Johnny Abbes García
Encyclopedia
Johnny Abbes García was the chief of the governmental intelligence office during the Rafael Trujillo
dictatorship in the Dominican Republic
. A man of violence and a murderer, he ruled under Trujillo during the end of his era, and later served Duvalier in Haiti.
, where he worked as an official in the embassy. He started to gather information on anti-Trujillo dissidents and relayed this information to the island. Abbes also studied the technical aspects of spying and intelligence gathering. In 1956 he returned to the Dominican Republic and, after Trujillo's half brother Nene introduced him to the dictator
, quickly rose to power.
's then-president Rómulo Betancourt
; first there was an attack on Betancourt in the streets of Havana to inject him with poison, later a car bomb
blew up his Cadillac in Caracas, killing the driver and a bystander, while Betancourt survived.
The level of cruelty and sadism of Abbes is legendary. Dominican ex-president, and well-known writer Joaquín Balaguer
(who was one of Trujillo's closest aides) wrote that he once ran across him in the halls of the Dominican Presidential Palace, and saw him avidly reading a book on Chinese torture methods. It is said that many of the dissidents that were imprisoned by the Dominican intelligence services were tortured and killed by Abbes himself; a favorite method of killing was to toss the still-living prisoners to shark
s in the waters of the Caribbean Sea
.
to Japan
to remove him from the spotlight. Not long after that, Abbes became a sort of nomad wandering around Europe, before he finally settled back in the Caribbean, though this time in Haiti
. There he began working for François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier
, the then dictator of that country, as a security advisor. True to his scheming ways, he was later involved in a plot with Duvalier's son-in-law to oust the tyrant. Papa Doc's response to this was to send a death squad to his home, shoot him and his family, and then blow up the house.
Though there was one eyewitness to the execution (a woman who lived next door, and belonged to an international organization), some say that Abbes survived the explosion, and changed his name and lived/lives incognito at some undisclosed location.
There is also a story by a Gerry Hemming (leader of a group of anti-Communist soldiers of fortune who trained anti-Castro Cubans in the early 1960s), who says that in 1963, Abbes and Trujillo's eldest son, Ramfis Trujillo
, were in a meeting, in Haiti, with other unknown men for the purpose of giving money to partly finance the plot which would result in the John F. Kennedy assassination
, allegedly as revenge for the supposed CIA involvement in the assassination of Rafael Trujillo.
In the fictionalized historical novel The Feast of the Goat
, about Trujillo and his regime, Mario Vargas Llosa
devotes many paragraphs to describing Abbes and his work.
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina , nicknamed El Jefe , ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. He officially served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, otherwise ruling as an unelected military strongman...
dictatorship in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. A man of violence and a murderer, he ruled under Trujillo during the end of his era, and later served Duvalier in Haiti.
Rise to power
Abbes was born in 1924 in Santo Domingo as the son of an American who was an accountant, and the son of a Dominican woman. As a young man he was interested in sports, and one of his first jobs was as a sports reporter. In the mid-fifties, he moved to MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where he worked as an official in the embassy. He started to gather information on anti-Trujillo dissidents and relayed this information to the island. Abbes also studied the technical aspects of spying and intelligence gathering. In 1956 he returned to the Dominican Republic and, after Trujillo's half brother Nene introduced him to the dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
, quickly rose to power.
Head of SIM
In 1958 he became the head of the newly created Military Intelligence Service (SIM) and the chief planner of assassinations of the regime's adversaries abroad. SIM employed thousands of people and was involved in immigration, passports, censorship, supervision of aliens, and undercover work, including foreign operations. Thus he was instrumental in the two attempts to kill VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
's then-president Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello , known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was President of Venezuela from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Accion Democratica, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century...
; first there was an attack on Betancourt in the streets of Havana to inject him with poison, later a car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
blew up his Cadillac in Caracas, killing the driver and a bystander, while Betancourt survived.
The level of cruelty and sadism of Abbes is legendary. Dominican ex-president, and well-known writer Joaquín Balaguer
Joaquín Balaguer
Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo was the President of the Dominican Republic from 1960 to 1962, from 1966 to 1978, and again from 1986 to 1996.-Early life and introduction to politics:...
(who was one of Trujillo's closest aides) wrote that he once ran across him in the halls of the Dominican Presidential Palace, and saw him avidly reading a book on Chinese torture methods. It is said that many of the dissidents that were imprisoned by the Dominican intelligence services were tortured and killed by Abbes himself; a favorite method of killing was to toss the still-living prisoners to shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
s in the waters of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
.
After Trujillo
After Trujillo's assassination in 1961, Balaguer quickly named Abbes consulConsul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to remove him from the spotlight. Not long after that, Abbes became a sort of nomad wandering around Europe, before he finally settled back in the Caribbean, though this time in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. There he began working for François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier
François Duvalier
François Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
, the then dictator of that country, as a security advisor. True to his scheming ways, he was later involved in a plot with Duvalier's son-in-law to oust the tyrant. Papa Doc's response to this was to send a death squad to his home, shoot him and his family, and then blow up the house.
Though there was one eyewitness to the execution (a woman who lived next door, and belonged to an international organization), some say that Abbes survived the explosion, and changed his name and lived/lives incognito at some undisclosed location.
There is also a story by a Gerry Hemming (leader of a group of anti-Communist soldiers of fortune who trained anti-Castro Cubans in the early 1960s), who says that in 1963, Abbes and Trujillo's eldest son, Ramfis Trujillo
Ramfis Trujillo
Lieutenant General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Martínez , better known as Ramfis Trujillo, was the son of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina and María Martínez...
, were in a meeting, in Haiti, with other unknown men for the purpose of giving money to partly finance the plot which would result in the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, allegedly as revenge for the supposed CIA involvement in the assassination of Rafael Trujillo.
In the fictionalized historical novel The Feast of the Goat
The Feast of the Goat
The Feast of the Goat is a novel by the Peruvian Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. The book is set in the Dominican Republic and portrays the assassination of Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, and its aftermath, from two distinct standpoints a generation apart:...
, about Trujillo and his regime, Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
devotes many paragraphs to describing Abbes and his work.
Sources and references
- Los Rasputines - Mario Vargas Llosa, 1998. http://www.caretas.com.pe/1998/1518/mvll/mvll.htm
- La Môme Moineau - Michel Ferracci-Porri, novembre 2006 Editions Normant