Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Encyclopedia
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (rafaˈel leˈoniðas tɾuˈxiʝo; October 24, 1891 – May 30, 1961), nicknamed El Jefe (el ˈxefe, The Chief or The Boss), 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
. His 30 years in power, to Dominicans known as the Trujillo Era , is considered one of the bloodiest 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 rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 people, including 20,000 to 30,000 in the infamous Parsley Massacre
.
to José Trujillo Valdez, a small retailer possibly of Canarian origin, and Altagracia Julia Molina Chevalier, later known as Mamá Julia, who was of African ancestry. Trujillo later suppressed knowledge of his mother's ancestry due to his policy of ethnic cleansing of Afro-Dominican and Haitian immigrants. He was born the third of eleven children. His siblings were Rosa María Julieta, Virgilio, José "Petan" Arismendy, Amable "Pipi" Romero, Aníbal Julio, Nieves.
Trujillo's childhood was uneventful. At six he was registered in the school of Juan Hilario Meriño. One year later he transferred to the school of Broughton, where he was a pupil of Eugenio María de Hostos
, and remained there for the rest of his primary school.
At sixteen Trujillo got a job as a telegraph operator. He became a member of "The 42", a small gang.
In 1916 Trujillo worked for two years in the sugar industry eventually as a guarda campestre.
On August 13, 1913, at the age of 21, Trujillo married Aminta Ledesma, a reputable young girl from his hometown of San Cristóbal. They had two daughters: Genoveva, who was born and died in 1914, and Flor de Oro Trujillo Ledesma, born in 1915 and who later married Porfirio Rubirosa
. The marriage between Trujillo and Aminta Ledesma, not mentioned in later official biographies, ended in a divorce in 1925.
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, an upper-class debutante with whom he had two children, Yolanda in 1939, and Rafael, born on June 20, 1943.
Two of Trujillo's brothers, Héctor and José Arismendy, held positions in his government. José Arismendy Trujillo oversaw the creation of "La Voz Dominicana", the main radio station and later, the television station which became the fourth in the continent.
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 restore order. Seeing opportunity, Trujillo impressed the recruiters and was soon promoted to the rank of general.
A rebellion against President Horacio Vásquez
broke out in 1930 in Santiago, and the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo. Trujillo was ordered to subdue the rebellion, but when the mutineers arrived at the capital on February 26, they encountered no resistance. Rebel leader Rafael Estrella was proclaimed as acting president when Vásquez resigned. Trujillo then became the nominee of the newly-formed Dominican Party
in the 1930 presidential election. He won on May 16, officially registering 95 percent of the vote — an implausibly high total that could have been obtained only by means of massive fraud. A judge actually declared the election fraudulent, but was forced to flee. It later surfaced that Trujillo received thousands more votes than there were actual voters.
On August 16, the then 38-year-old general took office, wearing a sash with the motto, "Dios y Trujillo" (God & Trujillo). He immediately assumed dictatorial powers.
hit Santo Domingo and left more than 3,000 dead. With relief money from the American Red Cross
, Trujillo rebuilt the city. On August 16, 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the Dominican Party
the sole legal political party. However, the country had effectively been a one-party state since Trujillo had been sworn in. Government employees were required to "donate" 10 percent of their salary to the national treasury, 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 the card. Those who did not contribute, or join the party, did so at their own risk. Opponents of the regime were mysteriously killed. In 1934, Trujillo, who had promoted himself to generalissimo
of the army, was up for re-election
, and endorsed without opposition. He declined to run himself in 1938, but was again elected in 1942
and 1947
. 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.
voted overwhelmingly in 1936 to rename the capital from Santo Domingo
to Ciudad Trujillo. The province of San Cristobal was created as "Trujillo", and the nation's highest peak, Pico Duarte
, was renamed Pico Trujillo in his honor. 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 now had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included the slogan: "Viva Trujillo!" 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. When he received (or summoned) a visitor, his four bodyguards would have submachine guns trained upon the "guest" during the meeting.
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." The Dominican Party nominated Trujillo's handpicked successor, 71 year old vice-president Jacinto Peynado
. As the government had banned all other political parties, the election of Peynado and Manuel de Jesús Troncoso was merely a formality. Meanwhile, Trujillo limited himself to being the "Generalissimo", while only nominally ceding control to President Peynado. 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. In 1942, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
having run for a third term in the United States, Trujillo ran for president again and won overwhelmingly. He served two terms, having lengthened a presidential term to five years. In 1952, his brother, Héctor Trujillo
, nominally assumed the presidency.
.
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 darker 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. In 1940 an agreement was signed and Trujillo donated 26000 acres (105.2 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.
Refugees from Europe broadened the Dominican Republic's tax base and added more whites to the predominately mixed-race nation. The government favored Caucasian refugees over others while Dominican troops expelled illegal aliens, resulting in the 1937 Parsley Massacre
of Haitian immigrants.
. 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.
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.
signed the Hull-Trujillo Treaty whereby the United States relinquished its control of customs and finances and the Dominican Republic made arrangements to repay its debts. The treaty went to effect, after the Dominican government paid off its debts to the United States, on February 15, 1941.
to settle the border issue. By 1936 a settlement was reached and signed. At the same time, Trujillo tried to plot against the Haitian government by linking up with General Calixte, Commander of the Garde d'Haiti, and Elie Lescot
, at that time the Haitian ambassador in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo). After the settlement, when further border incursions occurred, the Parsley Massacre
was initiated by Trujillo.
Trujillo hoped for a war with Haiti and control over the entire island of Hispaniola
. The Haitian response was muted, but 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$525,000 (US$ in ); 30 dollars per victim, of which only 2 cents were given to survivors, due to corruption in the Haitian bureaucracy.
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. Lescot was exiled after a 1946 palace coup.
, had concentrated in Cuba. With the approval and support of the Grau
government, an expedition force was trained with the intent to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow Trujillo. However, international pressure, including from the United States, led to the abortion of the expedition. In turn, when Fulgencio Batista
was in power, Trujillo initially supported anti-Batista supporters of Prio
in Oriente in 1955, however weapons Trujillo sent were soon inherited by Castro's insurgents when Prio 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". Only after paying between three to four million dollars could Batista leave for Portugal, which had granted him a visa.
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 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.
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.
, remained as ubiquitous as before. Other nations ostracized the Dominican Republic, compounding the dictator's paranoia.
Trujillo began to interfere more and more into the domestic affairs of other neighboring countries. Trujillo 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 of 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). This development infuriated Trujillo, who ordered his foreign agents to plant a bomb inside 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 Trujillo's government and impose economic sanctions on the Dominican Republic. The brutal murder on November 25, 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters
, Patria, María Teresa and Minerva, who opposed Trujillo's dictatorship, further increased discontent against his repressive rule. The relationship with the dictator had become an embarrassment to the United States and became fractured after the Betancourt incident.
Trujillo and his family amassed enormous wealth. He acquired property including cattle lands on a grand scale, and went into meat and milk production, operations that soon evolved into monopolies. Other industries were salt, sugar, tobacco, lumber, and lottery where he or family members held controlling interests or monopolies. Already in 1937 Trujillo's annual income was about $1.5 million.; at the time of his death the state took over 111 Trujillo companies. His love of fine and ostentatious clothing was displayed in elaborate uniforms and fine suits of which he collected almost two thousand. Known to be fond of neckties, he amassed a collection of over ten thousand of them. Trujillo doused himself with perfume and liked gossip.
His sexual appetite was enormous, and he preferred mulatto women with full bodies, later tending more to "very young" women. 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. Typically encounters lasted once or twice, but favorites were kept for longer terms. If women were unwilling to submit, Trujillo would know how to apply pressure on the family to get his way.
Trujillo was such a baseball lover that he invited many black players from the US where they could not play because the teams were segregated. Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige, a Negro League player, went to the Caribbean and Latin America, where the teams were all integrated. He pitched for a team organized by Trujillo. He was trying to gain popularity so he created the "Ciudad Trujillo Team." He paid Paige $30,000 for winning the Dominican championship. Paige fled the Dominican Republic with his teammates directly after being paid for fear of reprisals by Trujillo's enemies.
Trujillo was energetic and fit. Medically, he was quite healthy in general, but suffered from chronic lower urinary infections and, later, prostate problems. In 1934, Dr. Georges Marion was called from Paris to perform 3 urologic procedures on Trujillo.
Over time Trujillo acquired numerous accommodations. His favorite place was Casa Caobas on Estancia Fundacion near San Cristóbal
. He used Estancia Ramfis (after 1953 it became the Foreign Office), Estancia Rhadames and a home at Playa de Najayo. Other places he owned he frequented rarely such as places in Santiago, Constanza, La Cumbre, San Jose de las Matas,
and more. Further, 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 was popularly known as "El Jefe" ("The Chief") or "El Benefactor" ("The Benefactor"), but he 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").
in Paris, France, and subsequently moved to the El Pardo
cemetery near Madrid, Spain.
and freedoms in the Trujillo era were virtually nonexistent, and much of the country's wealth wound up in the hands of his family or close associates.
There has been talk of trying to return the remains of Trujillo to the Dominican Republic and place his body along with the national heroes. Most Dominicans are strongly opposed to this idea.
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...
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
Caudillo
Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...
. His 30 years in power, to Dominicans known as the Trujillo Era , is considered one of the bloodiest ever in the Americas, as well as a time of a classic personality cult
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
, when monuments to Trujillo were in abundance. It has been estimated that Trujillo's rule was responsible for the death of more than 50,000 people, including 20,000 to 30,000 in the infamous Parsley Massacre
Parsley Massacre
In October 1937, Dominican President Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of the Haitian population living in the borderlands with Haiti. The violence resulted in the killing of 20,000On October 2, 1937, Trujillo had ordered 20,000 Haitian cane workers executed because they could not roll the "R"...
.
Early life
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was born in San CristóbalSan Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
San Cristóbal is a municipality and the capital of the San Cristóbal province in the Dominican Republic. Within the municipality there is one municipal district : Hato Damas.-Sectors:*5 de abril*Canastica*El Pomier...
to José Trujillo Valdez, a small retailer possibly of Canarian origin, and Altagracia Julia Molina Chevalier, later known as Mamá Julia, who was of African ancestry. Trujillo later suppressed knowledge of his mother's ancestry due to his policy of ethnic cleansing of Afro-Dominican and Haitian immigrants. He was born the third of eleven children. His siblings were Rosa María Julieta, Virgilio, José "Petan" Arismendy, Amable "Pipi" Romero, Aníbal Julio, Nieves.
Trujillo's childhood was uneventful. At six he was registered in the school of Juan Hilario Meriño. One year later he transferred to the school of Broughton, where he was a pupil of Eugenio María de Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos known as "El Ciudadano de América" , was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate....
, and remained there for the rest of his primary school.
At sixteen Trujillo got a job as a telegraph operator. He became a member of "The 42", a small gang.
In 1916 Trujillo worked for two years in the sugar industry eventually as a guarda campestre.
Porfirio Rubirosa
Porfirio Rubirosa Ariza was a Dominican diplomat and adherent of Rafael Trujillo. He made his mark as an international playboy, for his jet setting lifestyle, and his legendary prowess with women...
. The marriage between Trujillo and Aminta Ledesma, not mentioned in later official biographies, ended in a divorce in 1925.
On March 30, 1927, Trujillo married Bienvenida Ricardo, a girl from Montecristi
San Fernando de Monte Cristi
San Fernando de Monte Cristi is the capital of Monte Cristi Province, Dominican Republic.It is located in the northwest of the country in the coastal lowlands, close to the border with Haiti.- History :...
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
Ramfis Trujillo
Lieutenant General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Martínez , better known as Ramfis Trujillo, was the son of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina and María Martínez...
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
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's opera Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
.
In 1937, Trujillo met Lina Lovatón Pittaluga, an upper-class debutante with whom he had two children, Yolanda in 1939, and Rafael, born on June 20, 1943.
Two of Trujillo's brothers, Héctor and José Arismendy, held positions in his government. José Arismendy Trujillo oversaw the creation of "La Voz Dominicana", the main radio station and later, the television station which became the fourth in the continent.
Rise to power
A rebellion against President Horacio Vásquez
Horacio Vásquez
Felipe Horacio Vásquez Lajara was a Dominican general and political figure. He served as the acting president of the Dominican Republic in 1899, and again between 1902 and 1903. Supporters of Vásquez were known as Horacistas, as opposed to Jimenistas, supporters of Vásquez's main rival, Juan...
broke out in 1930 in Santiago, and the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo. Trujillo was ordered to subdue the rebellion, but when the mutineers arrived at the capital on February 26, they encountered no resistance. Rebel leader Rafael Estrella was proclaimed as acting president when Vásquez resigned. Trujillo then became the nominee of the newly-formed Dominican Party
Dominican Party
The Dominican Party was the de-facto only political party in the Dominican Republic during the autocratic rule of Rafael Trujillo, who controlled the country from 1930 to 1961...
in the 1930 presidential election. He won on May 16, officially registering 95 percent of the vote — an implausibly high total that could have been obtained only by means of massive fraud. A judge actually declared the election fraudulent, but was forced to flee. It later surfaced that Trujillo received thousands more votes than there were actual voters.
On August 16, the then 38-year-old general took office, wearing a sash with the motto, "Dios y Trujillo" (God & Trujillo). He immediately assumed dictatorial powers.
Trujillo Government
Three weeks later, the destructive Hurricane San Zenon1930 Dominican Republic Hurricane
The 1930 Dominican Republic Hurricane, also known as Hurricane San Zenon, is the fifth deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. The second of two known tropical cyclones in the 1930 Atlantic hurricane season, the hurricane was first observed on August 29 to the east of the Lesser Antilles...
hit Santo Domingo and left more than 3,000 dead. With relief money from the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
, Trujillo rebuilt the city. On August 16, 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the Dominican Party
Dominican Party
The Dominican Party was the de-facto only political party in the Dominican Republic during the autocratic rule of Rafael Trujillo, who controlled the country from 1930 to 1961...
the sole legal political party. However, the country had effectively been a one-party state since Trujillo had been sworn in. Government employees were required to "donate" 10 percent of their salary to the national treasury, 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 the card. Those who did not contribute, or join the party, did so at their own risk. Opponents of the regime were mysteriously killed. In 1934, Trujillo, who had promoted himself to generalissimo
Generalissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
of the army, was up for re-election
Dominican Republic general election, 1934
General elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 16 May 1934. Rafael Trujillo was the only candidate in the presidential election and was elected unopposed, whilst his Dominican Party won every seat in the Congressional elections. There was also an election for a Constitutional Assembly,...
, and endorsed without opposition. He declined to run himself in 1938, but was again elected in 1942
Dominican Republic general election, 1934
General elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 16 May 1934. Rafael Trujillo was the only candidate in the presidential election and was elected unopposed, whilst his Dominican Party won every seat in the Congressional elections. There was also an election for a Constitutional Assembly,...
and 1947
Dominican Republic general election, 1934
General elections were held in the Dominican Republic on 16 May 1934. Rafael Trujillo was the only candidate in the presidential election and was elected unopposed, whilst his Dominican Party won every seat in the Congressional elections. There was also an election for a Constitutional Assembly,...
. 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.
Personality Cult
At the suggestion of Mario Fermín Cabral, CongressCongress of the Dominican Republic
The Congress of the Dominican Republic is the bicameral legislature of the government of the Dominican Republic, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Both senators and deputies are chosen through direct election...
voted overwhelmingly in 1936 to rename the capital from Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
to Ciudad Trujillo. The province of San Cristobal was created as "Trujillo", and the nation's highest peak, Pico Duarte
Pico Duarte
Pico Duarte is the highest peak in all the Caribbean islands. It lies in the Cordillera Central range, the greatest of the Dominican Republic's mountain chains. The Cordillera Central extends from the plains between San Cristóbal and Baní to the northwestern peninsula of Haiti, where it is known as...
, was renamed Pico Trujillo in his honor. 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 now had praise for Trujillo as part of the front page, and license plates included the slogan: "Viva Trujillo!" 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
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
by his admirers, but the committee declined the suggestion. When he received (or summoned) a visitor, his four bodyguards would have submachine guns trained upon the "guest" during the meeting.
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." The Dominican Party nominated Trujillo's handpicked successor, 71 year old vice-president Jacinto Peynado
Jacinto Peynado
Jacinto Bienvenido Peynado was the President of the Dominican Republic from August 16, 1938 until February 24, 1940 during the Trujillo Era. During his 31-year regime, dictator Rafael Trujillo appointed four individuals to serve as ceremonial Presidents while retaining direct, behind-the-scenes...
. As the government had banned all other political parties, the election of Peynado and Manuel de Jesús Troncoso was merely a formality. Meanwhile, Trujillo limited himself to being the "Generalissimo", while only nominally ceding control to President Peynado. 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. In 1942, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
having run for a third term in the United States, Trujillo ran for president again and won overwhelmingly. He served two terms, having lengthened a presidential term to five years. In 1952, his brother, Héctor Trujillo
Héctor Trujillo
Hector Bienvenido Trujillo Molina , general, and political figure; president of Dominican Republic 1952-1960; brother of Rafael Trujillo.-Biography:...
, nominally assumed the presidency.
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 (death car). Imprisonments and killings were later handled by the SIM, the secret police, efficiently organized by Johnny Abbes. Some cases reached international attention such as the Galindez case and the murder of the Mirabal sistersMirabal sisters
The Mirabal sisters were four Dominican political dissidents who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Three of the sisters were assassinated by unknown persons...
.
Immigration
Trujillo was known for his open-door policy, accepting Jewish refugeesJewish refugees
In the course of history, Jewish populations have been expelled or ostracised by various local authorities and have sought asylum from antisemitism numerous times...
from Europe, Japanese migration during the 1930s, and exiles from Spain following its civil war
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. He developed a uniquely Dominican policy of racial discrimination, Antihaitianismo
Antihaitianismo
Antihaitianismo is a racist bias against Haitians and descendants of Haitians by Dominicans.- Description :Antihaitianismo can be traced back to a policy of racial segregation instituted by the Spaniards in the colony of Captaincy General of Santo Domingo .Human Rights Watch has stated in their...
("anti-Haitianism"), targeting the mostly-black inhabitants of his neighboring country and those within the Platano Curtain, including many darker Dominican citizens. At the 1938 Evian Conference
Evian Conference
The Évian Conference was convened at the initiative of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in July 1938 to discuss the issue of increasing numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. For eight days, from July 6 to July 13, representatives from 31 countries met at Évian-les-Bains, France...
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 26000 acres (105.2 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.
Refugees from Europe broadened the Dominican Republic's tax base and added more whites to the predominately mixed-race nation. The government favored Caucasian refugees over others while Dominican troops expelled illegal aliens, resulting in the 1937 Parsley Massacre
Parsley Massacre
In October 1937, Dominican President Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of the Haitian population living in the borderlands with Haiti. The violence resulted in the killing of 20,000On October 2, 1937, Trujillo had ordered 20,000 Haitian cane workers executed because they could not roll the "R"...
of Haitian immigrants.
Environmental policy
The Trujillo regime greatly expanded the Vedado del Yaque, a nature reserve around the Yaque del Sur RiverYaque del Sur River
The Yaque del Sur River is a river in the southwestern Dominican Republic. It is approximately 183 km in length....
. In 1934 he created the nation's first national park, banned the slash and burn
Slash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...
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
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:...
launched military strikes against illegal logging.
Foreign policy
Trujillo's anti-communismAnti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
tended toward a peaceful coexistence with the United States government. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Trujillo sided with the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
and declared war on Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and 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...
on December 11, 1941. While there was no military participation, the Dominican Republic thus became a founding member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. 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
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and Venezuela
Venezuela
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...
. He maintained friendly relations with Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
of Spain, Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and Somoza
Anastasio Somoza García
Anastasio Somoza García was officially the President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 1950 to 29 September 1956, but ruled effectively as dictator from 1936 until his assassination.-Biography:Somoza was born in San Marcos, Carazo Department in Nicaragua, the son of...
of Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. 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 the financial affairs of the Dominican Republic needed to be put in order, and that included the termination of the role of the United States as the administrator of Dominican customs- a situation which had existed since 1905- and finances — a situation that had existed since 1924. Negotiations started in 1936 and lasted four years. On September 24, 1940, Trujillo and Cordell HullCordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
signed the Hull-Trujillo Treaty whereby the United States relinquished its control of customs and finances and the Dominican Republic made arrangements to repay its debts. The treaty went to effect, after the Dominican government paid off its debts to the United States, on February 15, 1941.
Haiti
Haiti, the smaller but more densely populated country of the island, had invaded and occupied the Dominican Republic from 1822-44. Encroachment by Haiti was an ongoing process, and when Trujillo took over, specifically the northwest border region became more and more "Haitianized". The actual border itself was poorly defined. In 1933 Trujillo met the Haitian President Stenio VincentSténio Vincent
Sténio Joseph Vincent was President of Haiti from November 18, 1930 to May 15, 1941.In October 1930 Haitians chose a national assembly for the first time since 1918, which elected Vincent as President of Haiti...
to settle the border issue. By 1936 a settlement was reached and signed. At the same time, Trujillo tried to plot against the Haitian government by linking up with General Calixte, Commander of the Garde d'Haiti, and Elie Lescot
Élie Lescot
Louis Élie Lescot was the President of Haiti from May 15, 1941 to January 11, 1946. He was a member of the country's light-skinned elite and used the political climate of World War II to sustain his power and ties to the United States, Haiti's powerful northern neighbor...
, at that time the Haitian ambassador in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo). After the settlement, when further border incursions occurred, the Parsley Massacre
Parsley Massacre
In October 1937, Dominican President Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of the Haitian population living in the borderlands with Haiti. The violence resulted in the killing of 20,000On October 2, 1937, Trujillo had ordered 20,000 Haitian cane workers executed because they could not roll the "R"...
was initiated by Trujillo.
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 the dead is still unknown, though it is now calculated between 20,000On 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. and 30,000.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.Trujillo hoped for a war with Haiti and control over the entire island of Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
. The Haitian response was muted, but 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$525,000 (US$ in ); 30 dollars per victim, of which only 2 cents were given to survivors, due to corruption in the Haitian bureaucracy.
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. Lescot was exiled after a 1946 palace coup.
Cuba
In 1947 Dominican exiles, including Juan BoschJuan Bosch
Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was a politician, historian, short story writer, essayist, educator, and the first cleanly elected president of the Dominican Republic for a brief time in 1963. Previously, he had been the leader of the Dominican opposition in exile to the dictatorial regime of Rafael...
, had concentrated in Cuba. With the approval and support of the Grau
Ramón Grau
Dr. Ramón Grau San Martín was a Cuban physician and the President of Cuba .-Youth:...
government, an expedition force was trained with the intent to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow Trujillo. However, international pressure, including from the United States, led to the abortion of the expedition. In turn, when Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
was in power, Trujillo initially supported anti-Batista supporters of Prio
Carlos Prío Socarrás
Carlos Prío Socarrás was the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new elections were to be held.- Governance :...
in Oriente in 1955, however weapons Trujillo sent were soon inherited by Castro's insurgents when Prio allied with Castro. After 1956, when Trujillo saw that Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
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". Only after paying between three to four million dollars could Batista leave for Portugal, which had granted him a visa.
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 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...
as well. A Cuban plane with 56 fighting men landed near Constanza
Constanza, Dominican Republic
-History:The name of Constanza has its origin in the legend the daughter of a local taino cacique whom lived in the valley. In 1852, the British explorer and consul Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk mentions the existence of a farm in the valley of Constanza. The town was formally founded in 1894...
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.
In turn, in August 1959, Johnny Abbes attempted to support an anti-Castro group led by Escambray near Trinidad, Cuba
Trinidad, Cuba
-External links:* , Online travel guide to Trinidad* , Selected photos of Trinidad* , Photos of Trinidad...
. The attempt, however, was thwarted when Cuban troops surprised a plane he had sent when it was unloading its cargo.
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 AbbesJohnny Abbes García
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.-Rise to power:Abbes was born in 1924...
, remained as ubiquitous as before. Other nations ostracized the Dominican Republic, compounding the dictator's paranoia.
Trujillo began to interfere more and more into the domestic affairs of other neighboring countries. Trujillo expressed great contempt for Venezuela's 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...
. 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 of 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
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
(OAS). This development infuriated Trujillo, who ordered his foreign agents to plant a bomb inside 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 Trujillo's government and impose economic sanctions on the Dominican Republic. The brutal murder on November 25, 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters
Mirabal sisters
The Mirabal sisters were four Dominican political dissidents who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Three of the sisters were assassinated by unknown persons...
, Patria, María Teresa and Minerva, who opposed Trujillo's dictatorship, further increased discontent against his repressive rule. The relationship with the dictator had become an embarrassment to the United States and became fractured after the Betancourt incident.
Personal life
Trujillo's "central arch" was his instinct for power. This was coupled with an intense desire for money and the realization that money was a source and support of power. Up at four in the morning, he exercised, studied the newspaper, read many reports, and completed papers prior to 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." He was methodical, punctual, secretive, and guarded, having 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 property including cattle lands on a grand scale, and went into meat and milk production, operations that soon evolved into monopolies. Other industries were salt, sugar, tobacco, lumber, and lottery where he or family members held controlling interests or monopolies. Already in 1937 Trujillo's annual income was about $1.5 million.; at the time of his death the state took over 111 Trujillo companies. His love of fine and ostentatious clothing was displayed in elaborate uniforms and fine suits of which he collected almost two thousand. Known to be fond of neckties, he amassed a collection of over ten thousand of them. Trujillo doused himself with perfume and liked gossip.
His sexual appetite was enormous, and he preferred mulatto women with full bodies, later tending more to "very young" women. 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. Typically encounters lasted once or twice, but favorites were kept for longer terms. If women were unwilling to submit, Trujillo would know how to apply pressure on the family to get his way.
Trujillo was such a baseball lover that he invited many black players from the US where they could not play because the teams were segregated. Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige, a Negro League player, went to the Caribbean and Latin America, where the teams were all integrated. He pitched for a team organized by Trujillo. He was trying to gain popularity so he created the "Ciudad Trujillo Team." He paid Paige $30,000 for winning the Dominican championship. Paige fled the Dominican Republic with his teammates directly after being paid for fear of reprisals by Trujillo's enemies.
Trujillo was energetic and fit. Medically, he was quite healthy in general, but suffered from chronic lower urinary infections and, later, prostate problems. In 1934, Dr. Georges Marion was called from Paris to perform 3 urologic procedures on Trujillo.
Over time Trujillo acquired numerous accommodations. His favorite place was Casa Caobas on Estancia Fundacion near San Cristóbal
San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
San Cristóbal is a municipality and the capital of the San Cristóbal province in the Dominican Republic. Within the municipality there is one municipal district : Hato Damas.-Sectors:*5 de abril*Canastica*El Pomier...
. He used Estancia Ramfis (after 1953 it became the Foreign Office), Estancia Rhadames and a home at Playa de Najayo. Other places he owned he frequented rarely such as places in Santiago, Constanza, La Cumbre, San Jose de las Matas,
and more. Further, 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
Folk religion
Folk religion consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices...
.
He was popularly known as "El Jefe" ("The Chief") or "El Benefactor" ("The Benefactor"), but he 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 30 May 1961 Trujillo was shot dead when his car was ambushed on a road outside the capital. According to his driver, Zacarias de la Cruz, Trujillo exited the car wounded in order to fire back at his attackers, and was subsequently and quickly riddled with bullets, and thus slain. His remains were interred in the Cimetière du Père LachaisePère Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
in Paris, France, and subsequently moved to the El Pardo
El Pardo
The Royal Palace of El Pardo is a historical building near Madrid, Spain, in the present-day district of Fuencarral-El Pardo. Owned by the Spanish state and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional agency, the palace began as a hunting lodge.-Overview:...
cemetery near Madrid, Spain.
Legacy
Supporters of Trujillo claim that he reorganized both the state and the economy, as well as left vast infrastructure to the country. They say his rule saw more stability and prosperity than most living Dominicans had previously known. His opponents claim that civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and freedoms in the Trujillo era were virtually nonexistent, and much of the country's wealth wound up in the hands of his family or close associates.
There has been talk of trying to return the remains of Trujillo to the Dominican Republic and place his body along with the national heroes. Most Dominicans are strongly opposed to this idea.
Honors and awards
- Legion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- Order of the Holy Sepulchre of JerusalemOrder of the Holy SepulchreThe Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the pope. It traces its roots to Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade...
Trujillo in media
| Media type | |Title | Release date | |Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | Day of the Jackal | 1971 | Authored by Frederick Forsyth Frederick Forsyth Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-... , the book of the same title, fictitiously attributes "credit" for this assassination to its assassin, known only as, ""The Jackal". |
| Film | The Day of the Jackal (film) The Day of the Jackal (film) The Day of the Jackal is a 1973 Anglo-French film, set in August 1963 and based on the novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. Directed by Fred Zinnemann, it stars Edward Fox as the assassin known only as "the Jackal" who is hired to assassinate Charles de Gaulle.- Synopsis :The film opens... |
1973 | Directed by Fred Zinnemann Fred Zinnemann Fred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:... , 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 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:... , 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 Galíndez Galíndez is a novel by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, published in 1991 that centres on a real, dramatic and dark episode of the history of the Dominican Republic: the kidnapping, torturing and murdering of Jesús de Galíndez in 1956, representative of the Basque government in exile before the U.S... en 1990. The book is a fictional recreation of the life and disappearance of the diplomat. |
| Documentary Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
El Poder del Jefe I | 1994 | Directed by René Fortunato René Fortunato René Antonio Fortunato is a Dominican film director, screenwriter, and producer. Fortunato is best known for his historical documentaries on Dominican government and politics. He began his career as a producer in 1985 with the production of In the Footsteps of Palau... |
| TV Film | Soul of the Game Soul of the Game Soul of the Game is a 1996 made-for-television movie about Negro league baseball.It starred Blair Underwood as Jackie Robinson, Delroy Lindo as Satchel Paige and Mykelti Williamson as Josh Gibson. The film depicts Paige and Gibson as the pitching and hitting stars, respectively, of the Negro... |
1996 | Brief appearance during a baseball game in Santo Domingo. |
| Documentary Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
El Poder del Jefe II | 1996 | Directed by René Fortunato |
| Documentary Documentary film Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record... |
El Poder del Jefe III | 1998 | Directed by René Fortunato |
| Book | 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:... |
2000 | A book by 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... , 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 In the Time of the Butterflies (film) In the Time of the Butterflies is a 2001 feature film, produced for the Showtime television network, directed by Mariano Barroso based on the Julia Álvarez book of the same name... |
2001 | Directed by Mariano Barroso and Trujillo played by Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt... . Based on the novel by Julia Alvarez In the Time of the Butterflies In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical novel by Julia Alvarez, relating an account of the Mirabal sisters during the time of the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic. The book is written in the first and third person, by and about the Mirabal sisters... (1994) |
| 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 Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... party and Basque Basque Country (autonomous community) The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories.... diplomat who disappeared in 1956; allegedly because of his opposition to Trujillo's regime. |
| Film | 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:... (*) |
2006 | Directed by Luis Llosa Luis Llosa Luis Llosa is a Peruvian film director. He is the cousin of the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa.-Selected filmography:* Crime Zone * Sniper * Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon * Fire on the Amazon... and Trujillo played by Tomás Milián Tomas Milian Tomás Milián is a Cuban-American actor best known for having worked extensively in Italian films from the late 1950s to the 1980s.-Career in Italy:... |
| Book | The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a best-selling novel written by Dominican author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in New Jersey where Díaz was raised and deals explicitly with his ancestral homeland's experience under dictator Rafael Trujillo... |
2007 | Junot Diaz Junot Díaz Junot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer and creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience... , a native of Santo Domingo wrote Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City... –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. |
| 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 Trópico de Sangre Trópico de Sangre is a dramatic film based on the true story of the Dominican Republic's historic Mirabal sisters.-Plot summary:The film focuses on Minerva Mirabal and tells the true story of how she and her sisters came to represent the greatest threat to dictator Rafael Trujillo and his regime. ... |
2010 | Directed by Juan Delancer Juan Delancer -Career:Delancer got his start as a writer, researcher, journalist, documentarian and television producer in the Dominican Republic throughout the 80's and 90's before beginning work on his first feature film debut, Trópico de Sangre, which tells the story of the Mirabal sisters in times of Rafael... 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. |
External links
- Biography - In Spanish