Neiba (also spelt Neyba ) is a city in the southwest of the Dominican Republic . It is the capital city of the Baoruco province, and is located 180 kilometres west of the national capital, Santo Domingo , close to the shore of Lake Enriquillo , the largest lake in the West Indies .
100-615: Before the conquest and colonization of Hispaniola, the place was a nitainato belonging to the Chiefdom of Jaragua. Founded in 1546 as a town from a cattle herd on the west side, years later it was depopulated together with the Villa de San Juan, being refounded in 1735 when it was repopulated and its neighbors enjoyed their lands that were from the Azua district. On March 13, 1844, a confrontation between Haitian and Dominican troops took place in
200-571: A Catholic boarding school, El Colegio de la Inmaculada , for their secondary education in the city of La Vega . Once Rafael Trujillo took power it was customary to have a picture of him in the household, however, the Mirabal house never had a picture of Trujillo and were subsequently considered dissidents by the Trujillo regime. When Trujillo came to power, the family lost almost their entire fortune. The sisters, especially Minerva, believed that
300-572: A 1944 plot and then published their correspondence to discredit him. Lescot fled into exile in 1946 after demonstrations against him. In 1947, Dominican exiles, including Juan Bosch , had concentrated in Cuba. With the approval and support of Cuba's government, led by Ramón Grau , an expeditionary force was trained with the intention of invading the Dominican Republic and overthrowing Trujillo. However, international pressure, including from
400-484: A collection of over ten thousand. Trujillo doused himself with perfume and liked gossip. His sexual appetite was rapacious, and he preferred mulatta women with full bodies. Trujillo was married three times and kept other women as mistresses. On 13 August 1913, Trujillo married Aminta Ledesma Lachapelle, with whom he had 2 daughters, Julia, who died as an infant, and Flor de Oro, who died of lung cancer in 1978. On 30 March 1927, Trujillo married Bienvenida Ricardo Martínez,
500-580: A factory was built for the production of wine, must, alcohol and jam, with the advice of the Government of Italy and Spain. The grape reaches the American continent on the second voyage of Christopher Columbus. Being introduced in Neiba. The first coffee seedlings were introduced in 1735 from Saint Domingue. The table grape: Red Globe or Red Globe, is the innovation of the moment, from the installation of
600-644: A former vice president of the Dominican Republic. In 1992, Dedé created the Mirabal Sisters Foundation, and in 1994, she opened the Mirabal Sisters Museum in the sisters' hometown, Salcedo . She published a book, Vivas en su Jardín , on 25 August 2009. Its English edition is announced for 25 February 2025. She lived in the house in Salcedo where the sisters were born until her death in 2014, aged 88. On 17 December 1999,
700-437: A girl from Monte Cristi and the daughter of Buenaventura Ricardo Heureaux. A year later he met María de los Angeles Martínez Alba (nicknamed " la españolita ", or "the little Spanish girl"), and had an affair with her. He divorced Bienvenida in 1935 and married Martínez. A year later he had a daughter with Bienvenida, named Odette Trujillo Ricardo. Trujillo's three children with María Martínez were Rafael Leónidas Ramfis , who
800-590: A grand scale, and went into meat and milk production, operations that soon evolved into monopolies . Salt, sugar, tobacco, lumber, and the lottery were other industries which he or his family members dominated. Family members also received positions within the government and the army, including one of Trujillo's sons who was made a colonel in the Dominican Army when he was only four years old. Two of Trujillo's brothers, Héctor and José Arismendy, also held positions in his government. José Arismendy Trujillo oversaw
900-601: A more moderate political stance"). A review of the history curriculum in public schools in 1997 recognized the Mirabals as national martyrs. The post-Balaguer era has seen a marked increase in homages to the Mirabal sisters, including an exhibition of their belongings at the National Museum of History and Geography in Santo Domingo. After the assassinations, the surviving sister, Dedé, devoted her life to
1000-736: A mural by Elsa Núñez . Every few years, the mural changes. In 2005, Amaya Salazar created one; in 2011, Banco del Progreso sponsored Dustin Muñoz to redo the mural. In 2019, the southeast corner of 168th street and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan was designated "Mirabal Sisters Way" by the Council of the City of New York. In addition, there is a school campus in Washington Heights, Manhattan , Mirabal Sisters Campus. In 2021, Rosa Hernández de Grullón, Ambassador of
1100-511: A naturalized US citizen, the attempted murder of Betancourt, a staunch critic of Trujillo, and the murder of the Mirabal sisters , who were among his most notable opponents, in 1960, eroded relations between the Dominican Republic and the international community and ushered in OAS sanctions and economic and military assistance to Dominican opposition forces. After this momentous year, large segments of
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#17327646945991200-523: A person could be arrested for vagrancy without one. Those who did not join or contribute to the party did so at their own risk. Opponents of the régime were mysteriously killed. In 1934, Trujillo, who had promoted himself to generalissimo of the army, was up for re-election . By then, there was no organized opposition left in the country, and he was re-elected unopposed. In addition to the widely rigged (and regularly uncontested) elections, he instated "civic reviews" with large crowds shouting their loyalty to
1300-492: A response to the disaster, Trujillo placed the Dominican Republic under martial law and began to rebuild the city. He renamed the rebuilt capital of the Dominican Republic, Ciudad Trujillo ("Trujillo City") in his honor and had streets, monuments, and landmarks to honor him throughout the country. On 16 August 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the Dominican Party , founded two weeks earlier,
1400-517: A telegraph operator, which he held for about three years. Shortly after Trujillo, aided by his brother José Arismendy Petán , turned to petty crime: cattle rustling, check counterfeiting, and postal robbery. He spent several months in prison, which did not deter him, as he later formed a violent gang of robbers called The 42 . In 1916, the United States began its occupation of the Dominican Republic following 28 revolutions in 50 years. At
1500-595: 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, Rafael Trujillo organized a major national celebration to commemorate 25 years of his rule in 1955. Gold and silver commemorative coins were minted with his image. Brutal oppression of actual or perceived members of
1600-551: Is a source of happiness to do whatever can be done for our country that suffers so many anguishes. It is sad to stay with one's arms crossed." Antonia María Teresa Mirabal Reyes (15 October 1935 – 25 November 1960), commonly known as María Teresa, was the fourth and youngest daughter. She attended the Colegio Inmaculada Concepción, graduated from the Liceo de San Francisco de Macorís in 1954, and went on to
1700-428: Is just." While attending the Colegio Inmaculada Concepción, Minerva discovered that her friend Deisi Ariza's father was killed by Trujillo for opposing the regime. This event along with many others ultimately influenced Minerva's fight against the regime. Minerva became involved in the political movement against Trujillo, who was the country's official president from 1930 to 1938 and from 1942 to 1952, but ruled behind
1800-484: The Dominican Republic , three of whom (Patria, Minerva and María Teresa ) opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo ( el Jefe ) and were involved in clandestine activities against his regime. The three sisters were assassinated on 25 November 1960. The last sister, Adela, commonly known as Dedé, who was not involved in political activities at the time, died of natural causes on 1 February 2014. Of
1900-539: The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women . The Mirabal family were from the central Cibao region of the Dominican Republic and had a farm in the village of Ojo de Agua, near the town of Salcedo . Their parents Enrique Mirabal Fernández and Mercedes Reyes Camilo were landowners in the area. All four sisters attended primary school in their village, Ojo de Agua, and attended
2000-495: The Santo Domingo Metro is named to honor the Mirabal sisters. The 200 Dominican pesos bill features the sisters, and a stamp was issued in their memory. The 137-foot obelisk that Trujillo built in 1935 to commemorate the renaming of the capital city from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo has been covered with murals honoring the sisters. In 1997, the telecommunications company CODETEL (now Claro) sponsored
2100-836: The United States government . During World War II , Trujillo symbolically sided with the Allies and declared war on Germany , Italy and Japan on 11 December 1941. While there was no military participation, the Dominican Republic thus became a founding member of the United Nations . Trujillo encouraged diplomatic and economic ties with the United States, but his policies often caused friction with other nations of Latin America, especially Costa Rica and Venezuela . He maintained friendly relations with Franco of Spain , Perón of Argentina , and Somoza of Nicaragua . Towards
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#17327646945992200-482: The University of Santo Domingo , where she later graduated summa cum laude. Minerva was the first woman to graduate from law school in the Dominican Republic. Due to her previous rejection of Trujillo's advances, when Minerva graduated, her diploma was stripped of her honors and her license to practice law was ultimately turned down. At university, she met her husband, Manolo Tavárez Justo, who would help her fight
2300-608: The Yaque del Sur River . In 1934 he banned the slash-and-burn method of clearing land for agriculture, set up a forest warden agency to protect the park system, and banned the logging of pine trees without his permission. In the 1950s the Trujillo regime commissioned a study on the hydroelectric potential of damming the Dominican Republic's waterways. The commission concluded that only forested waterways could support hydroelectric dams , so Trujillo banned logging in potential river watersheds. After his assassination in 1961, logging resumed in
2400-505: The 1930s, and exiles from Spain following its civil war . At the 1938 Évian Conference the Dominican Republic was the only country willing to accept many Jews and offered to accept up to 100,000 refugees on generous terms. In 1940 an agreement was signed and Trujillo donated 26,000 acres (110 km ) of his properties for settlements. The first settlers arrived in May 1940; eventually, some 800 settlers came to Sosúa and most moved later on to
2500-570: The 1937 Dominican championship at Estadio Trujillo in Ciudad Trujillo. Trujillo was energetic and fit. He was generally quite healthy but suffered from chronic lower urinary infections and, later, prostate problems. In 1934, Dr. Georges Marion was called from Paris to perform three urologic procedures on Trujillo. Over time Trujillo acquired numerous homes. His favorite was Casa Caobas , on Estancia Fundacion near San Cristóbal . He also used Estancia Ramfis (which, after 1953, became
2600-570: The American Secretary of State Cordell Hull signed the Hull–Trujillo Treaty, whereby the United States relinquished control over the collection and application of customs revenues, and the Dominican Republic committed to deposit consolidated government revenues in a special bank account to guarantee repayment of foreign debt. The government was free to set custom duties with no restrictions. This diplomatic success gave Trujillo
2700-513: The Dominican Republic in France , inaugurated a plaque in Paris in honor of the famous Dominican resistance fighters murdered under the Trujillo dictatorship in 1960. Being globally recognized as a symbol of social justice and feminism, the sisters have inspired the creation of many organizations that focus on keeping their legacy alive through social actions. An example of one of these organizations
2800-519: The Dominican Republic, and bridges and public buildings were named in his honor. The nation's newspapers had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included slogans such as "¡Viva Trujillo!" and "Año del Benefactor de la Patria" (Year of 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
2900-519: The Dominican Republic, compounding the dictator's paranoia. Trujillo began to interfere more and more in the domestic affairs of neighboring countries. He expressed great contempt for Venezuela's president Rómulo Betancourt ; an established and outspoken opponent of Trujillo, Betancourt associated with Dominicans who had plotted against the dictator. Trujillo developed an obsessive personal hatred of Betancourt and supported numerous plots by Venezuelan exiles to overthrow him. This pattern of intervention led
3000-537: The Dominican Republic. Squatters burned down the forests for agriculture, and logging companies clear-cut parks. In 1967, President Joaquín Balaguer launched military strikes against illegal logging. Trujillo encouraged foreign investment in the Dominican Republic, particularly from Americans. He gave a concession with mineral rights in the Azua Basin to Clem S. Clarke , an oilman from Shreveport , Louisiana . Trujillo tended toward peaceful coexistence with
3100-484: The Dominican Republic. The brutal murder on Friday, 25 November 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters , Patria, María Teresa and Minerva, who opposed Trujillo's dictatorship, further increased discontent with his repressive rule. The dictator had become an embarrassment to the United States, and relations became especially strained after the Betancourt incident. Trujillo's "central arch" was his instinct for power. This
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3200-510: The Dominican establishment, including the military, turned against him. On 30 May 1961, Trujillo was assassinated by a group of conspirators led by general Antonio Imbert Barrera . In the immediate aftermath, Trujillo's son Ramfis took temporary control of the country, executing most of the conspirators. By November 1961, the Trujillo family was pressured into exile by the titular president Joaquín Balaguer , who introduced reforms to open up
3300-632: The Foreign Office), Estancia Rhadames , and a home at Playa de Najayo. Less frequently he stayed at places he owned in Santiago de los Caballeros , Constanza , La Cumbre , San José de las Matas , and elsewhere. He maintained a penthouse at the Embajador Hotel in the capital. While Trujillo was nominally a Roman Catholic , his devotion was limited to a perfunctory role in public affairs; he placed faith in local folk religion . He
3400-691: The Garde d'Haiti, and Élie Lescot , at that time the Haitian ambassador in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo). After the settlement, when further border incursions occurred, Trujillo initiated the Parsley Massacre . Known as La Masacre del Perejil in Spanish, the massacre was started by Trujillo in October 1937. Claiming that Haiti was harboring his former Dominican opponents, he ordered an attack on
3500-630: The Grape Cluster. Besides, bananas—mangoes, beans, passion fruit, honey, pigeon peas, okra are also grown to a lesser extent. Neiba has a hot semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ) This Dominican Republic location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( / t r uː ˈ h iː j oʊ / troo- HEE -yoh , Spanish: [rafaˈel leˈoniðas tɾuˈxiʝo moˈlina] ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed El Jefe ( Spanish: [el ˈxefe] ),
3600-412: The Mirabal Sisters Foundation and the Mirabal Sisters Museum to continue her sisters' legacy. Dedé was the last surviving sister of the family. She died at the age of 88, and professed her entire life that it was her destiny to survive so that she was able to "tell their story". María Argentina Minerva Mirabal Reyes (12 March 1926 – 25 November 1960), commonly known as Minerva, was the third daughter. At
3700-541: The Patriotic Coalition of Citizens (Spanish: Coalición patriotica de los ciudadanos ), with Estrella as his running mate. The other candidates became targets of harassment by the army. When it became apparent that the army would allow only Trujillo to campaign unhindered, the other candidates pulled out. Ultimately, the Trujillo-Estrella ticket was proclaimed victorious with an implausible 99% of
3800-576: The SIM, the Servicio de Inteligencia Militar , efficiently organized by Johnny Abbes , who operated in Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, New York, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. Some cases reached international notoriety such as the disappearance of Jesús de Galíndez and the murder of the Mirabal sisters , which further eroded Trujillo's critical support by the US government. After Trujillo approved an assassination attempt on
3900-473: The Trujillo dictatorship has been judged more prominent and more brutal than its contemporaries. Trujillo remains a polarizing figure in the Dominican Republic, as the sheer longevity of his rule makes a detached evaluation difficult. While his supporters credit him for bringing long-term stability, economic growth and prosperity, doubling life expectancy of average Dominicans and multiplying the GDP, critics denounce
4000-592: The Trujillo government's extensive use of state terrorism was prolific even beyond national borders, including the attempted assassination of Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt in 1960, the abduction and disappearance in New York City of the Basque exile Jesús Galíndez in 1956, and the murder of Spanish writer José Almoina in Mexico, also in 1960. These acts, particularly the presumed murder of Galíndez,
4100-532: The Trujillo regime. Minerva was the most vocal and radical of the Mirabal daughters. According to the theologian Nancy Pineda-Madrid, she was arrested and harassed on multiple occasions on orders given by Trujillo himself. According to the historian Bernard Diederich, Minerva Mirabal was arrested twice; she was first jailed in January 1960, at the start of the wave of repression of 1J4 members where "hundreds of 1J4 members are rounded up and tortured" She once said "It
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4200-519: The United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in honor of the sisters. It marks the beginning of a 16-day period of Activism against Gender Violence. The last day of that period, 10 December, is International Human Rights Day . On 21 November 2007, Salcedo Province was renamed Hermanas Mirabal Province . Hermanas Mirabal station of
4300-694: The United States example of two presidential terms, he stated, "I voluntarily, and against the wishes of my people, refuse re-election to the high office." In fact, a vigorous re-election campaign had been launched in the middle of 1937 but the international uproar that followed the Haitian massacre later that year forced Trujillo to announce his "return to private life." Consequently, the Dominican Party nominated Trujillo's handpicked successor, 61-year-old vice-president Jacinto Peynado , with Manuel de Jesús Troncoso his running mate. They appeared alone on
4400-528: The United States, made the exiles abort the expedition. In turn, when Fulgencio Batista was in power, Trujillo initially supported anti-Batista supporters of Carlos Prío Socarrás in Oriente Province in 1955; however, weapons Trujillo sent were soon inherited by Fidel Castro 's insurgents when Prío allied with Castro; Dominican-made Cristóbal carbines and hand grenades became the rebels' standard weapons. After 1956, when Trujillo saw that Castro
4500-459: The United States. Refugees from Europe broadened the Dominican Republic's tax base and added more whites to the predominantly mixed-race nation. Trujillo's government favored white refugees over others while Dominican troops expelled illegal immigrants, resulting in the 1937 Parsley Massacre of Haitian migrants. The Trujillo regime greatly expanded the Vedado del Yaque, a nature reserve around
4600-544: The University of Santo Domingo, where she studied mathematics . Later in her life, María Teresa dated Leandro Guzmán. While dating, before Leandro was allowed to hold María Teresa's hand, she asked him how his family felt about Trujillo. Leandro responded, "... there's no problem. At home, that was the first thing I learned... to hate Trujillo." After this response María Teresa let him hold her hand and they eventually married after she finished her education. María Teresa
4700-669: The Venezuelan President Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello , the Organization of American States and the United States blocked Trujillo's access to US sugar quota profits. In April 1962, after the flight of the Trujillo family from the country, Attorney General Eduardo Antonio Garcia Vasquez reported that in the previous five years, the former regime was responsible for 5,700 deaths, either as known murders, or of those missing but presumed dead. The SIM often denied victims' families
4800-563: The Venezuelan government to take its case against Trujillo to the Organization of American States (OAS), a move that infuriated Trujillo, who ordered his agents to plant a bomb in Betancourt's car. The assassination attempt, carried out on Friday, 24 June 1960, injured but did not kill the Venezuelan president. The Betancourt incident inflamed world opinion against Trujillo. Outraged OAS members voted unanimously to sever diplomatic relations with his government and impose economic sanctions on
4900-638: The age of 12, she followed Patria to the Colegio Inmaculada Concepción. In 1949, the Mirabal family was invited to a party for the local elite where Minerva first caught the eye of Rafael Trujillo, so much so that the Mirabals were invited to a different party by Trujillo himself. At this party, Trujillo made more sexual advances toward Minerva. After Minerva's rejection of Trujillo, her parents prohibited Minerva from registering for law school due to concerns that she would get involved in politics and ultimately be killed. However, after seeing how upset Minerva was, her parents relented six years later and she enrolled at
5000-504: 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 7 March 1940, with Troncoso serving out the rest of the term. However, in 1942, with US President Franklin Roosevelt having run for
5100-418: The border that slaughtered tens of thousands of Haitians as they tried to escape. The number of dead is still unknown, but it is now calculated between 12,000 and 30,000. The Dominican military used machetes to murder and decapitate many of the victims; they also took people to the port of Montecristi, where many victims were thrown into the sea to drown with their hands and feet bound. The Haitian response
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#17327646945995200-624: The budget for national defense. A foreign legion was formed to defend Haiti, as it was expected that Castro might invade the Haitian part of the island first and remove François Duvalier as well. A Cuban plane with 56 fighting men landed near Constanza , Dominican Republic, on Sunday, 14 June 1959, and six days later more invaders brought by two yachts landed at the north coast. However, the Dominican Army prevailed. In turn, in August 1959, Johnny Abbes attempted to support an anti-Castro group led by Escambray near Trinidad, Cuba . The attempt, however,
5300-691: The commander of the National Police in 1924, he was named brigadier general in 1928, Trujillo militarized the police, turning it into an army. It evolved into a de facto independent body under his control. A rebellion or coup d'état against President Vásquez broke out in February 1930 in Santiago. Trujillo secretly cut 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
5400-506: The creation of the main radio station, La Voz Dominicana , and later the television station, the fourth in the Caribbean. By 1937 Trujillo's annual income was about $ 1.5 million ($ 32 million in 2023); at the time of his death the state took over 111 Trujillo-owned companies. His love of fine and ostentatious clothing was displayed in elaborate uniforms and suits, of which he collected almost two thousand. Fond of neckties, he amassed
5500-581: The day. Eventually, even churches were required to post the slogan "Dios en el cielo, Trujillo en la tierra" (God in Heaven, Trujillo on Earth). As time went on, the order of the phrases was reversed (Trujillo on Earth, God in Heaven). Trujillo was recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion. Trujillo was eligible to run again in 1938, but, citing
5600-469: The dictatorship was ruining the country, so they participated in the creation and organization of the 14 June Revolutionary Movement. Within this group, they were known as Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). Two of the sisters, Minerva and María Teresa, were imprisoned on several occasions in both La Victoria and La 40 prisons. They and their husbands were subjected to cruel torture during the Trujillo regime. Despite these facts, they continued to fight against
5700-773: The dictatorship. Patria Mercedes Mirabal Reyes (27 February 1924 – 25 November 1960), commonly known as Patria was the oldest of the four Mirabal sisters. When she was 14, she was sent by her parents to a Catholic boarding school , Colegio Inmaculada Concepción in La Vega. She left school when she was 17 and married Pedro González, a farmer, who would later aid her in challenging the Trujillo regime. Patria had three children. She once said "We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime. We have to fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, even my life if necessary." Bélgica Adela Mirabal Reyes (1 March 1925 – 1 February 2014), commonly known as Dedé,
5800-452: The end of his rule, his relationship with the United States deteriorated. Early on, Trujillo determined that Dominican financial affairs had to be put in order, and that included ending the United States's role as collector of Dominican customs—a situation that had existed since 1907 and was confirmed in a 1924 convention signed at the end of the occupation. Negotiations started in 1936 and lasted four years. On 24 September 1940, Trujillo and
5900-460: The era of Rafael Trujillo as President and dictator of the country. The date that is celebrated on March 10 by the inhabitants of the place, since it was on this date that the announcement was made. The most important crops in the municipality are: coffee and grapes. The municipality of Neiba was the first to export coffee to alternative markets in Europe, and for the industrialization of the grape,
6000-493: The game of baseball , the dictator invited many black American players to the Dominican Republic, where they received good pay for playing on first-class, un-segregated teams. The great Negro league star Satchel Paige pitched for the Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo , a team organized by Trujillo. Paige later claimed, jokingly, that his guards positioned themselves "like a firing squad" to encourage him to pitch well. Los Dragones won
6100-499: The government, which would in turn create more support for Trujillo. In 1936, at the suggestion of Mario Fermín Cabral , the Congress of the Dominican Republic voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo . The province of San Cristóbal was renamed to "Trujillo" and the nation's highest peak, Pico Duarte to Pico Trujillo. Statues of "El Jefe" were mass-produced and erected across
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#17327646945996200-500: The group, the sisters called themselves "Las Mariposas" ("The Butterflies"), after Minerva's underground name. The secret movement was discovered weeks after its founding leading to Patria's house (where the group met) being burned to the ground and María Teresa and Minerva's arrests. In 1960, Minerva and María Teresa were incarcerated from 22 January to 7 February, then from 18 May to 9 August. They were not tortured thanks to mounting international opposition to Trujillo's regime. Patria
6300-466: The heavy-handed and violent nature of his regime, including the murder of tens of thousands, and xenophobia towards Haitians, as well as the Trujillo family's nepotism, widespread corruption and looting of the country's natural and economic resources. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo y Molina was born on 24 October 1891 in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic , into a lower-middle class family. His father
6400-684: The insurgents. They are considered national heroines of the Dominican Republic. Their remains rest in a mausoleum that was declared an extension of the National Pantheon, located in the Hermanas Mirabal House-Museum, the last residence of the sisters. The assassinations turned the Mirabal sisters into "symbols of both popular and feminist resistance". In 1999, in their honor, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as
6500-499: The leaders of 14 June Movement, nicknamed 1J4. The movement was created in support, and then in honor, of the Dominican rebels who were killed while attempting to overthrow the Rafael Trujillo regime. Everyone in the family, including Patria's teenaged children, helped distribute pamphlets about the many people whom Trujillo had killed, and obtained materials for guns and bombs to use when they eventually openly revolted. Within
6600-535: The legacy of her sisters. She raised their six children, including Minou Tavárez Mirabal , Minerva's daughter, who has served as deputy for the National District in the lower house of the Dominican Congress since 2002 and was deputy foreign minister before that (1996–2000). Of Dedé's own three children, Jaime David Fernández Mirabal was the minister for environment and natural resources and
6700-642: The municipality in the so-called Battle of the Baptism of Blood, held in the now municipality of Galván, Bahoruco Province. The municipality was also the scene of the restoration struggles, where the first war day began with the assault on the Neiba command, an action led by Cayetano Velásquez . A Law of the National Congress of the year 1942, elevated Neiba to the category of head of the Province of Bahoruco, being inaugurated on March 18, 1943, during
6800-411: The nation's sole legal political party. However, the country had effectively become a one-party state with Trujillo's inauguration. Government employees were required by law to "donate" 10% of their salaries to the national treasury and there was strong pressure on adult citizens to join the party. Members had to carry a membership card, nicknamed the " Palmita " since the cover had a palm tree on it, and
6900-459: The occasion to launch a massive propaganda campaign that presented him as the savior of the nation. A law proclaimed that the Benefactor was also now the Restaurador de la independencia financiera de la Republica (Restorer of the Republic's financial independence). Haiti formerly occupied what is today called the Dominican Republic for 22 years – from 1822 to 1844. Prior to their occupation, Spanish colonial rule prevailed. Encroachment by Haiti
7000-599: The opposition was the key feature of Trujillo's rule from the very beginning in 1930 when his gang, "The 42", led by Miguel Angel Paulino, drove through the streets in their red Packard " carro de la muerte " ("car of death"). Trujillo also maintained an execution list of people throughout the world who he felt were his direct enemies or who he felt had wronged him. He even once allowed an opposition party to form and permitted it to operate legally and openly, mainly so that he could identify those who opposed him and arrest or kill them. Imprisonments and killings were later handled by
7100-403: The rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them. However, feigning "neutrality", Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Estrella's rebels to take the capital virtually unopposed. On 3 March, Estrella was proclaimed acting president, with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and of the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of
7200-659: The regime. The murder ushered in civil strife which concluded with the Dominican Civil War and a US-OAS intervention, eventually stabilised under a multi-party system in 1966. The Trujillo era unfolded in a Hispanic Caribbean environment particularly susceptible to dictators. In the countries of the Caribbean Basin alone, his dictatorship overlapped with those in Cuba , Nicaragua , Guatemala , El Salvador , Honduras , Venezuela and Haiti . In perspective,
7300-480: The remains of their loved ones, disposing of them clandestinely. In the aftermath of Trujillo's assassination, very few of those arrested and killed in the subsequent crackdown had their remains returned, the majority believed by investigators from Vasquez's office to have been tossed to sharks, or were stuffed into an incinerator at nearby San Isidro airbase. Trujillo was known for his open-door policy, accepting Jewish refugees from Europe, Japanese migration during
7400-472: The scenes as a dictator from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Minerva's sisters followed her into the movement: first María Teresa, who joined after staying at Minerva's house and learning about her activities, and then Patria, who joined after witnessing a massacre by some of Trujillo's men while on a religious retreat. Dedé did not join in, partly because her husband, Jaimito, did not want her to. The husbands of Minerva, María Teresa, and Patria were among
7500-435: The sisters were killed by Victor Alicinio Peña Rivera, Trujillo's right-hand man, along with Ciriaco de la Rosa, Ramon Emilio Rojas, Alfonso Cruz Valeria, and Emilio Estrada Malleta, members of his secret police force. As to whether Trujillo ordered the killings or whether the secret police acted on its own, one historian wrote, "We know orders of this nature could not come from any authority lower than national sovereignty. That
7600-479: The sisters, Minerva was the one who had the most active role in politics, being the founder of the 14 June Revolutionary Movement together with her husband Manolo Tavárez Justo [ es ] . Maria Teresa also became involved in the Movement. The oldest sister, Patria, did not have the same level of political activity as her other sisters, but supported them. She lent her house to store weapons and tools from
7700-468: The time, Trujillo was twenty-five years old and worked as a guarda campestre (overseer) at a sugar cane plantation in Boca Chica . The occupying force soon established a Dominican army constabulary to impose order. Trujillo joined the newly created National Guard in 1918 with the help of his employer along with US Major James J. MacLean, who was his maternal uncle Teódulo Pina Chevalier's friend, and
7800-596: The time, approving his rise among the ranks: he was promoted to lieutenant in 1919 and assigned to the San Pedro de Macorís garrison; he was later promoted to captain in 1922 while stationed in San Francisco de Macorís and given command of the National Guard 10th Company. In 1923 he was promoted to major and appointed Inspector of the 1st military district . President Horacio Vásquez named Trujillo
7900-488: The vote. In a note to the State Department, American ambassador Charles Boyd Curtis wrote that Trujillo received far more votes than there were actual voters. Upon taking office on 16 August, Truijllo assumed dictatorial powers which he retained for the next three decades. Two and a half weeks after Trujillo ascended to the presidency, the destructive Hurricane San Zenón hit Santo Domingo and left 2000 dead. As
8000-467: The way for Trujillo's own assassination six months later. However, the details of the Mirabal sisters' assassinations were "treated gingerly at the official level" until 1996, when President Joaquín Balaguer was forced to step down after more than two decades in power. Balaguer was Trujillo's protégé and had been the president at the time of the assassinations in 1960 (though, at the time, he "distanced himself from General Trujillo and initially carved out
8100-543: Was José Trujillo Valdez, the son of Silveria Valdez Méndez of colonial Dominican origin and José Trujillo Monagas, a Canary Islander sergeant who arrived in Santo Domingo as a member of the Spanish reinforcement troops during the annexation era . Trujillo's mother was Altagracia Julia Molina Chevalier, later known as Mamá Julia , daughter of peasant Pedro Molina Peña, also of colonial Dominican origin, and teacher Luisa Erciná Chevalier, whose parents were of creole Haitian origin. Chevalier, Trujillo's maternal grandmother,
8200-486: Was a Dominican military commander and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, ruling for the rest of his life as an unelected military strongman under figurehead presidents. His rule of 31 years, known to Dominicans as the Trujillo Era ( Spanish : El Trujillato or La Era de Trujillo ),
8300-525: Was an ongoing process, and when Trujillo took over, specifically the northwestern border region had become increasingly "Haitianized". The border was poorly defined. In 1933, and again in 1935, Trujillo met the Haitian President Sténio Vincent to settle the border issue. By 1936, they reached and signed a settlement. At the same time, Trujillo plotted against the Haitian government by linking up with General Calixte, Commander of
8400-567: Was born on 5 June 1929, María de los Ángeles del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Angelita), born in Paris on 10 June 1939, and Leónidas Rhadamés, born on 1 December 1942. Ramfis and Rhadamés were named after characters in Giuseppe Verdi 's opera Aida . In 1937, Trujillo met Lina Lovatón Pittaluga, an upper-class debutante with whom he had two children, Yolanda in 1939, and Rafael, born on 20 June 1943. In spite of Trujillo's indifference to
8500-403: Was coupled with an intense desire for money, which he recognized as a source of and support for power. Up at four in the morning, he exercised, studied the newspaper, read many reports, and completed papers before breakfast. At the office by nine, he continued his work, and took lunch by noon. After a walk, he continued to work until 7:30 pm. After dinner, he attended functions, held discussions, or
8600-670: Was driven around incognito in the city "observing and remembering." Until Santo Domingo 's National Palace was built in 1947, he worked out of the Casas Reales , the colonial-era Viceregal center of administration. Today the building is a museum; on display are his desk and chair, along with a massive collection of arms and armor that he bought. He was methodical, punctual, secretive, and guarded; he had no true friends, only associates and acquaintances. For his associates, his actions towards them were unpredictable. Trujillo and his family amassed enormous wealth. He acquired cattle lands on
8700-474: Was gaining ground, he started to support Batista with money, planes, equipment, and men. Trujillo, convinced that Batista would prevail, was very surprised when Batista showed up as a fugitive after he had been ousted . Trujillo kept Batista until August 1959 as a "virtual prisoner". Only after paying US$ 3–4 million could Batista leave for Portugal , which had granted him a visa. Castro made threats to overthrow Trujillo, and Trujillo responded by increasing
8800-452: Was influenced by her older sister Minerva's political views and was involved in the clandestine activities against Trujillo's regime. As a result, she was harassed and arrested on the direct orders of Trujillo. She greatly admired her older sister Minerva and became passionate about Minerva's political views. She once said, "Perhaps what we have most near is death, but that idea does not frighten me. We shall continue to fight for that which
8900-649: Was muted, but its government eventually called for an international investigation. Under pressure from Washington, Trujillo agreed to a reparation settlement in January 1938 of US$ 750,000. By the next year, the amount had been reduced to US$ 525,000 (US$ 11.13 million in 2024); 30 dollars per victim, of which only two cents were given to survivors because of corruption in the Haitian bureaucracy. In 1941, Lescot, who had received financial support from Trujillo, succeeded Vincent as President of Haiti. Trujillo expected that Lescot would be his puppet, but Lescot turned against him. Trujillo unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him in
9000-688: Was never arrested but her husband and son were jailed. The three husbands were incarcerated in January at La Victoria Penitentiary in Santo Domingo , and then, in November, two of them were transferred to Puerto Plata . In 1960, the Organization of American States condemned Trujillo's actions and sent observers. Minerva and María Teresa were freed, but their husbands remained in prison. On 25 November 1960, Patria, Minerva, María Teresa, and their driver, Rufino de la Cruz, were visiting María Teresa and Minerva's incarcerated husbands. Patria's husband
9100-473: Was none other than Trujillo himself; still less could it have taken place without his assent." Also, one of the murderers, Ciriaco de la Rosa, said "I tried to prevent the disaster, but I could not because if I had he, Trujillo, would have killed us all." According to historian Bernard Diederich , the sisters' assassinations "had greater effect on Dominicans than most of Trujillo's other crimes". The killings, he wrote, "did something to their machismo" and paved
9200-454: Was not incarcerated but she went along for moral support. On the way home, they were stopped by Trujillo's henchmen. The sisters and de la Cruz were separated, strangled and clubbed to death. The bodies were then gathered and put in their Jeep, which was run off the mountain road in an attempt to make their deaths look like an accident. After Trujillo was assassinated on 30 May 1961, General Pupo Román admitted to having personal knowledge that
9300-459: Was one of the longest for a non-royal leader in the world, and centered around a personality cult of the ruling family. It was also one of the most brutal; Trujillo's security forces, including the infamous SIM , were responsible for perhaps as many as 50,000 murders. These included between 12,000 and 30,000 Haitians in the infamous Parsley massacre in 1937, which continues to affect Dominican-Haitian relations to this day. During his long rule,
9400-417: Was popularly known as "El Jefe" ("The Chief") or "El Benefactor" ("The Benefactor") but was privately referred to as Chapitas ("Bottlecaps") because of his indiscriminate wearing of medals. Dominican children emulated Trujillo by constructing toy medals from bottle caps . Mirabal sisters The Mirabal sisters ( Spanish : hermanas Mirabal [eɾˈmanas miɾaˈβal] ) were four sisters from
9500-404: Was registered in the school of Juan Hilario Meriño. One year later, he transferred to the school of Pablo Barinas, where he was educated by disciples of Eugenio María de Hostos and remained there for the rest of his primary schooling. As a child, he was obsessed with his appearance and would place bottle caps on his clothes that mimicked military decorations. At the age of 16, Trujillo got a job as
9600-476: Was soon promoted to second lieutenant and began training with the US Marines . Allegations of forgery were ignored when Trujillo applied and he was later acquitted by a panel of Marines following plausible accusations against him, including the alleged rape and subsequent extortion of a 16-year-old girl. Colonel Richard Malcolm Cutts trained Trujillo further and many Marine leaders praised his abilities at
9700-598: Was the daughter of Justin Victor Turenne Carrié Blaise, who was of French descent, and Eleonore Juliette Chevallier Moreau, who was part of Haiti's mulatto class. From her mother's side, Chevalier was granddaughter of Louise Moreau and her husband Bernard Chevallier Louverture, a mulatto Haitian high-ranking officer and politician that established in San Cristóbal with the Haitian occupation , from whom countless Dominican families descend, who
9800-483: Was the second daughter of the Mirabal family. Unlike her sisters, she did not go to college. Instead, she became a traditional homemaker, and helped her father with the family business. The Mirabal patriarch, Enrique, died after his political imprisonment, and Dedé took over the family finances. She did not become involved with her sisters' political work. After the murder of her sisters, Dedé took care of their children and raised them. Between 1992 and 1994, Dedé started
9900-511: Was the son of French nobleman Jean Baptiste Chevallier, Marquis de Pouilboreau and his wife Marie-Noëlle Louverture, the sister of Toussaint Louverture , the Father of the Nation of Haiti . Trujillo was the third of eleven children; he also had an adopted brother, Luis Rafael "Nene" Trujillo (1935–2005), who was raised in the home of Trujillo Molina. In 1897, at the age of six, Trujillo
10000-537: Was thwarted when Cuban troops surprised a plane he had sent when it was unloading its cargo. By the late 1950s, opposition to Trujillo's regime was starting to build to a fever pitch, especially among a younger generation who had no memory of the poverty and instability that had preceded the dictatorship. Many clamored for democratization. The Trujillo regime responded with greater repression. The Military Intelligence Service (SIM) secret police, led by Johnny Abbes , remained as ubiquitous as before. Other nations ostracized
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