Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina The Dictator of the Dominican Republic

Born on October 24, 1891 in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. His parents were poor and of mixed race (european/black).

At 27, he joins the National Police. Trujillo was trained by the US military when they occupied the Dominican Republic. Quickly rose in ranks as an Officer and at this time, he met many influential people and created a chain of allies. Between 1919 and 1925, he rose from Lieutenant to Commanding Colonel of the National Police.

Trujillo was the head of the Military for Horacio Vásquez, who was President at the time. In 1930, Trujillo along with the US government got rid of Vásquez. After this revolution, Trujillo became President. After his inauguration, the Congress proclaimed the “Age of Trujillo.”

Trujillo was President from 1930 until 1938 and from 1942 until 1952 Trujillo was President from 1930 until 1938 and from 1942 until 1952. He was also Minister of Foreign Relations from 1953 to 1961. Even when he was not the President nor the Minister of Foreign Relations, he was the Dictator of the Dominican Republic. Trujillo’s flag during his presidency.

When he was President, Trujillo the political party “El Partido Dominicano” that controlled the politics of the Dominican Republic for three decades. During the Age of Trujillo, the Dominican economy had the most stability, however the citizens had no political freedom. All Dominicans had to have a Photograph of Trujillo in their homes and had to include him in their prayers.

Trujillo used his position in the military to obtain and maintain his power. He used the “Policía Secreta” as spies in the Dominican Republic and many other countries. When the government of Haiti found out that they were being spied on by Trujillo, the Haitians killed the spies. In retaliation, Trujillo murdered 20,000 Haitians en 1937.

There were many citizens that were against the atrocities of Trujillo The Mirabal Sisters, better known as “Las mariposas” (the butterflies), were three activists that were against Trujillo’s dictatorship. They were four sisters from Ojo de Agua, Dominican Republic. They fought against the governments injustices by informing the public about what was really happening in the country.

The Mirabal sisters were some of the most influential revolutionists during Trujillo’s Regime. Trujillo had them murdered The sisters were part of an underground movement against Trujillo’s government. Patria Minerva Maria Teresa “Mate”

The Mirabal Sisters are martyrs in their country. They were so influential that the author, Julia Álvarez wrote a novel about their lives.

Assassinating Trujillo took a long time. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in the USA helped the Dominicans plan the death of Trujillo in 1961. The weapons had to come from outside the country because they could not count on the weapons of the Dominican Military. The CIA started sending weapons to Dominican Republic in 1960.