The Dominican Civil War (Spanish: Guerra Civil Dominicana) took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of former President Juan Bosch overthrew acting President Donald Reid Cabral. The coup prompted General Elías Wessin y Wessin to organise elements of the military loyal to President Reid, known as loyalists, initiating an armed campaign against the so-called constitutionalist rebels. Allegations of foreign support for the rebels led to a United States intervention in the conflict, which later transformed into an Organization of American States occupation of the country. The rebels were holed up inside Santo Domingo and refused to surrender. They were continuously bombarded by the Dominican Air Force who aimed their bombs at the television stations and radio stations, particularly Radio Santo Domingo, and the National Palace. U.S. soldiers and a few thousand Latin American troops remained as peacekeepers in the Dominican Republic until June 1966 when Joaquín Balaguer was elected president.
Video Dominican Civil War
Background
On 5 May 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered U.S. Marines to the Dominican Republic to quell domestic violence and economic chaos. They stayed for eight years to manage the country's finances and preserve the peace, and the U.S. Navy Department virtually ran the entire country. American troops left in 1924 after the election of Horacio Vásquez Lajara, who had cooperated with the United States. Vásquez gave the country six years of stable governance, in which political and civil rights were respected and the economy grew strongly, in a relatively peaceful atmosphere.
A rebellion (or coup d'état) against President Horacio Vásquez broke out in February 1930 in Santiago. Rafael Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña; in return for Trujillo letting Estrella take power, Estrella would allow Trujillo to run for president in new elections. As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them. However, feigning "neutrality", Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Estrella's rebels to take the capital virtually unopposed. On March 3, Estrella was proclaimed acting president, with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and of the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the newly formed Patriotic Coalition of Citizens (Spanish: Coalición patriotica de los ciudadanos), with Estrella as his running mate. The other candidates became targets of harassment by the army, and withdrew when it became apparent that Trujillo would be the only person who would be allowed to effectively campaign. Ultimately, the Trujillo-Estrella ticket was proclaimed victorious with an implausible 99 percent of the vote. According to the American ambassador, Trujillo received more votes than actual voters.
Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic for thirty years as a ruthless dictator. He used the secret police extensively to eliminate political opposition and to prevent several coup attempts during and after World War II. The secret police allegedly murdered more than 500,000 people during the Trujillo era, including some 37,000 Haitians.
On May 30, 1961, Trujillo was shot and killed when his blue 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air was ambushed on a road outside the Dominican capital. He was the victim of an ambush plotted by a number of men, among them General Juan Tomás Díaz, Antonio de la Maza, Amado García Guerrero, and General Antonio Imbert Barrera.
The country came under the rule of military junta until 1963, when democratic elections were organised with the aid of the United States. Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño emerged victorious in the elections, assuming office. Bosch then tried to implement a number of social democratic reforms, causing the anger of the clergy, business magnates and members of the army, who initiated a rumor campaign accusing Bosch of being a communist. On 25 September 1963, a group of 25 senior military commanders led by Elías Wessin y Wessin expelled Bosch from the country and instated Donald Reid Cabral as the new president. The newly installed president failed to gather popular support, at the same time several factions prepared to launch coups. Those included Constitutionalists under Bosch, a group inside the Dominican army under Peña Taveras, supporters of former Dominican Revolutionary Party leader Nicolás Silfa and plotters siding with Joaquín Balaguer.
Maps Dominican Civil War
Civil war
April Revolution
On 24 April 1965, three junior officers requested a meeting with President Donald Cabral Reid. Reid revoked the commission after receiving news of a suspected anti-government plot. When Chief of staff Riviera Cuesta was instead sent to discuss with the officers at the 16 of August military camp, he was immediately detained. A group of military constitutionalists and Dominican Revolutionary Party (DRP) supporters then seized the Radio Santo Domingo building, issuing calls of sedition, at the same time constitutionalist officers distributed weapons and molotov cocktails to their civilian comrades. The transmissions prompted the garrison of the 27 of February camp and a unit of the Dominican Navy's frogmen to defect. Large numbers of police officers abandoned their positions and changed into civilian clothing.
The following day President Reid appointed general Wessin y Wessin as the new chief of staff, Wessin rallied the government troops, branding them Loyalists and announcing his plans of suppressing the rebellion. At 10:30 am rebels stormed the presidential palace, arresting Reid. Several hours later four loyalist P-51 Mustangs conducted aerial bombings of the National Palace and other constitutionalist positions; one plane was shot down by machine-gun fire during the incident. A single loyalist vessel, Mella, situated on the river Ozama also bombarded the palace. Fearing a mob that had gathered at the palace would lynch Reid, rebel commander Francisco Caamaño allowed him to escape, as Reid had already lost the support of the loyalists. The majority of the DRP leadership fled the capital, while constitutionalists mobilized a total of 5,000 armed civilians and 1,500 members of the military. On 26 April, José Rafael Molina Ureña was declared provisional president while large crowds gathered in the streets demanding Bosch's return from exile.
U.S. intervention
In the meantime, U.S. diplomats in Santo Domingo initiated preparations for evacuating 3,500 U.S. citizens. In the early morning of 27 April, 1,176 foreign civilians who had previously assembled in Hotel Embajador were airlifted to the Bajos de Haina naval facility, where they boarded USS Ruchamkin, USS Wood County as well as the helicopters of HMM-264 which evacuated them from the island to USS Boxer and USS Raleigh. Later in the day, 1,500 loyalist troops supported by armored cars and tanks marched from the San Isidro Air Base, capturing the Duarte bridge and taking position on the west bank of the Ozama river. A second force consisting of 700 soldiers left San Cristóbal and attacked the western suburbs of Santo Domingo. Rebels overran the Fortaleza Ozama police headquarters, taking 700 prisoners. Another group of armed civilians stormed into the Hotel Embajador and harassed Americans assembled there in anticipation of an evacuation. On 28 April, armed civilians attacked the Villa Consuelo police station, executing all the police officers who survived the initial skirmish. Other groups of armed civilians ran down and shot on the spot many of those who managed to escape from the police station. The Dominican Air Force once again began to strafe and bomb the city. One U.S. Marine battalion landed in Haina, later moving to Hotel Embajador where it provided assistance in the upcoming airlifts. During the night, 684 civilians were airlifted to USS Boxer. One U.S. Marine was killed by a rebel sniper during the operation.
On 29 April, U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic William Tapley Bennett, who had previously sent numerous reports to President Lyndon Johnson, reported that the situation had reached life-threatening proportions for U.S. citizens and that the rebels received foreign support. Bennett stressed that the United States must act immediately as the creation of an international coalition would be time-consuming. Contrary to the suggestions of his advisers, Johnson authorised the transformation of evacuation operations into a large-scale military intervention through Operation Power Pack, aiming to prevent the development of what he saw as a second Cuban Revolution. It was the first U.S. military intervention in Latin America in more than 30 years.
At 2:16 am on 30 April 1965, the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division landed at the San Isidro Air Base, beginning the American military intervention in the conflict. During the next couple of hours, two brigade combat teams and heavy equipment were also dispatched. At sunrise the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment moved up the San Isidoro highway, securing a position east of the Duarte bridge. The 1st Battalion 505th Infantry Regiment remained at the airbase and sent out patrols to the perimeter. A force of 1,700 Marines of the 6th Marine Expeditionary Unit occupied an area containing a number of foreign embassies, the locale was proclaimed an International Security Zone by the Organization of American States (OAS). Earlier in the day, OAS also issued a resolution calling the combatants to end all hostilities. At 16:30 hrs, representatives of the loyalists, the rebels and the U.S. military signed a cease fire which would take effect at 23:45 hrs. The treaty's timing favored the demoralized loyalists, who had at that point lost control of Ciudad Colonial.
On 5 May, the OAS Peace Committee arrived in Santo Domingo, a second definite cease fire agreement was then signed ending the main phase of the civil war. Under the Act of Santo Domingo, OAS was tasked with overseeing the implementation of the peace deal as well as distributing food and medication through the capital. The treaties failed to fully prevent violations such as small scale firefights and sniper fire. A day later OAS members established the Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF) with the goal of serving as a peacekeeping formation in the Dominican Republic. IAPF consisted of 1,748 Brazilian, Paraguayan, Nicaraguan, Costa Rican, Salvadoran and Honduran troops and was headed by Brazilian general Hugo Panasco Alvim, with U.S. Army General Bruce Palmer serving as his deputy commander.
On 13 May Loyalist General Imbert suddenly broke the peace that had settled over the city. In an attack that took the United States completely by surprise, he moved against rebel forces located north of the line of communication and against rebel-held Radio Santo Domingo. During the attack, U.S. troops shot down one of the new government's five P-51 Mustangs when it accidentally strafed their position. Imbert's forces took the northern part of the capital, destroying many buildings and killing many black civilians.
U.S. withdrawal
On 26 May, U.S. forces began gradually withdrawing from the island. On June 15, the Constitutionalists launched a second and final attempt to expand the boundaries of their stronghold. In the bloodiest battle of the intervention, the rebels began their attack on U.S. outposts. Employing the greatest firepower to date, they used tear gas grenades, .50-caliber machine guns, 20 mm guns, mortars, rocket launchers, and tank fire. The 1st battalions of the 505th and 508th Infantry quickly went on the offensive, resulting in five American deaths and sixty-seven rebel deaths.
The first postwar elections were held on 1 July 1966, pitting Reformist Party candidate Joaquín Balaguer against former president Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño. Balaguer emerged victorious in the elections, after building his campaign on promises of reconciliation. On 21 September 1966, the last OAS peacekeepers withdrew from the island, ending the foreign intervention in the conflict. The operation cost 237 casualties and a financial expenditure of $311 million by the United States for both humanitarian aid and military-related costs. Three thousand Dominicans lost their lives either to fighting between the two political factions or in battles with the 82nd Airborne Division during this same period.
See also
- History of the Dominican Republic
- United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-24)
- Bay of Pigs invasion
- Johnson Doctrine
References
Further reading
External links
- Lyndon Johnson - On the Situation in the Dominican Republic
- Dominican Republic PSYOP
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-17A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-18A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-19A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-20A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-22A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-25A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-27A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-28A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The short film MARINES 65 (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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