  8. ^ He was born out of wedlock, the son of José Trujillo Monagas, a Spaniard who worked for the secret police during the 4-year-long Spanish occupation of the Dominican republic in the early 1860s. He was later chief of police of Havana, Cuba, before returning to Spain after the Spanish-American War. José (Pepito) Trujillo's mother was Silveria Valdez Méndez, of San Cristobal. Galindez, p. 32).
  9. ^ a b c Antonio José Ignacio Guerra Sánchez (12 April 2008). "Trujillo: Descendiente de la Oligarquía Haitiana (1 de 2)". Santo Domingo: Instituto Dominicano de Genealogía. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  10. ^ Antonio José Ignacio Guerra Sánchez (24 April 2008). Instituto Dominicano de Genealogía (ed.). "Trujillo, descendiente de oligarquía haitiana (2 de 2)". Cápsulas Genealógicas. Hoy. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  11. ^ His siblings were Virgilio TRUJILLO (24 July 1887-29 July 1967), Flérida Marina TRUJILLO (10 August 1888-13 February 1976), Rosa María Julieta TRUJILLO (5 April 1893-23 October 1980), José Arismendy –Petán– TRUJILLO (4 October 1895-6 May 1969), Amable Romero –Pipi– TRUJILLO (14 August 1896-19 September 1970), Luisa Nieves TRUJILLO (4 August 1899-25 January 1977 ), Julio Aníbal –Bonsito– TRUJILLO (16 October 1900-2 December 1948), Pedro Vetilio –Pedrito– TRUJILLO (27 January 1902-14 March 1981), Ofelia Japonesa TRUJILLO (26 May 1905-4 February 1978) and Héctor Bienvenido –Negro– TRUJILLO (6 April 1908-19 October 2002).
  12. ^ The Dictator Next Door.
  13. ^ a b Diederich 1978, p. 13.
  14. ^ The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195156003.
  15. ^ "Golpe de Estado a Horacio Vásquez" (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana. 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  16. ^ Torres, José Antonio (20 February 2010). "Golpe de Estado a Horacio". El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  17. ^ Galindez, p. 44.
  18. ^ Official results: 223,731 vs 1,883. Galindez, p. 51.
  19. ^ a b Block 1941, pp. 870-72.
  20. ^ a b Diamond 2005, p.
  21. ^ a b Block 1941, p. 672 .
  22. ^ Galindez, p. 306.
  23. ^ Crassweller RD, ibib. page 71
  24. ^ Spindel, Bernard (1968). The Ominous Ear. Award House. pp. 74–104.
  25. ^ a b Crassweller 1966, pp. 199-200.
  26. ^ Capdevilla, p. 84
  27. ^ Capdevilla, p. 85.
  28. ^ In 1795, France acquired the Spanish part of Hispaniola by the Treaty of Basel, thus unifying the whole island under her rule. Once freed from French domination, Haitians worked on the assumption that the whole island formed a single country and should be reunited.
  29. ^ a b c Crassweller 1966, pp. 149-163.
  30. ^ Pack, Parini 1997, p. 78.
    On October 2, 1937, Trujillo had ordered 20,000 Haitian cane workers executed because they could not roll the "R" in perejil, the Spanish word for parsley.
  31. ^ Cambeira 1996, p. 182.
    anyone of African descent found incapable of pronouncing correctly, that is, to the complete satisfaction of the sadistic examiners, became a condemned individual. This holocaust is recorded as having a death toll reaching thirty thousand innocent souls, Haitians as well as Dominicans.
  32. ^ Bell 2008, p. 41.
  33. ^ Crassweller RD, ibid. pages 237ff
  34. ^ a b c Crassweller RD, ibid, pages 344-8
  35. ^ Crassweller RD, ibid, page 351.
  36. ^ a b c d e Crassweller 1966, pp. 73-95.
  37. ^ Decree of 18 April 1933. Galindez, p. 62.
  38. ^ In 1935, Ramfis, then aged 6, was promoted general.
  39. ^ Crassweller 1966, p. 127.
  40. ^ Crassweller 1966, p. 73.
  41. ^ "Reach Information Portal". Healthcare.reachinformation.com. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  42. ^ Derby 2000, pp. 1112–1146.
  43. ^ Crassweller 1966, p. 115.
  44. ^ Crassweller 1966, p. 144.
  45. ^ Crassweller 1966, p. 270.
  46. ^ Harris, Bruce. "Moreorless: Heroes & Killers of the 20th century". Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  47. ^ Museo Memorial de la Resistencia Dominicana. "Heroes del 30 de Mayo. Resenas Biograficas" (in Spanish). Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  48. ^ Bernard Diedrich. Trujillo, The Death of the Goat. Little, Brown, and Co., 1978. p. 150f. ISBN 0-316-18440-3.
  49. ^ Bernand Diederich, ibid. page 235ff
  50. ^ a b c BBC (May 27, 2011). "'I shot the cruellest dictator in the Americas'". Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  51. ^ Bernard Diederich, ibid, page250f
  52. ^ Castellanos, Eddy (11 Apr 2008). "Solitaria, en cementerio poco importante, está la tumba de Trujillo" (in Spanish). Almomento.net. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  53. ^ Justice Department Memo, 1975; National Security Archive
  54. ^ CIA "Family Jewels" Memo, 1973 (see page 434) Family jewels (Central Intelligence Agency)
  55. ^ Meeting with President de Gaulle in France
  56. ^ Time, 1939
  57. ^ Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

References

  • G. Pope Atkins (Author), Larman C. Wilson (Author). The Dominican Republic and the United States: From Imperialism to Transnationalism (January 1998 ed.). University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-1931-7. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help) - Total pages: 288
  • Madison Smartt Bell. A Hidden Haitian World - New York Review of Books - Volume 55, Number 12 (July 17, 2008 ed.). New York Review of Books.
  • Maxine Block (Author), E. Mary Trow (Editor). Current Biography Who's News and Why 1941 (January 1, 1941 ed.). The H. W. Wilson Company. p. 976. ISBN 9997376676. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  • Alan Cambeira. Quisqueya la bella (October 1996 ed.). M.E. Sharpe. p. 182. ISBN 1-56324-936-7. - Total pages: 286
  • Robert D. Crassweller. Trujillo: The Life and Times of a Caribbean Dictator. MacMillan, New York (1966). - Total pages: 468
  • Jared Diamond. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (December 27, 2005 ed.). Penguin (Non-Classics). ISBN 0-14-303655-6. - Total pages: 575
  • Lauren Derby. The Dictator's Seduction: Gender and State Spectacle during the Trujillo Regime (2000 ed.). Callaloo v. 23 n. 3.
  • Robert Pack, Jay Parini. Introspections (1997 ed.). University Press of New England. p. 78. ISBN 0-87451-773-7. - Total pages: 329
  • Richard Lee Turits, Foundations of Despotism: Peasants, the Trujillo Regime, and Modernity in Dominican History, Stanford University Press 2004, ISBN 0-8047-5105-6
  • Secretaría de Estado de las Fuerzas Armandas In Spanish
  • Ignacio López-Calvo, "God and Trujillo": Literary and Cultural Representations of the Dominican Dictator, University Press of Florida, 2005, ISBN 0-8130-2823-X
Political offices
Preceded by President of the Dominican Republic
1930–1938 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Dominican Republic
1942–1952 		Succeeded by

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