Rafael Trujillo was the Dominican dictator during the period which lasted beginning in the 1930 and ended in 1961 when he was assassinated. He was a president twice during this time, but he was the leading person in politics all the time even when other people were presidential figures. This era lasted for 31 years and there was much blood spilt throughout this period. A cult was related to the personality of Trujillo and he was guilty for killing about 50 thousand people. There were dictatorships in other countries of the region, but none were as brutal as Trujillo’s. His reign made the country prosperous and stable, but that was not enough because there was no protection of basic human rights. His dictatorship was beneficial for the country although it has been proven that his family and co-workers stole much or the public money.
Rafael Trujillo imposed a policy which would protect the Dominican border from the Haitian people. “The policy proposed to stabilize the boundary and presumably to lessen the tensions of what had been the most volatile frontier in the Americas, to block further occupation of Dominican territory by Haitians” (Augelli, 1980, p. 20). The Dominicans were supposed to feel a national unity because of these policies. Many Haitians were murdered in because of this and it was because of the fact that Trujillo wanted to keep the borderland nationalized. This border was unsurpassable, which was Trujillo’s aim because he wanted the Dominican Republic ethnically clean. There was much violence involving this border because Haitians were prohibited from entering the Dominican Republic. When he was killed, this situation improved and Haitians began to come back to the Dominican territories. They were mostly interested in getting seasonal or any other kinds of jobs which was made possible when Trujillo was no longer alive. The two countries became closer upon Trujillo’s death and they could work on mutual projects once again.
Trujillo had a long dictatorship because he used force and power and he had his own military whose members were trained in America. The U.S. occupied the Dominican Republic in 1916 and this lasted until 1924 when Trujillo established his dictatorship. The situation in the Dominican territories was not stable and that is why Trujillo needed to be empowered by force. The nation was not stable and his aim was to strengthen the sense of national unity. The stability came from an authoritative figure who was also a dictator and this caused the migration to America. Trujillo profited while common people suffered from poverty and he used public funds to become rich. When he died, Trujillo was on the list of the most wealthy men on the global level. It is the usual case for the dictators to get rich while the common people become poorer all the time. Trujillo’s politics was considered as beneficial for America at first but following the 1960, Eisenhower thought that it Trujillo should be removed from power. A group of people in the Dominican Republic wanted to assassinate Trujillo and the U.S supported them by sending firearms to them. In 1960 the political relations between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic were bad and the American diplomats were asked to come back to America. CIA was in favor of killing Trujillo because they thought it would help save the country from aggression, theft and violence.
The attitude coming from the U.S. was ambiguous because some people were thinking that the killing of Trujillo would create problems. The fear of the CIA was the situation after the assassination because they believed that it was possible for someone like Fidel Castro to establish themselves as a leader. It was not enough to kill Trujillo because it was necessary to think about his replacement. Trujillo’s dictatorship had support because he could prevent communism. The U.S. concern was not to make it possible for a communist leadership to be established in the Dominican Republic. Trujillo was finally killed in 1961 and the CIA had to remove the records of their contacts with those who killed Trujillo. The Dominican migration to America took place after the assassination of Trujillo when the American government imposed their intervention as well because of the political and economic difficulties. In 2012 there were around 960 thousand people from the Dominican Republic as immigrants and this number keeps increasing as time passes. Women were in the majority of the population who immigrated.
Most of the immigrants from the Dominican Republic fled to the U.S. although some of them went to Spain and Italy. Almost all of the immigrants received a green card in the U.S on the basis of the, being reunite with their families. Some of the immigrants got their residence through employment and almost all of the immigrants are legal. However, these immigrants “were more likely than the overall foreign-born population in the United States to live in poverty, be Limited English Proficient, and have gained U.S. citizenship; they were less likely to have a college degree or to be uninsured“ (Nwosu & Batalova). These reasons make it difficult for the Dominicans to integrate themselves into the multi-cultural society. It is not easy to live in poverty and the chances of getting a good job are non-existent without a good command of the English language and the degree from college. The U.S. made it easy for the people from the Dominican Republic to become legal immigrants, but their integration in the society is difficult because there are many obstacles. Nevertheless, these immigrants found a better quality of life in America than they had in their home country because of the oppression and because of the bad economic situation. It is hard to live under the dictatorship because citizens are deprived of all the rights and that is the main reason for their immigration.
In Europe in 1938 there were many refugeed who were Jewish and President Roosevelt invited the international public to provide help for them. Trujillo offered shelter for 100 thousand people but he had a hidden agenda because he thought about his image after he “authorized an ethnic-cleansing campaign along the Dominican-Haitian border with the aim of expunging dark-skinned Haitians” (Wucker). There was much violence involved in this situation and Trujillo wanted to improve his status with accepting the Jews. His plan was also invite white people to populate the country unlike the black Haitians. He was a racist and his offer was mostly aimed at men who were young and could get married in the Dominican Republic. The current situation is such that the Haitians are offered to come back and have their citizenship restored. “Under what it calls its “regularization” program, the Dominican government claims that more than 350,000 people will be able to formalize their citizenship or residency status” (Wucker). Simultaneously, the children of the immigrants in America live there with the uncertainty.
During Trujillo’s reign everything was supervised by him and the cult of his personality was beyond control. Trujillo imposed extreme laws which made it possible for him to protect his interest. The state he created was private and he treated the Dominican Republic as his legacy. He became one of the richest people globally during his reign and everything was under his control. The country’s economy was improved to some extend although this happened mostly in the capital which was organized in favor of Trujillo. The Haitians were prohibited from entering the Dominican territories and he killed many immigrants from Haiti even though there were many Dominicans of Haitian descent. There was much pressure against Trujillo prior to his death because the citizens could no longer bear his dictatorship. The military forces stopped supporting him and the assassination was prepared with the approval of the CIA. Everything related to Trujillo was observed by the U.S. and he was trained in America prior to his dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. He helped reshape the economics of the country, but he violated human rights and killed many people who opposed him. He also conducted the ethnic cleansing towards the Haitians and the rebels decided to remove him from power in 1961 with the support of the CIA.
Trujillo’s rule was oppressive and even though he helped build the infrastructure of the country and improved the living conditions of the citizens, he was thought of as a criminal because he acquired most wealth for himself, his associates and his family. Trujillo had his own army who was protecting him which is why he had so much power. His control of the Dominican Republic lasted for over 30 years and he had spies who were used to threaten and kill the potential rebels. When Trujillo planned assassination of the president of Venezuela in 1960 the U.S. decided that it was the time to make him stop having any kind of influence. The sanctions on the Dominican Republic were imposed and the diplomats were sent back to America. At this time, Dominicans began to immigrate in the U.S. and finally Trujillo was killed in 1961 by his own people who denied him his loyalty.
First Dominican immigrants came to America in the 1960s because the situation in the Dominican Republic became worse at this time which was immediately before Trujillo’s assassination. His policies made it impossible for people to live in the Dominican Republic due to the fact that they were deprived of the basic human rights and that their lives were in danger as well. The dictatorship made it possible for Trujillo to impose himself as the leader of the country in which his cult was already established. He improved the economy and the infrastructure of the country, but there was a lack of personal freedoms.
References
Augelli, J. P. (1980). Nationalization of Dominican Borderlands. Geographical Review, 70(1), 19-35.
Nwosu, C., & Batalova, J. (2014, July 18). Immigrants from the Dominican Republic in the United States. In MPI. Retrieved May 13, 2016, from Immigrants from the Dominican Republic in the United States
Wucker, M. (2015, October 8). The Dominican Republic's Shameful Deportation Legacy. FP. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/08/dominican-republic-haiti-trujillo-immigration-deportation/
