History of the Dominican Republic

Arrival of Christopher Columbus.

The recorded history of the Dominican Republic be-gan on 5 December 1492 when the European navigatorChristopher Columbus happened upon a large island inthe region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later cameto be known as the Caribbean. It was inhabited by theTaíno, an Arawakan people, who variously called theirisland Ayiti, Bohio, or Quisqueya (Kiskeya). Columbuspromptly claimed the island for the Spanish Crown, nam-ing it La Isla Española (“the Spanish Island”), later La-tinized to Hispaniola.

1 Pre-Spanish history

Main article: Chiefdoms of HispaniolaThe Taíno people called the island Quisqueya (mother

Chiefdoms of Hispaniola

of all lands) and Ayiti (land of high mountains). At thetime of Columbus arrival in 1492, the island’s territoryconsisted of five chiefdoms: Marién, Maguá, Maguana,Jaragua, and Higüey. These were ruled respectively by

tribal chiefs Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bo-hechío, and Cayacoa.

2 Spanish colony: 1st period 1492–1795

Main article: Captaincy General of Santo Domingo

2.1 Arrival of the Spanish

Christopher Columbus reached the island of Hispañolaon his first voyage, in December 1492.On Columbus’s second voyage in 1493 the colony of LaIsabela was built on the northeast shore. Isabela nearlyfailed because of hunger and disease. In 1496 SantoDomingo was built and became the new capital, and re-mains the oldest continuously inhabited European city inthe Americas. [1][2]

2.2 Sixteenth century: Taino decimation& African enslavement

Hundreds of thousands Tainos living on the island wereenslaved to work in gold mines. As a consequence of op-pression, forced labor, hunger, disease, and mass killings,by 1535, only 60,000 were still alive.[3] In 1501, theSpanish monarchs, Ferdinand I and Isabella, first grantedpermission to the colonists of the Caribbean to importAfrican slaves, which began arriving to the island in 1503.These African importees have had the most dominantracial influence, and their culture has an influence secondonly to that of Europe on the political and cultural charac-ter of the modern Dominican Republic. In 1510, the firstsizable shipment, consisting of 250 Black Ladinos, ar-rived in Hispaniola from Spain. Eight years later African-born slaves arrived in theWest Indies. The Colony of “LaEspañola” was organized as the Royal Audiencia of SantoDomingo in 1511. Sugar cane was introduced to Hispan-iola from the Canary Islands, and the first sugar mill inthe NewWorld was established in 1516, on Hispaniola.[4]The need for a labor force to meet the growing demandsof sugar cane cultivation led to an exponential increase inthe importation of slaves over the following two decades.The sugar mill owners soon formed a new colonial elite,and convinced the Spanish king to allow them to elect the

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2 2 SPANISH COLONY: 1ST PERIOD 1492–1795

members of the Real Audiencia from their ranks. Poorercolonists subsisted by hunting the herds of wild cattle thatroamed throughout the island and selling their hides.The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred inSanto Domingo during 1522, when slaves led an upris-ing in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colón,son of Christopher Columbus. Many of these insurgentsmanaged to escape to the mountains where they formedindependent maroon communities.While sugar cane dramatically increased Spain’s earn-ings on the island, large numbers of the newly importedslaves fled into the nearly impassable mountain rangesin the island’s interior, joining the growing communitiesof cimarrónes—literally, 'wild animals’. By the 1530s,cimarrón bands had become so numerous that in ru-ral areas the Spaniards could only safely travel outsidetheir plantations in large armed groups. Beginning inthe 1520s, the Caribbean Sea was raided by increasinglynumerous French pirates. In 1541 Spain authorized theconstruction of Santo Domingo’s fortified wall, and in1560 decided to restrict sea travel to enormous, well-armed convoys. In another move, which would destroyHispaniola's sugar industry, in 1561 Havana, more strate-gically located in relation to the Gulf Stream, was se-lected as the designated stopping point for the merchantflotas, which had a royal monopoly on commerce withthe Americas. In 1564, the island’s main inland citiesSantiago de los Caballeros and Concepción de la Vegawere destroyed by an earthquake. In the 1560s English pi-rates joined the French in regularly raiding Spanish ship-ping in the Americas.With the conquest of the American mainland, Hispan-iola quickly declined. Most Spanish colonists left for thesilver-mines of Mexico and Peru, while new immigrantsfrom Spain bypassed the island. Agriculture dwindled,new imports of slaves ceased, and white colonists, freeblacks, and slaves alike lived in poverty, weakening theracial hierarchy and aiding intermixing, resulting in a pop-ulation of predominantly mixed Spaniard, African, andTaíno descent. Except for the city of Santo Domingo,which managed to maintain some legal exports, Domini-can ports were forced to rely on contraband trade, which,along with livestock, became the sole source of livelihoodfor the island dwellers. In 1586, Sir Francis Drake cap-tured the city of Santo Domingo, collecting a ransom forits return to Spanish rule.In 1595 the Spanish, frustrated by the twenty-year re-bellion of their Dutch subjects, closed their home portsto rebel shipping from the Netherlands cutting them offfrom the critical salt supplies necessary for their her-ring industry. The Dutch responded by sourcing newsalt supplies from Spanish America where colonists weremore than happy to trade. So large numbers of Dutchtraders/pirates joined their English and French brethrenon the Spanish main.

2.3 Seventeenth century: French en-croachment

In 1605, Spain was infuriated that Spanish settlements onthe northern and western coasts of the island were carry-ing out large scale and illegal trade with the Dutch, whowere at that time fighting a war of independence againstSpain in Europe, and the English, a very recent enemystate, and so decided to forcibly resettle their inhabitantscloser to the city of SantoDomingo.[5] This action, knownas the Devastaciones de Osorio, proved disastrous; morethan half of the resettled colonists died of starvation ordisease, over 100,000 cattle were abandoned, and manyslaves escaped.[6] Five of the existing thirteen settlementson the islandwere brutally razed by Spanish troops -manyof the inhabitants fought, escaped to the jungle, or fledto the safety of passing Dutch ships. The settlements ofLa Yaguana, and Bayaja, on the west and north coastsrespectively of modern day Haiti were burned, as werethe settlements of Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata on thenorth coast and San Juan de laMaguana in the south west-ern area of the modern day Dominican Republic. Frenchand English buccaneers took advantage of Spain’s retreatinto a corner of Hispaniola to settle the island of Tortuga,off the northwest coast of Hispaniola, in 1629. Franceestablished direct control in 1640, reorganizing it into anofficial colony and expanding to the north coast of His-paniola itself, whose western end Spain ceded to Francein 1697 under the Treaty of Ryswick. In 1655, OliverCromwell dispatched a fleet, commanded by Admiral SirWilliam Penn, to conquer Santo Domingo. After meetingheavy resistance, the English retreated, taking the islandof Jamaica instead.

2.4 Eighteenth century: Colonial declineand Haitian revolution

The House of Bourbon replaced the House of Habsburgin Spain in 1700 and introduced economic reforms thatgradually began to revive trade in Santo Domingo. Thecrown progressively relaxed the rigid controls and re-strictions on commerce between Spain and the coloniesand among the colonies. The last flotas sailed in 1737;the monopoly port system was abolished shortly there-after. By the middle of the century, the population wasbolstered by emigration from the Canary Islands, reset-tling the northern part of the colony and planting tobaccoin the Cibao Valley, and importation of slaves was re-newed. The population of Santo Domingo grew fromabout 6,000 in 1737 to approximately 125,000 in 1790.Of this number, about 40,000 were white landowners,about 25,000 were mulatto freedmen, and some 60,000were slaves. However, it remained poor and neglected,particularly in contrast with its western, French neighborSaint-Domingue, which became the wealthiest colony inthe New World and had half a million inhabitants.[7] Asrestrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial

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elites of St. Domingue offered the principal market forSanto Domingo’s exports of beef, hides, mahogany, andtobacco.With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution in 1791, therich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy fledthe island, while most of the rural hateros (cattle ranch-ers) remained, even though they lost their principal mar-ket. Spain saw in the unrest an opportunity to seize all, orpart, of the western third of the island[8][9] in an allianceof convenience with the British and the rebellious slaves.But after the slaves and French reconciled, the Spanishwere defeated by the forces of the black Jacobin GeneralToussaint Louverture, and in 1795, France gained controlof the whole island under the Treaties of Basel.

3 French colony 1795–1809

In 1801, L'Ouverture arrived in Santo Domingo, pro-claiming the abolition of slavery on behalf of the FrenchRepublic. Shortly afterwards, Napoleon dispatched anarmy which subdued the whole island and ruled it for afew months. Mulattos and blacks again rose up againstthese French in October 1802 and finally defeated themin November 1803. On 1 January 1804 the victorsdeclared Saint-Domingue to be the independent repub-lic of Haiti. Even after their defeat by the Haitians, asmall French garrison remained in Santo Domingo. Slav-ery was reestablished and many of the émigré Spanishcolonists returned. In 1805, after crowning himself Em-peror, Jean-Jacques Dessalines invaded, reaching SantoDomingo before retreating in the face of a French navalsquadron. In their retreat through the Cibao, the Haitianssacked the towns of Santiago and Moca, slaughteringmost of their residents and helping to lay the foundationfor two centuries of animosity between the two countries.The French held on to the eastern part of the island, untildealt a serious blow by the Spanish inhabitants of the is-land at the Battle of Palo Hincado on November 7, 1808.With help from the British Navy, the Spanish lay siege tothe city of Santo Domingo. The French in the besiegedcity finally capitulated on July 9, 1809, initiating a twelve-year period of Spanish rule, known in Dominican historyas "the Foolish Spain.”

4 Haitian occupation 1821–44

Main article: Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo

The twenty-two-year Haitian occupation that followed isrecalled by Dominicans as a period of brutal military rule,though the reality is more complex. It led to large-scaleland expropriations and failed efforts to force productionof export crops, impose military services, restrict the useof the Spanish language, and eliminate traditional cus-

toms such as cockfighting. It reinforced Dominicans’ per-ceptions of themselves as different from Haitians in “lan-guage, race, religion and domestic customs.”[10] Yet, thiswas also a period that definitively ended slavery as an in-stitution in the eastern part of the island.Haiti’s constitution forbade whites from owning land, andthe major landowning families were forcibly deprived oftheir properties. Most emigrated to the Spanish coloniesof Cuba and Puerto Rico, or to independent Gran Colom-bia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials,who acquired their lands. The Haitians, who associatedthe Catholic Church with the French slave-masters whohad exploited them before independence, confiscated allchurch property, deported all foreign clergy, and severedthe ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican. SantoDomingo’s university, the oldest in the Western Hemi-sphere, lacking students, teachers, and resources, closeddown. In order to receive diplomatic recognition fromFrance, Haiti was forced to pay an indemnity of 150 mil-lion francs to the former French colonists, which was sub-sequently lowered to 60million francs, and Haiti imposedheavy taxes on the eastern part of the island. Since Haitiwas unable to adequately provision its army, the occupy-ing forces largely survived by commandeering or confis-cating food and supplies at gunpoint.Attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the systemof communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), whichhad arisen with the ranching economy, and newly eman-cipated slaves resented being forced to grow cash cropsunder Boyer’s Code Rural.[11] In rural areas, the Haitianadministration was usually too inefficient to enforce itsown laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that theeffects of the occupation weremost acutely felt, and it wasthere that the movement for independence originated.

5 Independence: first period 1844–61

In July 16, 1838 Juan Pablo Duarte together with Pe-dro Alejandrino Pina, Juan Isidro Pérez, Felipe Alfau,Benito González, Félix María Ruiz, Juan NepumocenoRavelo and Jacinto de la Concha founded a secret soci-ety called La Trinitaria to win independence from Haiti.A short time later, they were joined by Ramón MatíasMella, and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez. In 1843 theyallied with a Haitian movement in overthrowing Boyer.Because they had revealed themselves as revolutionariesworking for Dominican independence, the new Haitianpresident, Charles Rivière-Hérard, exiled or imprisonedthe leading Trinitarios (Trinitarians). At the same time,Buenaventura Báez, an Azua mahogany exporter anddeputy in the Haitian National Assembly, was negoti-ating with the French Consul-General for the establish-ment of a French protectorate. In an uprising timed topreempt Báez, on February 27, 1844, the Trinitarios de-

4 6 SPANISH COLONY: 3RD PERIOD 1861–65

Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez

clared independence from Haiti, backed by Pedro San-tana, a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who com-manded a private army of peons who worked on his es-tates.

5.1 First Republic

The Dominican Republic’s first constitution was adoptedon November 6, 1844 . It featured a presidential formof government with many liberal tendencies, but it wasmarred by Article 210, imposed by Pedro Santana onthe constitutional assembly by force, giving him the privi-leges of a dictatorship until the war of independence wasover. These privileges not only served him to win thewar, but also allowed him to persecute, execute and driveinto exile his political opponents, among which Duartewas the most important. During the first decade of in-dependence, Haïti mounted five invasions to reconquerthe eastern part of the island: in 1844, 1845, 1849, 1853and 1855-56. Although each was repulsed, Santana usedthe ever-present threat of Haitian invasion as a justifica-tion for consolidating dictatorial powers. For the Domini-can elite—mostly landowners, merchants and priests—the threat of re-conquest by more populous Haiti was suf-ficient to seek annexation by an outside power. Offer-ing the deepwater harbor of Samaná bay as bait, over thenext two decades, negotiations were made with Britain,

France, the United States and Spain to declare a protec-torate over the country.Without adequate roads, the regions of the DominicanRepublic developed in isolation from one another. Inthe south, the economy was dominated by cattle-ranching(particularly in the southeastern savannah) and cuttingmahogany and other hard woods for export. This re-gion retained a semi-feudal character-with little commer-cial agriculture, the hacienda as the dominant social unitand the majority of the population living at a subsistencelevel. In the Cibao Valley, the nation’s richest farmland,peasants supplemented their subsistence crops by grow-ing tobacco for export, mainly to Germany. Tobaccorequired less land than cattle ranching and was mainlygrown by smallholders, who relied on itinerant traders totransport their crops to Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi.Santana antagonized the Cibao farmers, enriching him-self and his supporters at their expense by resorting tomultiple peso printings that allowed him to buy theircrops for a fraction of their value. In 1848, he wasforced to resign, and was succeeded by his vice-president,Manuel Jimenes. After returning to lead Dominicanforces against a new Haitian invasion in 1849, Santanamarched on Santo Domingo, deposing Jimenes. At hisbehest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as Presi-dent, but Báez was unwilling to serve as Santana’s puppet,challenging his role as the country’s acknowledged mili-tary leader. In 1853 Santana was elected president for hissecond term, forcing Báez into exile. Three years later,after repulsing the last Haitian invasion, he negotiated atreaty leasing a portion of Samaná Peninsula to a U.S.company; popular opposition forced him to abdicate, en-abling Báez to return and seize power. With the treasurydepleted, Báez printed eighteen million uninsured pesos,purchasing the 1857 tobacco crop with this currency andexporting it for hard cash at immense profit to himself andhis followers. The Cibanian tobacco planters, who wereruined when inflation ensued, revolted, recalling Santanafrom exile to lead their rebellion. After a year of civilwar, Santana seized Santo Domingo and installed him-self as President.

6 Spanish colony: 3rd period1861–65

Pedro Santana inherited a bankrupt government on thebrink of collapse. Having failed in his initial bids tosecure annexation by the U.S. or France, Santana initi-ated negotiations with Queen Isabella II of Spain and theCaptain-General of Cuba to have the island reconvertedinto a Spanish colony. The American Civil War renderedtheUnited States incapable of enforcing theMonroeDoc-trine. In Spain, Prime Minister Don Leopoldo O'Donnelladvocated renewed colonial expansion, waging a cam-paign in northern Morocco that conquered the city of

7.1 Second Republic 5

Tetuan. In March 1861, Santana officially restored theDominican Republic to Spain.

6.1 War of Restoration

This move was widely rejected and on August 16, 1863,a national war of restoration began in Santiago, wherethe rebels established a provisional government. Span-ish troops reoccupied the town, but the rebels fled to themountains along the ill-defined Haitian border. HaitianPresident Fabre Geffrard provided the Dominican rebelswith sanctuary and arms, sending a detachment of hispresidential guards (the Tirailleurs) to fight alongsidethem. Santana initially was named Capitan-General ofthe new Spanish province, but it soon became obviousthat Spanish authorities planned to deprive him of hispower, leading him to resign in 1862. Condemned todeath by the provisional government, Santana died un-der mysterious circumstances in 1864, and is widelybelieved to have committed suicide. Restrictions ontrade, discrimination against the mulatto majority, Spainintended to reimpose slavery, and an unpopular cam-paign by the new Spanish Archbishop against extramari-tal unions, which were widespread after decades of aban-donment by the Catholic Church, all fed resentment ofSpanish rule. Confined to the major towns, the Spanisharmy was unable to defeat the guerillas or contain the in-surrection, and suffered heavy losses due to Yellow Fever.Spanish colonial authorities encouraged Queen Isabella IIto abandon the island, seeing the occupation as a nonsen-sical waste of troops and money.However, the rebels were in a state of political disarray,and proved unable to present a cohesive set of demands.The first president of the provisional government, PepilloSalcedo (allied with Báez) was deposed by General Gas-par Polanco in September 1864, who, in turn, was de-posed by General Antonio Pimentel three months later.The rebels formalized their provisional rule by holdinga national convention in February 1865, which enacteda new constitution, but the new government exerted lit-tle authority over the various regional guerrilla caudillos,who were largely independent of one another. Unable toextract concessions from the disorganized rebels, whenthe American CivilWar ended, inMarch 1865, Queen Is-abella annulled the annexation and independence was re-stored, with the last Spanish troops departing by July.[12]

7 Independence: second period1865–1916

7.1 Second Republic

By the time the Spanish departed, most of the maintowns lay in ruins and the island was divided amongseveral dozen caudillos. José María Cabral controlled

most of Barahona and the southwest with the support ofBáez’s mahogany-exporting partners, while cattle rancherCesáreo Guillermo assembled a coalition of former San-tanista generals in the southeast, and Gregorio Luperóncontrolled the north coast. From the Spanish withdrawalto 1879, there were twenty-one changes of governmentand at least fifty military uprisings.[13]

In the course of these conflicts, two parties emerged.The Partido Rojo (Literally “Red Party”) representedthe southern cattle ranching latifundia and mahogany-exporting interests, as well as the artisans and laborers ofSanto Domingo, and was dominated by Báez, who con-tinued to seek annexation by a foreign power. The Par-tido Azul (literally “Blue Party”), led by Luperón, repre-sented the tobacco farmers and merchants of the Cibaoand Puerto Plata and was nationalist and liberal in ori-entation. During these wars, the small and corrupt na-tional army was far outnumbered by militias organizedand maintained by local caudillos who set themselves upas provincial governors. These militias were filled outby poor farmers or landless plantation workers impressedinto service who usually took up banditry when not fight-ing in revolution.

Reception of American commissioners by President Báez, 1871.

Within a month of the nationalist victory, Cabral, whosetroops were the first to enter Santo Domingo, ousted Pi-mentel, but a few weeks later General Guillermo led arebellion in support of Báez, forcing Cabral to resignand allowing Báez to retake the presidency in October.Báez was overthrown by the Cibao farmers under Lu-perón, leader of the Partido Azul, the following spring,but Luperón’s allies turned on each other and Cabral re-installed himself as President in a coup in 1867. Afterbringing several Azules (“Blues”) into his cabinet the Ro-jos (“Reds”) revolted, returning Báez to power. In 1869,Báez negotiated a treaty of annexation with the UnitedStates.[14] Supported by U.S. Secretary of State WilliamSeward, who hoped to establish a Navy base at Samaná, in1871 the treaty was defeated in the United States Senatethrough the efforts of abolitionist Senator Charles Sum-ner.[15]

In 1874, the Rojo governor of Puerto Plata, IgnacioMariaGonzález Santín, staged a coup in support of an Azul re-

6 7 INDEPENDENCE: SECOND PERIOD 1865–1916

bellion, but was deposed by the Azules two years later.In February 1876, Ulises Espaillat, backed by Luperón,was named President, but ten months later troops loyalto Báez returned him to power. One year a new rebel-lion allowed González to seize power, only to be deposedby Cesáreo Guillermo in September 1878, who was inturn deposed by Luperón in December 1879. Ruling thecountry from his hometown of Puerto Plata, enjoyingan economic boom due to increased tobacco exports toGermany, Luperón enacted a new constitution setting atwo-year presidential term limit and providing for directelections, suspended the semi-formal system of bribesand initiated construction on the nation’s first railroad,linking the town of La Vega with the port of Sánchez onSamaná Bay.The Ten Years’ War in Cuba brought Cuban sugarplanters to the country in search of new lands and secu-rity from the insurrection that freed their slaves and de-stroyed their property. Most settled in the southeasterncoastal plain, and, with assistance fromLuperón’s govern-ment, built the nation’s first mechanized sugar mills. Theywere later joined by Italians, Germans, Puerto Ricans andAmericans in forming the nucleus of the Dominican sugarbourgeoisie, marrying into prominent families to solid-ify their social position. Disruptions in global produc-tion caused by the Ten Years’ War, the American CivilWar and the Franco-Prussian War allowed the Domini-can Republic to become a major sugar exporter. Overthe following two decades, sugar surpassed tobacco as theleading export, with the former fishing hamlets of San Pe-dro deMacorís and La Romana transformed into thrivingports. To meet their need for better transportation, over300 miles of private rail-lines were built by and servingthe sugar plantations by 1897.[16] An 1884 slump in pricesled to a wage freeze, and a subsequent labor shortage wasfilled by migrant workers from the Leeward Islands—theVirgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, and Antigua(referred to byDominicans as cocolos).[17] These English-speaking blacks were often victims of racism, but manyremained in the country, finding work as stevedores andin railroad construction and sugar refineries.

7.2 Ulises Heureaux and U.S. protectorate

Allying with the emerging sugar interests, the dictator-ship of General Ulises Heureaux, who was popularlyknown as Lilís, brought unprecedented stability to theisland through iron-fisted rule that lasted almost twodecades. The son of a Haitian father and a mother fromSt. Thomas, Lilís was distinguished by his blackness frommost Dominican political leaders, with the exception ofLuperón. He served as President 1882–1883, 1887, and1889–1899, wielding power through a series of puppetpresidents when not occupying the office. Incorporatingboth Rojos and Azules into his government, he developedan extensive network of spies and informants to crush po-tential opposition. His government undertook a number

of major infrastructure projects, including the electrifica-tion of Santo Domingo, the beginning of telephone andtelegraph service, the construction of a bridge over theOzama River, and the completion of a single-track rail-road linking Santiago and Puerto Plata, financed by theAmsterdam-based Westendorp Co.[18]

Lilís’s dictatorship was dependent upon heavy borrow-ing from European and American banks to enrich him-self, stabilize the existing debt, strengthen the bribe sys-tem, pay for the army, finance infrastructural develop-ment and help set up sugar mills. However, sugar pricesunderwent a steep decline in the last two decades of the19th century. When the Westendorp Co. went bankruptin 1893, he was forced to mortgage the nation’s customsfees, the main source of government revenues, to a NewYork financial firm called the San Domingo Improve-ment Co. (SDIC), which took over its railroad contractsand the claims of its European bondholders in exchangefor two loans, one of $1.2 million and the other of £2million.[19] As the growing public debt made it impossi-ble to maintain his political machine, Heureaux relied onsecret loans from the SDIC, sugar planters and local mer-chants. In 1897, with his government virtually bankrupt,Lilís printed five million uninsured pesos, known as pa-peletas de Lilís, ruining most Dominican merchants andinspiring a conspiracy that ended in his death. In 1899,when Lilís was assassinated by the Cibao tobacco mer-chants whom he had been begging for a loan, the na-tional debt was over $35 million, fifteen times the annualbudget.[20]

The six years after Lilís’s death witnessed four revolu-tions and five different presidents.[21] The Cibao politi-cians who had conspired against Heureaux—Juan IsidroJimenes, the nation’s wealthiest tobacco planter, andGen-eral Horacio Vásquez—after being named President andVice-President, quickly fell out over the division of spoilsamong their supporters, the Jimenistas and Horacistas.Troops loyal to Vásquez overthrew Jimenes in 1903, butVásquez was deposed by Jimenista General AlejandroWoss y Gil, who seized power for himself. The Ji-menistas toppled his government, but their leader, CarlosMorales, refused to return power to Jimenes, allying withthe Horacistas, and he soon faced a new revolt by his be-trayed Jimenista allies.With the nation on the brink of defaulting, France, Ger-many, Italy and the Netherlands sent warships to SantoDomingo to press the claims of their nationals. In orderto preempt military intervention, United States presidentTheodore Roosevelt introduced the Roosevelt Corollaryto the Monroe Doctrine, declaring that the United Stateswould assume responsibility for ensuring that the nationsof Latin America met their financial obligations. In Jan-uary 1905, under this corollary, the United States as-sumed administration of the Dominican Republic’s cus-toms. Under the terms of this agreement, a Receiver-General, appointed by the U.S. President, kept 55% oftotal revenues to pay off foreign claimants, while remit-

7

ting 45% to the Dominican government. After two years,the nation’s external debt was reduced from $40 millionto $17 million.[22] In 1907, this agreement was convertedinto a treaty, transferring control over customs receiver-ship to the U.S. Bureau of Insular Affairs and providinga loan of $20 million from a New York bank as paymentfor outstanding claims, making the United States the Do-minican Republic’s only foreign creditor.[23]

The Guardia republicana, set up by President Cáceres in 1907

In 1906, Morales resigned, and Horacista vice-presidentRamon Cáceres became President. After suppressing arebellion in the northwest by Jimenista General DesiderioArias, his government brought political stability and re-newed economic growth, aided by new American invest-ment in sugar industry. However, his assassination in1911, for which Morales and Arias were at least indi-rectly responsible, once again plunged the republic intochaos. For two months, executive power was held by acivilian junta dominated by the chief of the army, Gen-eral Alfredo Victoria. The surplus of more than 4 mil-lion pesos left by Cáceres was quickly spent to suppressa series of insurrections.[24] He forced Congress to electhis uncle, Eladio Victoria, as President, but the latter wassoon replaced by the neutral Archbishop Adolfo Nouel.After four months, Nouel resigned, and was succeeded byHoracista Congressman José Bordas Valdez, who alignedwithArias and the Jimenistas tomaintain power. In 1913,Vásquez returned from exile in Puerto Rico to lead a newrebellion. In June 1914 U.S. President Woodrow Wil-son issued an ultimatum for the two sides to end hostil-ities and agree on a new president, or have the UnitedStates impose one. After the provisional presidency ofRamón Báez Machado, Jimenes was elected in October,and soon faced new demands, including the appointmentof an American director of public works and financialadvisor and the creation of a new military force com-manded by U.S. officers. The Dominican Congress re-jected these demands and began impeachment proceed-ings against Jimenes. The United States occupied Haitiin July 1915, with the implicit threat that the Domini-can Republic might be next. Jimenes’s Minister of WarDesiderio Arias staged a coup d'état in April 1916, pro-viding a pretext for the United States to occupy the Do-

minican Republic.

8 First United States occupation:1916-1924

Main article: United States occupation of the DominicanRepublic (1916–24)

United States Marines landed in Santo Domingo on May15, 1916. Prior to their landing, Jimenes resigned, refus-ing to exercise an office 'regained with foreign bullets’.[25]On June 1, Marines occupied Monte Cristi and PuertoPlata, and, after a brief campaign, tookArias’s strongholdSantiago by the beginning of July. The DominicanCongress elected Dr. Francisco Henríquez y Carvajalas President, but in November, after he refused to meetthe U.S. demands, Wilson announced the imposition ofa U.S. military government, with Rear Admiral HarryShepard Knapp as Military Governor. The Americanmilitary government implemented many of the institu-tional reforms carried out in the United States duringthe Progressive Era, including reorganization of the taxsystem, accounting and administration, expansion of pri-mary education, the creation of a nation-wide police forceto unify the country, and the construction of a nationalsystem of roads, including a highway linking Santiago toSanto Domingo.

U.S. Marines in action during the occupation

Despite the reforms, virtually all Dominicans resented theloss of their sovereignty to foreigners, few of whom spokeSpanish or displayed much real concern for the nation’swelfare, and the military government, unable to win thebacking of any prominent Dominican political leaders,imposed strict censorship laws and imprisoned critics ofthe occupation. In 1920, U.S. authorities enacted a LandRegistration Act, which broke up the terrenos comunerosand dispossessed thousands of peasants who lacked for-mal titles to the lands they occupied, while legalizingfalse titles held by the sugar companies. In the south-east, dispossessed peasants formed armed bands, calledgavilleros, waging a guerrilla war that lasted the dura-tion of the occupation, with most of the fighting in HatoMayor and El Seibo. At any given time, theMarines faced

8 9 THE RISE AND FALL OF TRUJILLO 1924–65

eight to twelve such bands each composed of several hun-dred followers. The guerrillas benefited from a supe-rior knowledge of the terrain and the support of the localpopulation, and the Marines relied on increasingly brutalcounterinsurgency methods. However, rivalries betweenvarious gavilleros often led them to fight against one an-other, and even cooperate with occupation authorities. Inaddition, cultural schisms between the campesinos (i.e.rural people, or peasants) and city dwellers prevented theguerillas from cooperating with the urban middle-classnationalist movement. In the San Juan valley, near theborder with Haïti, followers of a Vodu faith healer namedLiborio resisted the occupation and aided the Haitian ca-cos in their war against the Americans, until his death in1922. The principal legacy of the occupation was the cre-ation of a National Police Force, used by the Marines tohelp fight against the various guerillas, and later the mainvehicle for the rise of Rafael Trujillo.In what was referred to as la danza de los millones,with the destruction of European sugar-beet farms dur-ing World War I, sugar prices rose to their highest levelin history, from $5.50 in 1914 to $22.50 per pound in1920. Dominican sugar exports increased from 122,642tons in 1916 to 158,803 tons in 1920, earning a record$45.3 million.[26] However, European beet sugar produc-tion quickly recovered, which, coupled with the growthof global sugar cane production, glutted the world mar-ket, causing prices to plummet to only $2.00 by the endof 1921. This crisis drovemany of the local sugar plantersinto bankruptcy, allowing large U.S. conglomerates todominate the sugar industry. By 1926, only twenty-onemajor estates remained, occupying an estimated 520,000acres (2,100 km2). Of these, twelve U.S.-owned compa-nies owned more than 81% of this total area.[27] Whilethe foreign planters who had built the sugar industry in-tegrated into Dominican society, these corporations ex-patriated their profits to the United States. As pricesdeclined, sugar estates increasingly relied on Haitian la-borers. This was facilitated by the military government’sintroduction of regulated contract labor, the growth ofsugar production in the southwest, near the Haitian bor-der, and a series of strikes by cocolo cane cutters orga-nized by the Universal Negro Improvement Association.In the 1920 United States presidential electionRepublican candidate Warren Harding criticizedthe occupation and promised eventual U.S. withdrawal.While Jimenes and Vásquez sought concessions from theUnited States, the collapse of sugar prices discredited themilitary government and gave rise to a new nationalistpolitical organization, the Dominican National Union,led by Dr. Henríquez from exile in Santiago de Cuba,Cuba, which demanded unconditional withdrawal. Theyformed alliances with frustrated nationalists in PuertoRico and Cuba, as well as critics of the occupation inthe United States itself, most notably The Nation andthe Haiti-San Domingo Independence Society. In May1922, a Dominican lawyer, Francisco Peynado, went to

Washington, D.C. and negotiated what became knownas the Hughes–Peynado Plan. It stipulated immediateestablishment of a provisional government pendingelections, approval of all laws enacted by the U.S.military government, and the continuation of the 1907treaty until all the Dominican Republic’s foreign debtshad been settled. On October 1, Juan Bautista Vicini,the son of a wealthy Italian immigrant sugar planter, wasnamed provisional president, and the process of U.S.withdrawal began.

9 The rise and fall of Trujillo 1924–65

9.1 Horacio Vásquez 1924–30

The occupation ended in 1924, with a democraticallyelected government under president Vásquez. TheVásquez administration brought great social and eco-nomic prosperity to the country and respected politicaland civil rights. Rising export commodity prices and gov-ernment borrowing allowed the funding of public worksprojects and the expansion and modernization of SantoDomingo.[28]

Though considered to be a relatively principled man,Vásquez had risen amidmany years of political infighting.In a move directed against his chief opponent FedericoVelasquez, in 1927 Vásquez agreed to have his term ex-tended from four to six years. The change was approvedby the Dominican Congress, but was of debatable legal-ity; “its enactment effectively invalidated the constitutionof 1924 that Vásquez had previously sworn to uphold.”[28]Vásquez also removed the prohibition against presiden-tial reelection, and postulated himself for another termin elections to be held in May 1930. However, his ac-tions had by then led to doubts that the contest couldbe fair.[28] Furthermore, these elections took place amideconomic problems, as the Great Depression had droppedsugar prices to less than one dollar per pound.In February, a revolution was proclaimed in Santiago by alawyer named Rafael Estrella Ureña. When the comman-der of the Guardia Nacional Dominicana (the new desig-nation of the armed force created under the Occupation),Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, ordered his troops toremain in their barracks, the sick and aging Vásquez wasforced into exile and Estrella proclaimed provisional pres-ident. In May, Trujillo was elected with 95% of the vote,having used the army to harass and intimidate electoralpersonnel and potential opponents. After his inaugura-tion in August, at his request, the Dominican Congressproclaimed the beginning of the 'Era of Trujillo'.[28]

9.2 The era of Trujillo 1931–61 9

9.2 The era of Trujillo 1931–61

Trujillo established absolute political control, while pro-moting economic development—from which mainly heand his supporters benefitted—and severe repression ofdomestic human rights.[29] Trujillo treated his politicalparty, El Partido Dominicano (The Dominican Party), asa rubber-stamp for his decisions. The true source of hispower was the Guardia Nacional—larger, better armed,and more centrally controlled than any military force inthe nation’s history. By disbanding the regional mili-tias, the Marines eliminated the main source of poten-tial opposition, giving the Guard “a virtual monopoly onpower”.[30] By 1940, Dominican military spending was21% of the national budget.[31] At the same time, he de-veloped an elaborate system of espionage agencies. Bythe late 1950s, there were at least seven categories of in-telligence agencies, spying on each other as well as thepublic. All citizens were required to carry identifica-tion cards and good-conduct passes from the secret po-lice. Obsessed with adulation, Trujillo promoted an ex-travagant cult of personality. When a hurricane struckSanto Domingo in 1930, killing over 3,000 people, herebuilt the city and renamed it Ciudad Trujillo: “TrujilloCity"; he also renamed the country’s and the Caribbean’shighest mountain, Pico Duarte (Duarte Peak), Pico Tru-jillo. Over 1,800 statues of Trujillo were built, and allpublic works projects were required to have a plaquewith the inscription 'Era of Trujillo, Benefactor of theFatherland'.[32]

As sugar estates turned to Haiti for seasonal migrant la-bor, increasing numbers settled in the Dominican Re-public permanently. The census of 1920, conductedby the U.S. occupation government, gave a total of28,258 Haitians living in the country; by 1935 there were52,657.[33]

In 1937, Trujillo ordered the massacre of 17,000 to35,000 Haitians, the alleged justification being Haiti’ssupport for Dominican exiles plotting to overthrow hisregime. This event later became known as the ParsleyMassacre.[34] The massacre was met with internationalcriticism. The killing was the result of a new policywhich Trujillo called the 'Dominicanisation of the fron-tier'. Place names along the border were changed fromCreole and French to Spanish, the practice of Voodoowas outlawed, quotas were imposed on the percentage offoreign workers that companies could hire, and a law waspassed preventing Haitian workers from remaining afterthe sugar harvest.Although Trujillo sought to emulate GeneralissimoFrancisco Franco, he welcomed Spanish Republicanrefugees following the Spanish Civil War. During theHolocaust in the Second World War, the Dominican Re-public took in many Jews fleeing Hitler who had been re-fused entry by other countries. The Jews settled in So-sua. These decisions arose from a policy of blanquismo,closely connected with anti-Haitian xenophobia, which

sought to add more whites to the Dominican popula-tion by promoting immigration from Europe. As part ofthe Good Neighbor policy, in 1940, the U.S. State De-partment signed a treaty with Trujillo relinquishing con-trol over the nation’s customs. When the Japanese at-tacked Pearl Harbor Trujillo followed the United Statesin declaring war on the Axis powers, even though he hadopenly professed admiration for Hitler and Mussolini.During the Cold War, he maintained close ties to theUnited States, declaring himself the world’s 'Number OneAnticommunist' and becoming the first Latin AmericanPresident to sign aMutual Defense Assistance Agreementwith the United States.Trujillo and his family established a near-monopoly overthe national economy. By the time of his death, hehad accumulated a fortune of around $800 million; heand his family owned 50–60 percent of the arable land,some 700,000 acres (2,800 km2), and Trujillo-ownedbusinesses accounted for 80% of the commercial activ-ity in the capital.[35] He exploited nationalist sentiment topurchase most of the nation’s sugar plantations and re-fineries from U.S. corporations; operated monopolies onsalt, rice, milk, cement, tobacco, coffee, and insurance;owned two large banks, several hotels, port facilities, anairline and shipping line; deducted 10% of all public em-ployees’ salaries (ostensibly for his party); and received aportion of prostitution revenues.[36]WorldWar II broughtincreased demand for Dominican exports, and the 1940sand early 1950s witnessed economic growth and consid-erable expansion of the national infrastructure. Duringthis period, the capital city was transformed from merelyan administrative center to the national center of ship-ping and industry, although 'it was hardly coincidentalthat new roads often led to Trujillo’s plantations and fac-tories, and new harbors benefited Trujillo’s shipping andexport enterprises.'[37]

Mismanagement and corruption resulted in major eco-nomic problems. By the end of the 1950s, the economywas deteriorating because of a combination of overspend-ing on a festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of theregime, overspending to purchase privately owned sugarmills and electricity plants, and a decision to make a ma-jor investment in state sugar production that proved eco-nomically unsuccessful. In 1956, Trujillo’s agents in NewYork murdered Jesús María de Galíndez, a Basque ex-ile who had worked for Trujillo but who later denouncedthe Trujillo regime and caused public opinion in theUnited States to turn against Trujillo. In August 1960, theOrganization of American States (OAS) imposed diplo-matic sanctions against the Dominican Republic as a re-sult of Trujillo’s complicity in an attempt to assassinatePresident Rómulo Betancourt of Venezuela.A group of Dominican dissidents killed Trujillo in a carchase on the way to his country villa near San Cristóbalon May 30, 1961.The sanctions remained in force after Trujillo’s assas-

10 10 SECOND UNITED STATES OCCUPATION 1965–66

sination. His son Ramfis assumed de facto control, butwas deposed by his two uncles after a dispute over poten-tial liberalization of the regime. In November 1961, theTrujillo family was forced into exile, fleeing to France,and the heretofore puppet-president Joaquín Balaguer as-sumed effective power.

9.3 The post-Trujillo instability 1961–65

At the insistence of the United States, Balaguer wasforced to share power with a seven-member Council ofState, established on January 1, 1962, and includingmod-erate members of the opposition. OAS sanctions werelifted January 4, and, after an attempted coup, Balaguerresigned and went into exile on January 16. The reorga-nized Council of State, under President Rafael FilibertoBonnelly headed the Dominican government until elec-tions could be held. These elections, in December 1962,were won by Juan Bosch, a scholar and poet who hadfounded the opposition Partido Revolucionario Domini-cano (Dominican Revolutionary Party, or PRD) in ex-ile, during the Trujillo years. His leftist policies, includ-ing land redistribution, nationalization of certain foreignholdings, and attempts to bring the military under civil-ian control, antagonized the military officer corps, theCatholic hierarchy, and the upper-class, who feared 'an-other Cuba'. In September 1963 Bosch was overthrownby a right-wing military coup led by Colonel ElíasWessinand was replaced by a three-man military junta. Boschwent into exile to Puerto Rico. Afterwards a supposedlycivilian triumvirate established a de facto dictatorship.

10 Second United States occupa-tion 1965–66

Main article: United States occupation of the DominicanRepublic (1965–66)

On April 16, 1965, when growing dissatisfaction gener-ated another military rebellion on April 24, 1965 that de-manded Bosch’s restoration. The insurgents, reformistofficers and civilian combatants loyal to Bosch com-manded by Colonel Francisco Caamaño, and who calledthemselves the Constitutionalists, staged a coup, seizingthe national palace. Immediately, conservative militaryforces, led by Wessin and calling themselves Loyalists,struck backwith tank assaults and aerial bombings againstSanto Domingo.On April 28, these anti-Bosch army elements requestedU.S. military intervention and U.S. forces landed, osten-sibly to protect U.S. citizens and to evacuate U.S. andother foreign nationals. U.S. President Lyndon B. John-son, convinced of the defeat of the Loyalist forces andfearing the creation of “a second Cuba”[38] on America’sdoorstep, ordered U.S. forces to restore order. In what

was initially known as Operation Power Pack ultimately23,000 U.S. troops were ordered to the Dominican Re-public.Denied a military victory, the Constitutionalist rebelsquickly had a Constitutionalist congress elect Caamañopresident of the country. US officials countered by back-ing General Imbert. On May 7, Imbert was sworn inas president of the Government of National Reconstruc-tion. The next step in the stabilization process, as en-visioned by Washington and the OAS, was to arrangean agreement between President Caamaño and PresidentImbert to form a provisional government committed toearly elections. However, Caamaño refused to meet withImbert until several of the Loyalist officers, includingWessin y Wessin, were made to leave the country.On 13 May General Imbert began Operation LIMPIEZA(Cleanup) and his forces were successful in eliminatingpockets of rebel resistance outside Ciudad Nueva and si-lencing Radio Santo Domingo. Operation CLEANUPended on 21 May.

Safety corridor

ByMay 14 the Americans, in establishing a “safety corri-dor” connecting the San Isidro Air Base and the “Duarte”Bridge to the Embajador Hotel and United States Em-bassy in the center of Santo Domingo, had essentiallysealed-off the Constitutionalist area of Santo Domingo.Road blocks were established and patrols ran continu-ously. Some 6,500 people frommany nations were evacu-ated to safety. In addition, the US forces airlifted in largerelief supplies for Dominican nationals.By mid-May, a majority of the OAS voted for OperationPUSH AHEAD, the reduction of United States forcesand their replacement by an Inter-American Peace Force(IAPF). Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF) was for-

11.2 Guzmán / Blanco interregnum 1978–86 11

mally established on May 23. The following troops weresent by each country: Brazil - 1,130, Honduras - 250,Paraguay - 184, Nicaragua - 160, Costa Rica - 21 militarypolice, and El Salvador - 3 staff officers. The first contin-gent to arrive was a rifle company from Honduras whichwas soon backed by detachments fromCosta Rica, El Sal-vador, and Nicaragua. Brazil provided the largest unit,a reinforced infantry battalion. Brazilian General HugoAlvim assumed command of the OAS ground forces, andon 26 May the US forces began to withdraw.The fighting continued until 31 August 1965 when a trucewas declared. Most American troops left shortly af-terwards as policing and peacekeeping operations wereturned over to Brazilian troops, but some U.S. militarypresence remained until September 1966. A total of 44American soldiers died, 27 in action. 172 were woundedin action, as were six Brazilians and five Paraguayans.An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 Dominicans died, mostlycivilians.[39]

Facing ongoing threats and attacks, including a particu-larly violent attack at the Hotel Matum in Santiago de losCaballeros, Camaaño accepted an agreement imposed bythe USA government. The Dominican Provisional Pres-ident, García Godoy, sent Colonel Caamaño as the Mili-tary Attaché to the Dominican Embassy to the UK.

11 The Balaguer era 1966–96

11.1 Balaguer’s second Presidency 1966–78

In June 1966, Joaquín Balaguer, leader of the ReformistParty (which later became the Social Christian ReformistParty (PRSC), was elected and then re-elected to officein May 1970 and May 1974, both times after the ma-jor opposition parties withdrew late in the campaign be-cause of the high degree of violence by pro-governmentgroups. On November 28, 1966 a constitution was cre-ated, signed, and put into use. The constitution stated thata president was elected to a four-year term. If there wasa close election there would be a second round of vot-ing to decide the winner. The voting age was eighteen,but married people under eighteen could also vote. Bala-guer led the Dominican Republic through a thorough eco-nomic restructuring, based on opening the country to for-eign investment while protecting state-owned industriesand certain private interests. This distorted, dependentdevelopment model produced uneven results. For mostof Balaguer’s first nine years in office the country expe-rienced high growth rates (e.g., an average GDP growthrate of 9.4 percent between 1970 and 1975), to the ex-tent that people talked about the “Dominican miracle”.Foreign, mostly U.S. investment, as well as foreign aid,flowed into the country; sugar, then the country’s mainexport product, enjoyed good prices in the international

market; and tourism grew tremendously.However, this excellent macroeconomic performancewas not accompanied by an equitable distribution ofwealth. While a group of newmillionaires flourished dur-ing Balaguer’s administrations, the poor simply becamepoorer. Morever, the poor were commonly the target ofstate repression, and their socioeconomic claims were la-beled 'communist' and dealt with accordingly by the statesecurity apparatus.[40] In theMay 1978 election, Balaguerwas defeated in his bid for a fourth successive term byAntonio Guzmán Fernández of the PRD. Subsequently,he ordered troops to storm the election centre and destroyballot boxes, declaring himself the victor. U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter refused to recognize Balaguer’s claim, and,faced with the loss of foreign aid, Balaguer stood down.

11.2 Guzmán / Blanco interregnum 1978–86

Guzmán’s inauguration on August 16 marked the coun-try’s first peaceful transfer of power from one freelyelected president to another. By the late 1970s, economicexpansion slowed considerably as sugar prices declinedand oil prices rose. Rising inflation and unemploymentdiminished support for the government and helped trig-ger a wave of mass emigration from the Dominican Re-public to New York, coming on the heels of the similarmigration of Puerto Ricans in the preceding decades.Elections were again held in 1982. Salvador Jorge Blancoof the Dominican Revolutionary Party defeated Boschand a resurgent Balaguer.

11.3 Balaguer’s third Presidency 1986–96

Balaguer completed his return to power in 1986 when hewon the Presidency again and remained in office for thenext ten years. Elections in 1990 were marked by vio-lence and suspected electoral fraud. The 1994 electiontoo saw widespread pre-election violence, often aimed atintimidating members of the opposition. Balaguer won in1994 but most observers felt the election had been stolen.Under pressure from the United States, Balaguer agreedto hold new elections in 1996. He himself would not run.

12 Rise of democracy 1996–present

Since 1998 Freedom House has categorized the Domini-can Republic as a free country.

12 14 REFERENCES

12.1 Fernández: First administration1996–2000

In 1996, U.S.-raised Leonel Fernández Reyna of thePartido de la Liberación Dominicana (Dominican Liber-ation Party) of Bosch’s secured more than 51% of thevote, through an alliance with Balaguer. The first itemon the president’s agenda was the partial sale of somestate-owned enterprises. Fernández was praised for end-ing decades of isolationism and improving ties with otherCaribbean countries, but he was criticized for not fightingcorruption or alleviating the poverty that affects 60% ofthe population.

12.2 Mejía’s administration 2000–04

In May 2000 the center-left Hipólito Mejía of the PRDwas elected president amid popular discontent over poweroutages in the recently privatized electric industry. Hispresidency saw major inflation and instability in 2003 ofthe peso because of the bankruptcy of three major com-mercial banks in the country due to the bad politics ofthe main managers. During his time left as president hetook some actions to save most savers of the closed banksavoiding a major crisis, the relatively stable unit of cur-rency fell from ~ 16 Dominican pesos to 1 United Statesdollar to ~ 60 DOP to 1 USD, and was in the 41s to a dol-lar when he left office in August 2004. In the May 2004presidential elections he was defeated by former presidentLeonel Fernández.

12.3 Fernández: Second administration2004–12

Fernández instituted austerity measures to deflate thepeso and rescue the country from its economic crisis, andin the first half of 2006, the economy grew 11.7%. Thepeso is currently at the exchange rate of ~39 DOP to 1USD.Over the last three decades, remittances (remesas) fromDominicans living abroad, mainly in the United States,have become increasingly important to the economy.From 1990 to 2000, the Dominican population of theU.S. doubled in size, from 520,121 in 1990 to 1,041,910,two-thirds of whom were born in the Dominican Repub-lic itself. More than half of all Dominican Americanslive in New York City, with the largest concentrationin the neighborhood of Washington Heights in northernManhattan. Over the past decade, the Dominican Re-public has become the largest source of immigration toNew York City, and today the metropolitan area of NewYork has a larger Dominican population than any city ex-cept Santo Domingo.[41] Dominican communities havealso developed in New Jersey (particularly Paterson),Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island,and Lawrence, Massachusetts. In addition, tens of thou-

sands of Dominicans and their descendants live in PuertoRico. Many Dominicans arrive in Puerto Rico illegallyby sea across the Mona Passage, some staying and somemoving on to the mainland U.S. (See Dominican immi-gration to Puerto Rico.) Dominicans living abroad sentan estimated $3 billion in remittances to relatives at home,in 2006.[42] In 1997, a new law took effect, allowing Do-minicans living abroad to retain their citizenship and votein Presidential elections. President Fernández, who grewup in New York, was the principal beneficiary of this law.The Dominican Republic was involved in the US-ledcoalition in Iraq, as part of the Spain-led Latin-AmericanPlus Ultra Brigade. But in 2004, the nation pulled its 300or so troops out of Iraq.

12.4 Danilo Medina: 2012–2015 (present)

Medina began his tenure with a series of controversial taxreforms so as to deal with the government’s troublesomefiscal situation encountered by the new administration.

13 See also• History of the Americas

• History of the Caribbean

• History of Haiti

• History of Latin America

• History of North America

• List of Presidents of the Dominican Republic

• Politics of the Dominican Republic

• Spanish colonization of the Americas

• Timeline of Santo Domingo

14 References[1] Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Historia general de los

hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme delMarOceano (General History of the Deeds of the Castilianson the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea), Madrid,1601-1615

[2] First Arrivals, http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text1/text1read.htm

[3] Hartlyn, Jonathan (1998). The Struggle for DemocraticPolitics in the Dominican Republic. Chapel Hill: Univer-sity of North Carolina Press. p. 24. ISBN 0-8078-4707-0.

[4] Sugar Cane: Past and Present, Peter Sharpe http://www.siu.edu/~{}ebl/leaflets/sugar.htm

13

[5] Knight, Franklin, The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Frag-mented Nationalism, 3rd ed. p.54 New York, Oxford Uni-versity Press 1990

[6] Rough Guide to the Dominican Republic, Pg. 352

[7] Dominican Republic - THE FIRST COLONY

[8] “Hispaniola Article”. Britannica.com. Retrieved 4 Jan-uary 2014.

[9] “Dominican Republic 2014”. Retrieved 24 April 2014.

[10] Moya Pons, Frank Between Slavery and Free Labor: TheSpanish-speaking Caribbean in the 19th Century. Balti-more; Johns Hopkins University Press 1985

[11] Terrenos comuneros arose because of “scarce population,low value of the land, the absence of officials qualifiedto survey the lands, and the difficulty of dividing up theranch in such a way that each would receive a share of thegrasslands, forests, streams, palm groves, and small agri-cultural plots that, only when combined, made possiblethe exploitation of the ranch.” (Hoetink, The DominicanPeople: Notes for a Historical Sociology transl. StephenAult Pg. 83 (Johns Hopkins Press: Baltimore, 1982)

[12] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+do0017)

[13] Frank Moya Pons, Dominican Republic: A National His-tory Pg. 222 (Hispaniola Books: New Rochelle, N.Y.,1995)

[14] Ian Bell,The Dominican Republic Pg. 59 (Westview Pres:Boulder, Co., 1981)

[15] • Dennis Hidalgo, Charles Sumner and the Annexa-tion of the Dominican Republic, Itinerario (VolumeXXI, 2/1997): 51. (Published by the Centre for theHistory of European Expansion of Leiden Univer-sity, The Netherlands).

[16] Emilio Betances, State and Society in the Dominican Re-public Pg. 32 (Westview Press: Boulder, San Francisco,Oxford, 1995)

[17] cocolo is a corruption of the name of one of the princi-pal islands of origin, Tortola. (Teresita Martinez-Vergne,Nation and Citizenship in the Dominican Republic Pg. 86(University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, N.C.,2005))

[18] TeresitaMartínez-Vergne,Nation&Citizen in the Domini-can Republic, Pg. 135

[19] Ian Bell, TheDominican Republic Pg. 86 (WestviewPress:Boulder, Co., 1981)

[20] Emilio Betances, State and Society in the Dominican Re-public Pg. 50 (Westview Press: Boulder, San Francisco,Oxford, 1995)

[21] Howard Wiarda, Dominican Republic: A Nation in Tran-sition Pg. 30 (Pall Mall Press: London, 1966)

[22] Emilio Betances, State and Society in the Dominican Re-public Pg. 53 (Westview Press: Boulder, San Francisco,Oxford, 1995)

[23] Bruce Calder, The Impact of Intervention in the DominicanRepublic, 1916-1924 Pg. 24 (University of Texas Press:Austin, Texas, 1984)

[24] Frank Moya-Pons, Dominican Republic: A National His-tory Pg. 306

[25] Bruce Calder, The Impact of Intervention In The Do-minican Republic, 1916-1924 (University of Texas Press:Austin, TX 1984) Pg. 8

[26] Bruce Calder, The Impact of Intervention, Pg. 93

[27] Bruce Calder, The Impact of Intervention, Pg. 93. Thelargest two corporations, the South Porto Rico Companyand West Indies Sugar Corporation, owned 150,000 and100,000 acres (600 and 400 km²) respectively.

[28] “The Era of Trujillo”. Retrieved June 4, 2011.

[29] Johathan Hartlyn. The Trujillo Regime in the DominicanRepublic. In Sultanistic Regimes, JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress

[30] Emilio Betances, State and Society in the Dominican Re-public, Pg. 96

[31] Emilio Betances, State and Society in the Dominican Re-public, Pg. 97

[32] Eric Paul Roorda, The Dictator Next Door: The GoodNeighbor Policy and the Dominican Republic, 1930-1945.-

[33] Needed but unwanted: Haitian immigrants and their de-scendants in the Dominican Republic, Pg. 24 (Catholic In-stitute For International Refugees, 2004)

[34] Jan Knippers Black, Politics and development in anunsovereign state Pg. 27

[35] Howard Wiarda The Dominican Republic: A Nation inTransition, Pg. 40-41

[36] Jared Diamond, Collapse, 'One Island, Two Peoples, TwoHistories’ (Penguin Books: New York and London, 2005)Pg. 337

[37] Jan Knippers Black, The Dominican Republic: politics anddevelopment in an unsovereign state.

[38] Stephen G. Rabe, “The Johnson Doctrine”, PresidentialStudies Quarterly 36

[39] The US Intervention in the Dominican Republic, 1965

[40] Roberto Cassa, Los doce años: Contrarevolución y desar-rollismo, 2nd ed. Santo Domingo: Editora Buho 1991

[41] The Newest New Yorkers: Immigrant New York in the NewMillennium (NewYorkCity Department of City Planning,Population Division, 2004) Pg. 9

[42] The Hindu Business Line : Dominican Republic: Thebusiness-pleasure tango

15 External links• Map of the Dominican Republic is a map from 1910

14 16 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

16 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

16.1 Text• History of the Dominican Republic Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20Dominican%20Republic?oldid=653065476 Contributors: Vicki Rosenzweig, Mav, Bryan Derksen, Koyaanis Qatsi, Jeronimo, Ed Poor, KF, Michael Hardy, Vera Cruz,Dommkopf, Jay, Lord Emsworth, Warofdreams, Superm401, Cfliegel, Everyking, Moyogo, Varlaam, DO'Neil, Sesel, MusiCitizen, KeithEdkins, Alexf, Quadell, Piotrus, Neutrality, D6, Chris j wood, Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Jaedza, Paul August, SamEV,Bender235, ESkog, CanisRufus, Kross, Mgomez, Darwinek, LostLeviathan, Alansohn, Arthena, Andrew Gray, Binabik80, Tony Sid-away, RJFJR, Embryomystic, Galaxiaad, Dismas, Cuyaya, Woohookitty, Mazca, WadeSimMiser, Tabletop, John Hill, Glenford, Rjwilmsi,Angusmclellan, PatrickSauncy, Ligulem, Mikedelsol, Yamamoto Ichiro, Ground Zero, RexNL, NoahB, DVdm, YurikBot, Wavelength,RussBot, Muchness, Stephenb, Gaius Cornelius, Wimt, El Cazangero, Aeusoes1, Taco325i, Capt Jim, SFGiants, Pietdesomere, JuJube,Black-Velvet, Chrishmt0423, Dennishidalgo, Dariopy, Tjalf Boris Prößdorf, SmackBot, Rosicrucian, Unschool, Davewild, Eskimbot,Srnec, Hmains, Durova, Bluebot, Kurykh, Adam Clark, MichaelWheeley, Robth, Colonies Chris, Darth Panda, Dethme0w, Can't sleep,clown will eat me, Jwillbur, OrphanBot, Bolivian Unicyclist, Jmlk17, Drawdennep, Maelnuneb, Pilotguy, Markg512, Gobonobo, Sir192,Xionbox, MuNk33MaN, Iridescent, JoeBot, Scarlet Lioness, Tawkerbot2, Pontificake, ChrisCork, Filiep, CmdrObot, Aherunar, Neelix,Ntsimp, Rbonnelly, Alaibot, Legis, Mattisse, Epbr123, Barticus88, Biruitorul, Missvain, Mefanch, JustAGal, E. Ripley, Natalie Erin, LunaSantin, Chubbles, Seaphoto, Grouchy Chris, Bigtimepeace, Karen Joslin, Dan D. Ric, 100110100, Magioladitis, Bongwarrior, VoABot II,Scanlan, Wikidudeman, JNW, Catgut, Elhombre72, P.B. Pilhet, DerHexer, Simon Peter Hughes, FloyJ2171, JFloyd, R'n'B, Commons-Delinker, VirtualDelight, Lilac Soul, RockMFR, Etaicq, J.delanoy, GreatChimp, Extransit, TurboBunny, Darkspots, Hillock65, Cedano,FEVB, Olegwiki, EdwinCasadoBaez, Corriebertus, Afv2006, Sarregouset, SveinHarris, Firsthistorian, Fertejol, Oxfordwang, H. Carver,Cerebellum, Davidgoldberg415, Nagy, FloyJ420, Dusti, WereSpielChequers, Yintan, JessicaHilgendorf, Nummer29, Radon210, Edi-tore99, Spyder00Boi, Oxymoron83, Faradayplank, Bagatelle, Jdaloner, Yaroslav Blanter, Kumioko (renamed), Dave Barnett, Blamed,Anchor Link Bot, ImageRemovalBot, Flydjsph, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, WriterListener, MoredanKantose, Mild BillHiccup, BigGabriel555, Amd194, Ldiaz22, V7-sport, NuclearWarfare, Dekisugi, Jmarcano, Bardd, DumZiBoT, Osplace, Dthomsen8,Avoided, NeoNorm, Noctibus, WikiDao, MystBot, Addbot, Pelle79, Jojhutton, Fyrael, TutterMouse, LaaknorBot, Neonorange, An-naFrance, Favonian, Numbo3-bot, TriniMuñoz, Tide rolls, Lightbot, Zorrobot, Waltloc, Legobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Fraggle81, TaBOT-zerem, AnomieBOT, Rubinbot, IRP, LlywelynII, G33klvr, Vlastimil Svoboda, FrescoBot, M2545, I dream of horses, Elockid, TibetanPrayer, Starus, Josuearisty, Seahorseruler, El Mayimbe, EmausBot, Look2See1, Razor2988, Wikipelli, K6ka, Inhakito, Karthikndr, Coast-erlover1994, ClueBot NG, ScottSteiner, Rezabot, Widr, HMSSolent, Titodutta, BG19bot, QuaeriSolet, Rafaelgonzalezg, LeftAire, Daryl-golden, ChrisGualtieri, Lubiesque, Khazar2, Dexbot, Mogism, IslandMan89, Lominero, Epicgenius, Eyesnore, Bobby12345678vgdf91011,Boabby5869237782389, Lkksdjfhksdablcvnd123, Glaisher, Ginsuloft, DinoKiller5, Savvyjack23, Filedelinkerbot, Yodanyrd and Anony-mous: 341

16.2 Images• File:Columbus_Taking_Possession.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Columbus_Taking_Possession.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographsdivision under the digital ID cph.3b49587.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.Original artist: L. Prang & Co., Boston

• File:Copia_de_Cacicazgos_de_la_Hispaniola.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Copia_de_Cacicazgos_de_la_Hispaniola.png License: Public domain Contributors: República Dominicana Original artist: República Dominicana

• File:Corridor_of_Santo_Dominguo.gif Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Corridor_of_Santo_Dominguo.gif License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.history.army.mil/books/contingency/domrep/intr.htm Original artist: US Army

• File:Dominican_Republic._Marines_in_action_during_the_American_protectorate._1920s.jpg Source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Dominican_Republic._Marines_in_action_during_the_American_protectorate._1920s.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Snapshot-Photo-USMC-Marines-in-Action-Santo-Domingo-Dominican-Republic-/110992634166?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item19d7ad3136 Original artist: Unknown, 1920s

• File:Juan_pablo_duarte.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Juan_pablo_duarte.jpg License: Public domainContributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:President_Baez_with_American_Commissioners,_1871.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/President_Baez_with_American_Commissioners%2C_1871.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1879-engraving-PRESIDENT-BAEZ-AMERICANS-Santo-Domingo-Dominican-Republic-/370695853013?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564f31d3d5 Original artist: Unknown, 1879

• File:The_Guardia_Republicana_in_Puerto_Plata,_c._1910.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/The_Guardia_Republicana_in_Puerto_Plata%2C_c._1910.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Puerto-Plata-Parade-Guardia-Republicana-Dominican-Republic-antique-postcard-/380547966946?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item589a6d27e2 Original artist: Unknown, circa 1910-1915

16.3 Content license• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0