Introduction
At a time in which the majority of Latin Americans are questioning, if not dismissing, the possibility of meaningful political change through elections, at a time in which the Chilean experience...
...This was to become the Trujillista oligarchy...
...Despite Balaguer's repression, the liberation movement is growing, and it will continue to grow until liberation is finally won...
...2 (April 1971), 19.28...
...By playing on the basic contradictions present within the Dominican oligarchy, U.S...
...invading forces oversaw the one-year government of Garcia Godoy (member of the Santiago oligarchy), supervised the election of Joaquin Balaguer (Trujillista) in 1966 and set the stage for the next nine years of terror and repression...
...4. Carlos Maria Gutierrez, The Dominican Republic and Repression (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972...
...World War II strengthened the commercial trends begun with the 1916 invasion...
...FOOTNOTES 1. Arismendi Diaz Santana, Desarrollo y descomposicion de Ia economia dominicana (Santo Domingo: Impresiones M.D., 1969), 2. 2. Fred Goff and Michael Locker, "The Violence of Domination: U.S...
...They became the bridge for this new alliance of the bourgeoisie...
...The primary characteristic of the Dominican bourgeoisie has been its inability to elaborate a political or economic strategy acceptable to all of its sectors...
...8. Wall Street Journal, January 25, 1974...
...The Republic's major export, sugar, was denied access to the U.S...
...His investments in banking, air and marine transport, cane sugar, utilities and insurance soon gave him control of no less than 65 to 85 percent of the entire economy...
...7. Goff and Locker, op...
...6 The Balaguer Years "To all but most North Americans it was obvious the Dominicans had their independence stolen in order to benefit U.S...
...Military Apparatus (New York, Berkeley, 1972...
...Francisco Caamano Deno, the struggle to return Bosch to the presidency soon turned ito a popular fight for the national liberation of the Dominican Republic...
...Further competition between the Santiago oligarchy and the Trujillistas isolated the latter, and, by 1965, resulted in the return of the Bosch-Trujillista alliance...
...9 The People's Response The struggle against U.S...
...Following a successful landing, he and nine other men established a guerrilla foco to fight for the overthrow of the Balaguer dictatorship...
...510 million in financial aid, the highest per capita aid in Latin America...
...Ambassador John Bartlow Martin,"--an uncouth butcher...
...The Santiago oligarchy is primarily linked to agriculture, industrial agri-business and the Europeanoriented export market...
...This 1916 invasion, though, had a greater goal: the economic unification of the country which was fragmented into many small regional fiefdoms.1 The "unification" drive also sought to break the country's traditional commercial ties with Europe (mainly England, France and Spain), replacing them with new links to the United States...
...corporations...
...invaders...
...See also Stanley Ross, "The Dominican Republic: World's Fastest Growing GNP Rate," New York Times, April 3, 1973, in which Ross brags: "Hourly wages in the Dominican Republic average about onethird to one fourth of those in nearby Puerto Rico...
...8 The government brags of the fastest growing GNP in the world but, even if this were true (and the UN's Economic Commission on Latin America has serious doubts), it is clear that the economic rewards of this "growth" are not benefitting the Dominican people who continue to immigrate to the United States in increasing numbers...
...When customs agents alone could not accomplish this, the Marines were sent in...
...cit., 249...
...Much of this wealth therefore passed into state control, and the state became the largest single owner of Dominican resources...
...But the major factor dividing the two groups was a political heritage of rancor, ill-will and bloodshed which was hard to overcome...
...Yet, as in other Dominican elections, the result is hardly in doubt, for Balaguer represents the two most important sectors of the Dominican bourgeoisie: the traditional Santiago-based oligarchy and the "Trujillista" bourgeoisie...
...With U.S...
...market when the quota system was established on imports...
...His memoirs describe the very subtle manipulation of this group through thebestowing of favors and AID contracts...
...Therefore, they played an important role as a swing factor between the Santiago oligarchy and the forces behind Bosch...
...monoplies, and allows the extreme degree of economic, political and military control which is exercised from Washington...
...V, No...
...Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966), 134...
...On the other hand, 80 percent of the rural labor force is employed in the sugar industry...
...Furthermore, at least onethird of all sugar production, the country's primary product, is owned by Gulf & Western who purchased it from the South Puerto Rico Sugar Co...
...interests...
...The Santiago bourgeoisie) hated Trujillo," wrote U.S...
...16 per year for non-profit institutions ($30 for two years...
...invasion of 1916...
...At this point it was the third factor, the masses, who moved to the political forefront...
...Put in another way, the Dominican bourgeoisie has been historically unable to develop a strong consciousness of itself as a class with common interests and common enemies...
...There is also a third group composed of the smaller bourgeoisie allied with a significant sector of the petit bourgeoisie (professionals, intellectuals, small shopowners, small landowners, etc...
...5. John Bartlow Martin, Overtaken by Events: The Dominican Crisis-from the Fall of Trujillo to the Civil War (Garden City, New York...
...The United States has relaxed its immigration policies in order to soften the impact of unemployment in the Republic...
...It would be unthinkable during the past decade to overlook what David Fairchild, an AID official who worked in the country until 1970, has called the 'parallel government...
...Subscriptions: $10 per year for individuals ($18 for two years...
...eyes focused on Europe, Trujillo was able to use this surplus in the creation of an industrial sector, particularly in sugar...
...This dependency is based on the creation of a Dominican economy which serves U.S., not Dominican, interests...
...companies are exempt from taxes and other obligations for 10 to 20 years...
...First, the "parallel government" saw to it that no class would arise which could challenge U.S...
...In the political arena, Rafael Trujillo began his rapid climb to power through the ranks of the newly-created National Guard...
...7 Nine years of the U.S.-supported Balaguer regime have solidified the dependency of the Dominican Republic on the United States...
...corporations (especially the National City Bank group) would sell-West Indies Sugar Co., Dominican Electrical Corp., local branches of the National City Bank, etc.-and established competing industries in those areas where the U.S...
...3. Ibid., 253-4...
...At a time in which the majority of Latin Americans are questioning, if not dismissing, the possibility of meaningful political change through elections, at a time in which the Chilean experience is still painfully fresh in our minds as are the events of Guatemala, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay, the Dominican Republic is preparing for its fourth election since the 1961 assassination of Rafael Trujillo...
...Secondly, U.S...
...Second, to the extent that the Trujillistas saw themselves becoming isolated from state power, they would ally with any other sector in order to protect their interests...
...U.S...
...Since the Santiago oligarchy would be greatly undercut by this strategy, it opposed the 1916 invasion...
...Joaquin Balaguer, president since 1966, is the most powerful candidate...
...While Bosch received the economic backing of certain sectors of industrialists who had been expropriated under Trujillo, and the smaller merchants and businessmen, the strength of his movement was in the popular masses...
...Control of the state apparatus is vital in a neo-colonial country such as the Dominican Republic...
...Between 1950-1968, the Dominican Republic received the massive sum of U.S...
...The country's U.S...
...imperialism has been able to dominate the country for most of the 20th century...
...The Santiago group, on the other hand, still had a large interest in agricultural production which was competitive rather than complementary with the interests of U.S...
...Historical Roots of Instability With its bourgeoisie divided and its working class unorganized, the Dominican Republic was a ripe fruit for the United States to pluck...
...The Fight for State Control While Trujillo's family had managed to salt away a huge fortune in Swiss banks, it clearly could not flee with all the lands, factories and banks which the dictator had amassed over the years...
...495 (May 7, 1973), 34-38...
...4 The struggle for control of the state, and its wealth, continued to divide the Dominican oligarchy and produce a high degree of political instability in the 1960's even though the structural economic differences between the sectors of the bourgeoisie gradually lessened...
...The Trujillista oligarchy, on the other hand, has a much stronger tie to industry, especially sugar, and the U.S.-oriented export market, as well as having large landed interests...
...Resistance to the Trujillo dictatorship began with its imposition in 1930...
...IV, No...
...Whoever runs the state administration and exercises political power, controls the economy in the post-Trujillo Dominican Republic...
...Early in the 1900's the United States sent its customs agents into the Dominican Republic in order to insure repayment of earlier loans...
...He bought what U.S...
...25 per year for profit-making and government organizations ($48 for two years...
...Balaguer has created four so-called "free zones" where U.S...
...Pata" Blanca, their leader, died in the 1965 Revolution after organizing two commando groups to fight the reactionary forces.10 And students, women, and peasants also have distinguished themselves in the long and bitter struggle...
...and NACLA, The U.S...
...After the military isolation of the rebels, the U.S...
...NYforcing them to come into harmony with each other...
...investor avoid taxes and increasing labor costs...
...6. Ambassador Martin clearly saw the importance of this young Santiago bourgeoisie...
...sugar quota (850,000 tons) is now the largest for any country in the world...
...Port workers, too, have played an active role...
...2 In 1930, with the blessings of the U.S...
...domestic production and exports...
...Immediately following the dictator's assassination, three factors conditioned the nature of the governments which would emerge...
...Four months later Trujillo was assassinated with the backing of the Santiago oligarchy...
...As he climbed the promotional ladder, with the aid of favorable American recommendations, he mastered the one essential rule for gaining and sustaining political power in the Republic-an understanding that the base of domestic power is rooted primarily in the United States...
...in 1966...
...They fought from a cave for more than eight hours, injuring and killing an estimated ten soldiers before they were killed...
...An extensive infrastructure has been developed to aid the foreign (U.S...
...The long absent unity of the bourgeoisie became a real possibility...
...economic, political and military interests...
...Since the country relies so heavily on U.S...
...VIII, No...
...imports, it is forced to develop an export industry which can balance off these massive imports...
...Each of these groups has a well-defined historical relationship to specific sectors of the Dominican economy...
...producers...
...As a consequence of this, Dominican political life has been dominated by chaos and turmoil as all sectors make their grab for state power...
...By 1924, almost 70 percent of total Dominican imports came from the United States and 30 percent of the country's exports went there...
...While trying to defend one of his comrades, he was surrounded, captured and immediately executed by the army who feared his popularity with the masses...
...The war also enhanced the position of Trujillo as he became the recipient of the large surplus of capital generated by favorable export prices...
...This unity must be the first step in the formation of a revolutionary party which will lead the Dominican people to full national liberation and socialism...
...present, though, all forces are again faced with Balaguer's third attempt to retain power by "legal" means...
...On January 12, four of its members, Virgilio Perdomo, Amaury German, Bienvenido Leal and Ulises Arquimedes Ceron, were surrounded by a force of 2,000 soldiers, tanks, a U.S...
...support for Trujillo dropped off rapidly as he gathered the economy into his own hands and used his asets to compete with U.S...
...firms would not sell out...
...4, April 1974 SNACLA'S LATIN AMERICA & EMPIRE REPORT Published monthly, except May-June and July-August when it is published bi-monthly, at 160 Claremont Ave., New York, NY 10027...
...policy makers understood the instability inherent in such a situation and defined their task as aiding the gradual merger of the Santiago bourgeoisie into the Trujillistas in order to form a front against the common enemy, the proletariat, peasantry and poor people of the Dominican Republic...
...Sugar workers, organized in the large La Romana confederation, paralized the eastern half of the Republic in a general strike of 1946...
...These workers are plagued by cronic unemployment during the idle season, starvation wages while they work, undernourishment, illiteracy and the general absence of health care at all times...
...How U.S...
...And third, the emergence of the working class, peasantry and the poor as a major independent political force would upset all previous alliances.4 Juan Bosch Control of the government shifted from a BoschTrujillista alliance for the 1962 elections to a SantiagoTrujillista coalition during the September 1963 coup which overthrew Bosch...
...who had sworn to break their power, though he never could...
...diplomats and agents in the Republic strongly pushed for a unification of the two sectors and backed their recommendations with aid, bribes and threats...
...Second-class postage paid at New York...
...At times domination was best assured by deepening the contradictions among the bourgeoisie, and at other times-especially when such a course could lead to an awakening of the masses-by Vol...
...This unity grew out of a variety of new factors...
...This goal was not easily accomplished, and, between 1961 and 1965, Dominican politics were dominated by a continual shift in alliances among three major groups: the Santiago bourgeoisie (organized in the Union Civica Nacional), the Trujillista bourgeoisie (represented by Balaguer's Partido Reformista) and a smaller group represented politically by Juan Bosch and the Partido Revolucionarlo Dominicano...
...The traditional oligarchy was further isolated from its European markets, while the nearby United States tightened its commercial controls on the country...
...Copyright 0 1974 by the North American Congress on Latin America, Inc...
...Only 14 percent of Dominican land is arable, and most of this is devoted to sugarcane, coffee and tobacco...
...Francisco Caamano Deno, hero of the 1965 Revolution, returned to the Dominican Republic in February 1973 after many years in exile...
...Power and the Dominican Republic," Latin American Radicalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1969), 250...
...At * The "Comandos de la Resistencia" were armed urban guerrilla units whose members were accused of assaulting the Royal Bank of Canada in January 1971...
...And, if these measures should prove unsuccessful, the United States has pumped millions of dollars into the country to train Dominican military and police forces in the latest counter-insurgency methods...
...AID in the Dominican Republic-An Inside View," NACLA Newsletter, Vol...
...A slim 9 percent of the land owners occupy over two-thirds of the irrigated land...
...Relations between the two countries worsened and finally reached a critical point in January 1961 when the United States brok relations with Cuba and thereby lost its major supplier of sugar...
...Throughout the twentieth century Dominican workers have played a leading role in the liberation movement...
...For instance, when the Rockefellers refused to part with the South Puerto Rico Sugar Co...
...The trend toward state control of industry and limits on foreign investments-the main points of Trujillo's economic policy which angered Washington-has been reversed, and a massive denationalization of Dominican industry has followed...
...By actively supporting the progressive military forces calling for the return of Bosch, the masses demonstrated that political alliances could no longer be made behind their backs...
...9. See Fred Goff and Michael Klare...
...Therefore, rather than developing an agricultural sector which serves Dominican needs, the primary consideration is complementing, not competing with, U.S...
...AlD Shapes the Dominican Police...
...By the late 1950's5 numerous groups, including the well-known "June 14th Movement," were leading the opposition to the dictator...
...But, whatever the tactics, history has shown us that only the unity of the leftist forces is capable of defeating the repressive alliance between the native oligarchy and U.S...
...The Trujillista bourgeoisie continued to represent the more industrialized sector, the sugar interests and the majority of national financial interests in the country...
...NACLA Newsletter, Vol...
...Indeed, due to the oligarchy's historic dependence on the international market to sell its raw materials and obtain financing, and its consequent inability to accumulate capital domestically, no important sector of the bourgeoisie can prosper without being bound hand and foot to imperialism...
...There, they can enjoy the benefits of a 25 cent hourly wage, no unions and a "hardworking and peaceful labor force...
...The struggle has given rise to many tactical differences among the left, from the creation of a democratic opposition, to the "Comandos de la Resistencia,"* to the creation of guerrilla "focos",* * to the nearly successful anti-reelectionist front of 1970...
...needs have also forced the re-structuring of the Dominican countryside, source of four-fifths of all exports...
...imperialism...
...and its valuable Central Romana mill, Trujillo created the Central Rio Haina as a competitor...
...Marines...
...Nickel exploitation is now in the hands of Falconbridge...
...Lacking common agreement within the bourgeoisie, that sector which achieves state power will use that power to its own benefit and to the detriment of the other sectors and, of course, the working class and the poor...
...If the United States at one time reluctantly tolerated the independent nature of Trujillo's economic establishment, it could no longer do so...
...policy makers was domination and exploitation, not development...
...Mario Emilio Sanchez Cordova, "El movimiento obrero dominicano: su larga y dificil marcha," AHORAI (Santo Domingo), No...
...At all times, though, the major concern of U.S...
...The clearest example of this policy is in the mineral extraction and the sugar industry...
...The "gavilleros," a guerrilla group, fought against the U.S...
...3 U.S...
...Led by truly popular leaders like Co...
...7 (November 1970), 1-10...
...5 U.S...
...The threat of popular insurrection terrified both major wings of the bourgeoisie-Santiago and Trujillista-leading them to call for a full-scaled invasion by the U.S...
...domination and capitalist oppression goes back to the start of the century...
...Address all correspondence to Box 57, Cathedral Station, New York, NY 10025 or Box 226, Berkeley, CA 94701...
...The Republic is second only to Puerto Rico as a market for U.S...
...In the first place, it became evident that the popular of- fensive could not be contained without some degree of cohesion within the bourgeoisie...
...No sector of the bourgeoisie is characterized by an antiimperialist outlook, although all readily adopt strong nationalist positions when tactically to their advantage...
...Dominican labor is well-known for its willingness, cooperation, and the innate capacity of its people quickly to learn intrincate manufacturing processes...
...But as this traditional oligarchy began to decline, it was challenged by a new sector, closely allied to the interests of the U.S...
...goods in the Caribbean...
...plane and advisors...
...But this is true "only to the degree that he coordinates his efforts with the second largest investor, the U.S...
...The CIA gladly provided support, equipment and coordination for the coup...
...This has prompted a massive migration to the cities which will contain an estimated 80 percent of the population by 1980...
...U.S...
...In particular, see ibid, 136ff...
...gold is controlled by the Rosario Resources Corp., ALCOA dominates the bauxite industry...
...Embassy, Trujillo took control of the country...
...The United States has attempted to defuse the explosive nature of this situation in many ways...
...And, finally, a new generation of the Santiago bourgeoisie saw the need for such a policy and was not as close to the bloodshed of the Trujillo years as their parents...
Vol. 8 • April 1974 • No. 4
