The world has seen various dictators come and go throughout the years, some more notorious than others. Both the Dominican Republic and Haiti have been home to three such characters, the memories of which are still quite clear in the minds of many Dominican and Haitian people today.

During the nineteenth century Haiti won its independence from France and controlled its Spanish speaking neighbour until 1844 when the Dominican Republic became independent.In the twentieth century the United States replaced the Europeans as key investors in Dominican sugar, coffee, cocoa and bananas. The United States protected its economic investments by maintaining political control of the island. In 1906 the Dominicans signed a fifty year treaty with the US that gave the US control over the country's customs department. In 1916 US Marines occupied the country. In the 1920's when the US military left the Dominican Republic, they left in its place a US trained Dominican National Guard. The United States pulled the Marines out of the Dominican Republic in 1924 and left Rafael Trujillo in charge of the Dominican National Guard.

Trujillo, who began work as a telegraph operator at the age of sixteen, was accepted into the Dominican National Guard in 1918.  Trujillo rose in the National Guards ranks as they fought against the Dominican guerilla movement.  Trujillo ran against incumbent Horacio Vasquez for president in 1930 and fraudulently claimed ninety five percent of the vote.  Once in power he used the National Guard to terrorise and banish all civilian opponents.  He also established a secret police force called the SIM (Military Intelligence Service) which not only gathered information but engaged in torture and murder at Trujillo's request. He used the SIM to control the press, bribe businessmen and create a climate of fear and intimidation. 

His brutality was well documented. For example, in 1937 El Jefe (Spanish for Boss/Chief) ordered the slaughter of 2,000 black Haitians who squatted on Dominican territory or who worked and toiled as sugar cane cutters. He modelled his dictatorship after fascist Francsico Franco in Spain, whom he much admired. He modesty was so that he even renamed the capital city here Cuidad Trujillo instead of Santo Domingo and in the capital neon signs would flash declaring God and Trujillo. Obviously to quench/appease his blood thirsty soul.

Trujillo used his political control which is a polite way of saying he used his immense bully boy tactics to control the nation and amass great personal wealth. He took over plantations and businesses. Anyone who stood up and would not simply hand over their land or hard earned business was simply shot and therefore removed out of the way. His family, relatives and political supporters received lucrative jobs. Millions of dollars created in the Dominican Republic were wantonly used to throw lavish parties and the residue kept for safe keeping in off shore bank accounts.

Although the cult of Trujillo was strong among some Dominicans, the mass populous hated El Jefe. The first organised opposition developed late in the 1940's. Exiled Dominicans, in the hopes of ousting Trujillo, flew 14 sea planes in to the Dominican Republic on the 14^th June 1949. The Luperon invasion, as it was known, was quickly crushed by Trujillo's army and air force. During the 1950's small groups of fearless and brave, young Dominicans formed underground organisations dedicated to overthrowing the Trujillo regime. Some of the rebels were from poor backgrounds and had endured economic hardship during the Trujillo years. Others were educated and well positioned youths, shamed by their parents nauseating surrender to Trujillo. Students, businessmen, doctors and farmers were meeting in eight and ten member cells.

Among the anti-Trujillistas were left wing Dominicans who were inspired by the revolution taking place in Cuba by Fidel Castro in 1959, many exiled Dominicans sought help from the revolutionary government of Cuba. These exiles launched an invasion of the Dominican Republic from Cuba on the 14^th June 1959. Their attempt was ill fated and they were quickly defeated by the Dominican air force who intercepted. The surviving rebel invaders were rounded up by Trujillo's military, tortured and killed at a near by military base.

The failure of the Dominican invasion did not end opposition to Trujillo.  The Catorce de Junio Movement (the 14^th of June movement), named after the failed invasion continued to spread. Small cells worked within the Dominican Republic and exiles sought help from liberal President Bentancourt in Venezuela.  In January 1960 the rebels planned their next attempt against Trujillo.  The conspirators hoped to assassinate the Dictator on 21^st January at the cattle fair that he annually attended.  However, a day before the assassination attempt the head of the SIM struck, arresting many Dominicans associated with the June 14^th Movement.  Quote “Hundreds were rounded up by SIM agents and dragged to La Cuarenta to be tortured in the electric chair, and then thrown naked into the La Victoria prison..... The beautiful Mirabal sisters, Maria-Teresa, Patria and Minerva were arrested along with their husbands, two of the leaders of the June 14^th Movement
The Mirabal sisters were reputedly murdered later, apparently thrown from cliffs after visiting loved ones in prison. The surviving sister Belgica (or more commonly known as Dede) lives in Salcedo tending the museum in Ojo de Agua that commerates the lives of her beautiful and brave sisters.  The Mirabal sisters are now national heroines of the Dominican Republic and have been immortalised in poetry, art and film, even with an international day dedicated to them.  (Read more about the Mirabal sisters in The Real DR Butterflies special) or watch the movie "In the time of the butterflies".

Despite the failures of the more radical Dominicans to unseat Trujillo, the Dictator began losing support from his traditional allies including the Catholic church, the US Government and members of the Dominican elite. Although Trujillo still had supporters in Washington, a number of people in the Eisenhower administration feared that Trujillo's iron hand was leading to a radicalization of the Dominican rebels.  The US feared that the Dominican Republic would follow the revolutionary model of Fidel Castro's Cuba and so the US's CIA began contacts with more conservative Dominicans who opposed Trujillo. CIA agents made contact with once loyal Trujillistas who were now plotting an assassination of the dictator. The assassins were wealthy Dominicans who had personal grudges against the dictator, or who had family members who had suffered at the hands of the SIM. The conspirators even included several relatives of Trujillo and high ranking political and military officials. The CIA without wanting to appear involved with this group secretly supplied several carbine rifles for the assassins to slay Trujillo, and they promised US support for the new regime once the dictator was dead.

On 30^th May 1961 the conspirators assassinated Rafael Trujillo, by firing into the dictator's car on a deserted patch of the now famous Malecon in Santo Domingo.  The Dictator was dead, however, the coup attempt was not successful. The assassins went into hiding and Ramfi Trujillo, the dictator's son, assumed control of the Dominican Republic the following day. The following month almost of all 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 Cuidad Trujillo and workers went on strike financed by the anti Trujillista National Civic Union. On the 18^th November 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.

Unfortunately the death of Trujillo and the exile of his son did not restore democracy to the Dominican Republic.  The military still exerted strong control over the Dominican government.  Civil war broke out among the various factions of Dominicans and on 28th  April, 1965 US Marines landed in Santo Domingo taking control of the country.

A year later a civilian government led by president Dr Joaquin Balaguer restored stability to the country and would rule as President from 1966 to 1978 with three further consecutive terms from 1986 until 1996....but that's a different story.....Balaguer was the Trujillo frontman turned Washington frontman......

Further reading to get a real life feel of how life was under the rule of Trujillo read "The Feast of The Goat" by Mario Vargas Llosa a startlingly accurate account and portrait of the latter years of this grotesque Dictator.