Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina
As promised by Edwin Reyes, today we begin our series of essays about Dominican history. If you want to colaborate with this project, please let us know.
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina
For Dominicans who are born in the US, raised in the US, and educated in the US, our knowledge of the history of the Dominican Republic is limited. The first history books we read are about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and so on. Speaking from personal experience, I can't recall reading any history on the Dominican Republic throughout my 12 years of public education in NJ. The first book I read on the Dominican Republic was about two years ago when I saw a book on Trujillo, one of the countries most infamous dictators.
Trujillo was placed in charge of the Dominican National Guard 1924 by the United States. In 1930 he ran against Horacio Vasquez for president and fraudulently claimed ninety five percent of the vote. Once in power he used the National Guard to terrorize and banish all civilian opponents. He also established a secret police forced called the SIM (Servicio de Inteligencia Militar) which not only gathered information but engaged in torture and murder at Trujillo's request. In 1936, he changed the name of the capital city Santo Domingo to Cuidad Trujillo. During the 1950's small groups of young Dominicans formed underground organizations dedicated to overthrowing the Trujillo regime. These small groups which were composed by people who had no formal education, struggled with the living standards as well as the "educated and well positioned youths, shamed and chagrined by their parents nauseating surrender to Trujillo...Students, businessmen, doctors, farmers, and even seminarists were meeting in eight-and ten-member cells." However, any and all attempts of overthrowing the Trujillo regime were unsuccessful. Hundreds of thousands of Dominican men, women, and children were murdered during his dictatorship...
Stories of his assassination vary, but the facts are clear... "The coup attempt was not successful. The assassins went into hiding as Ramfis Trujillo, the dictator's son, assumed control of the Dominican Republic the following day. The following month almost all of the assassins were rounded up along with their families and friends. All were tortured and several committed suicide. In October, street riots broke out in Ciudad Trujillo and workers went on strike financed by the anti Trujillist National Civic Union. On November 18, 1961 the six remaining Trujillo assassins were taken to Ramfis Trujillo's hacienda where they were tied to trees, shot, cut up and fed to sharks at a nearby beach. The following day Ramfis Trujillo fled the Dominican Republic under US military guard while the US Atlantic fleet arrived in Santo Domingo's harbor."
Born October 24, 1891
Died May 30, 1961
For a more descriptive/interactive biography of Trujillo I highly recommend the following site:
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina
Su Historia
Thanks!
Edwin
For Dominicans who are born in the US, raised in the US, and educated in the US, our knowledge of the history of the Dominican Republic is limited. The first history books we read are about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and so on. Speaking from personal experience, I can't recall reading any history on the Dominican Republic throughout my 12 years of public education in NJ. The first book I read on the Dominican Republic was about two years ago when I saw a book on Trujillo, one of the countries most infamous dictators.
Trujillo was placed in charge of the Dominican National Guard 1924 by the United States. In 1930 he ran against Horacio Vasquez for president and fraudulently claimed ninety five percent of the vote. Once in power he used the National Guard to terrorize and banish all civilian opponents. He also established a secret police forced called the SIM (Servicio de Inteligencia Militar) which not only gathered information but engaged in torture and murder at Trujillo's request. In 1936, he changed the name of the capital city Santo Domingo to Cuidad Trujillo. During the 1950's small groups of young Dominicans formed underground organizations dedicated to overthrowing the Trujillo regime. These small groups which were composed by people who had no formal education, struggled with the living standards as well as the "educated and well positioned youths, shamed and chagrined by their parents nauseating surrender to Trujillo...Students, businessmen, doctors, farmers, and even seminarists were meeting in eight-and ten-member cells." However, any and all attempts of overthrowing the Trujillo regime were unsuccessful. Hundreds of thousands of Dominican men, women, and children were murdered during his dictatorship...
Stories of his assassination vary, but the facts are clear... "The coup attempt was not successful. The assassins went into hiding as Ramfis Trujillo, the dictator's son, assumed control of the Dominican Republic the following day. The following month almost all of the assassins were rounded up along with their families and friends. All were tortured and several committed suicide. In October, street riots broke out in Ciudad Trujillo and workers went on strike financed by the anti Trujillist National Civic Union. On November 18, 1961 the six remaining Trujillo assassins were taken to Ramfis Trujillo's hacienda where they were tied to trees, shot, cut up and fed to sharks at a nearby beach. The following day Ramfis Trujillo fled the Dominican Republic under US military guard while the US Atlantic fleet arrived in Santo Domingo's harbor."
Born October 24, 1891
Died May 30, 1961
For a more descriptive/interactive biography of Trujillo I highly recommend the following site:
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina
Su Historia
Thanks!
Edwin
posted by Bracuta at 9:46 AM
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