Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America

Many consider the assassination of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo, nicknamed El Jefe, on May 30, 1961, as the beginning of the modern history of the Dominican Republic. As people learned more about the extent of his crimes, and especially as more Dominicans returned home to tell their stories of how they had suffered under Trujillo, outrage spread.

With Trujillo’s death, the demand for democracy in the Dominican Republic grew, especially among the young, and Juan Bosch easily won the country’s first democratic election. However, the US government feared that Bosch was too close with the Communists, and so worked to overthrow Bosch. Within seven months, Bosch was living in exile, though he remained popular as ever.

On April 24, 1965, the Dominican Revolution began. Bosch followers led the revolt to restore Bosch to power. People rushed to the streets in support. Bosch supporters were known as “Constitutionalists,” while their opposition was known as “Loyalists.” The Constitutionalists gained more and more civilian support and almost succeeded against the Loyalists, who were on the verge of surrendering. But then “President Johnson sent in the marines as U.S. officials leaked exaggerated claims to the press that Communists were in control of the rebellion and that American lives were in danger” (122).