Dominican Republic

A

Shifting Rule

The French in their part developed a flourishing plantation economy and a lively trade. The Spanish area, bypassed by commerce and shown little interest by the administrative authorities, declined. Many people left, and much of the land remained unpopulated. During much of the 1700s, the island was fought over by Spain, France, and England. Spain finally ceded the colony of Santo Domingo to France in 1795.

In the 1790s slaves in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) staged a revolt, led by François Dominique Toussaint Louverture and others. The revolt ended slavery in Saint-Domingue. With France in upheaval during the French Revolution (1789-1799), Toussaint was able to take control of the island. In 1801 he captured the neighboring colony of Santo Domingo and ended slavery there. Although French forces later defeated Toussaint, France had lost interest in its New World possessions. Haiti declared its independence in 1804. In 1809 Spain regained control of Santo Domingo.

After 1814, however, the Spanish administration became increasingly tyrannical, and in 1821 the Dominicans rose in revolt, proclaiming their independence. It was short-lived. The following year, in 1822, Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer led his troops into the country and annexed it to Haiti, thus bringing the entire island under his control. Boyer ruled until 1844, when Dominican forces led by Juan Pablo Duarte revolted. On February 27, 1844, Santo Domingo declared its independence again and took the name República Dominicana (Dominican Republic). A constitution modeled on that of the United States was put forth in November 1844. Dominicans celebrate February 27 as their independence day.

B

A Period of Strife

The first president of the new Dominican Republic was Pedro Santana, who served for three terms between 1844 and 1861. Both his administrations and the subsequent ones were characterized by popular unrest and frequent boundary disputes with Haiti. The internal strife was most clearly discernible in the two political groups that took root within the republic: One faction advocated return to Spanish rule and the other, annexation to the United States.

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For a brief period, from 1861 to 1863, the Dominican Republic returned to Spanish rule, led by former president Santana, who hoped thereby to perpetuate himself in office. A popular revolt between 1863 and 1864 and subsequent military reverses and U.S. intervention forced the Spanish government to withdraw its forces and to annul the annexation. The second Dominican Republic was proclaimed in February 1865. Political turmoil continued, however, through the rest of the 19th century.

The government financed its military forces through huge foreign loans on which it paid exorbitant commissions and interest. In 1869 President Buenaventura Báez negotiated a treaty for the annexation of his country by the United States as a means of solving its financial problems. This treaty, though it passed the Dominican legislature, failed in the U.S. Senate because of opposition to President Ulysses S. Grant.

Other revolutions and new regimes followed until, in 1882, General Ulises Heureaux forced his way into the presidency. He dominated Dominican political life until 1899, when he was assassinated by Ramón Cáceres, who himself later became president. Although under Heureaux there was relative internal peace, his financial transactions increased the country’s foreign debt.

By 1904 foreign governments were exerting heavy pressure on the Dominican government for repayment of loans. In 1906 the Dominican government signed a 50-year treaty with the United States, turning over to the United States the administration and control of its customs department. In exchange the United States undertook to adjust the foreign financial obligations of the Dominican government. Internal disorders during the ensuing decade finally culminated in the establishment of a military government by the U.S. Marines, who occupied the country from 1916 to 1924. Control of the country was, however, gradually restored to the people, and in 1924 a constitutional government under an elected president assumed control.

C

The Trujillo Era

The outstanding political development of the subsequent period was the dictatorship established by General Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. Elected to the presidency in 1930, Trujillo forcibly eliminated all opposition, thereby acquiring absolute control of the nation. For the next 31 years, although he personally occupied the presidency only half that time (from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1943 to 1952), Trujillo presided over one of the tightest dictatorships in the world. Even when out of office, Trujillo kept an office in the presidential palace, and the leading government officials reported directly to him. After taking power he renamed Santo Domingo, the country’s capital, Ciudad Trujillo (Trujillo City) after himself.

With the military as the basis of his power, Trujillo and his family directed practically every aspect of the nation’s life, from the courts down to the pettiest bureaucrat. The national economy, while greatly expanded and modernized, was run as the dictator’s personal corporation, and the political process was completely dominated by his Dominican Party. Backed at first by the United States, Trujillo used this support to his own advantage in shoring up his power. Discontent and criticism, widespread especially after World War II ended in 1945, were met with terror and self-serving propaganda.

During Trujillo’s years in power, however, considerable material progress was made. Many new hospitals and housing projects were finished, a pension plan was established, and public health facilities, harbors, and roads were improved. A boundary dispute with neighboring Haiti, going back to 1844, was settled in 1935. Trujillo repaid the country’s foreign debt by 1947, and in 1941 the U.S. government terminated its administration of the Dominican customs.

In 1948 the Dominican Republic became a charter member of the Organization of American States (OAS), which in subsequent years frequently condemned the Trujillo regime both for interference in the internal affairs of neighboring countries and “flagrant and widespread violations of human rights.” OAS criticism culminated in 1960 in a resolution calling for severance of diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic; the United States did so shortly afterward. These external pressures were coupled with growing internal resistance to the regime. The regime’s difficulties were intensified by an economic crisis, which was brought on by heavy expenditures on armaments, large sums sent abroad by the Trujillos, and a boycott imposed by the OAS on certain goods. The Trujillo era ended with the dictator’s assassination on May 26, 1961.

D

Democracy Restored—and Toppled

President Joaquín Balaguer had assumed office in 1960 as a Trujillo puppet. He began the ticklish process of dismantling the dictatorship. Political parties were allowed to organize and exiles began to return home. Opposition groups, however, rallied against Balaguer, and in January 1962 he was overthrown by the military.

In December 1962 the Dominican Republic held its first free election in nearly four decades. Juan Bosch, a returned exile, won by a wide margin and was inaugurated early in 1963. He designed a program to push economic development, bring about fundamental social reforms, and give the country democratic freedoms. Almost immediately, opposition to his regime began to develop. Bosch was criticized as being too tolerant of communist groups and supporters of Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro, and the republic’s business community felt threatened by changes in the country’s economic policy. In September 1963 Bosch was deposed by a military coup. The leaders of the coup installed a three-man civilian junta to run the country. To indicate disapproval of the coup, the United States withheld recognition until the new regime promised to hold elections by 1965.

E

The United States Intervenes

Throughout 1964 restlessness within the country was manifested by strikes and sabotage and by conflicts within the junta. In 1965 a group within the army rebelled against the government with the avowed purpose of restoring Bosch as president. Air force and navy elements opposed the insurgents, and Santo Domingo became the battleground of a civil war. The United States landed troops, at first under the guise of protecting American citizens and other foreign nationals in Santo Domingo. Later, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson defended the intervention by claiming that communist elements were attempting to take control of the rebel movement.

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