Elections and Events 1945-1962


Galíndez 1973: "(O)n May 28, 1945, Trujillo addressed a letter to Rafael Estrella Ureña...inviting him to reorganize his Republican party. A similar invitation was addressed to the old leaders of other historical parties. Those were the days of the victory of the United Nations over fascism" (page 146). Describes the persecution of parties that did try to reestablish themselves.


Campillo Pérez 1986: "(C)on el propósito de imprimirle un 'ambiente liberal' a las elecciones que debían celebrarse el 16 de May de 1947, Trujillo en el verano del año anterior comenzó a permitir una pequeña oposición a su gobierno, especialmente en los sectores obrero y estudiantil. Como consecuencia de este 'permiso del jefe', aparecieron en el escenario nacional y en forma pública, dos agrupaciones que se dedicaron a hacer oposición real y efectiva al Gobierno, el Partido Socialist Popular y la Juventud Democrática. Trujillo toleró por algunos meses esas actividades, pero al ver que iban creciendo y despertando a las masas populares, no tuvo escrúpulos en perseguirlas" (page 202).

Galíndez 1973: The "double game of Trujillo with the Communists served two ends in 1946: a simulation of democratic freedom on the eve of the 1947 elections and the pretension that the only enemies of the regime were the Communists. In 1946, a dictatorship supported by a single party was out of fashion...The pretense continued for half a year more; but now 'the opposition' was limited to more obedient groups" (page 62).

Hartlyn 1998: Trujillo "convinced Dominican communists in Cuban exile to return and function openly and legally, which they did in 1946 with the misplaced belief they would be able to act effectively. In that year, only the second major strike under Trujillo's reign took place (the first was in 1942)" (page 51).


Galíndez 1973: The "only important strike which took place during the Era of Trujillo...was a strike in the sugar fields in January, 1946. It happened at the time of the highest democratic tide, and the government did not dare to crush it by force. It was the only time that the labor forces acted with spontaneity" (page 158).


Galíndez 1973: "The first time that the National Labor party was mentioned in public was in June, 1946" (page 147).

December 14: constituent assembly election

Galíndez 1973: "The National Labor party was still alive, and it participated in the extraordinary elections held on December 14 to choose delegates to the third constituent assembly called under Trujillo. The time the elections were not 100 percent in favor of one single list; the Dominican party received only 662,340 votes and the National Labor party, 65,948" (page 62). "The special elections of 1946 had a complication similar to those of the regular elections of 1947, because the Labor party took part in them. The results were published in the 'Official Gazette,' No. 6556 on December 19, announcing the victory of all candidates of the Dominican party plus two minority candidates of the Labor party, one in La Vega and another in Santiago" (page 99).

December 26: constituent assembly

Galíndez 1973: "The constituent assembly met December 26" (page 62).



Galíndez 1973: On "January 10, 1947, the new constitution was proclaimed; it was the twenty-fifty in the Republic's history...The next four months were occupied with the 'electoral campaign.' Officially it was a three-sided contest. At the end of January, the third party, the National Democratic party headed by Rafael A. Espaillat, was launched" (page 62).


Galíndez 1973: "On February 5, the declaration of principles of the National Democratic party was printed, which could not have been more similar to the declaration of the Dominican party" (page 62).


Galíndez 1973: "The central electoral board did not hesitate to recognize [the National Democratic] party on March 10. The National Labor party announced at the end of March, 1947, the list of its candidates, without even wasting paper to explain the program of the party in case of winning. Everything was ready for the elections" (page 62).

May 16: election (Trujillo / PD)

Atkins 1998: "In 1947 [Rafael Trujillo] was elected in another rigged process for a fourth five-year presidential term" (page 87).

Campillo Pérez 1986: Trujillo "decidió 'no ir solo' a las elecciones…(P)or órdenes del mismo Trujillo surgieron dos 'partidos'. En las boletas electorales se colocaron al lado de la palma real del Partido Dominicano, los emblemas de los Partidos Nacional Democrático y Laborista Nacional" (page 203). Describes election and gives results (pages 203-204, 472, 474).

Galíndez 1973: "The results were the most curious in the whole Era of Trujillo, and they surely meant a great job of calculation by the central electoral board or the agency deciding them. Province by province, county by county, the votes obtained by every one of the three parties were detailed. Of course, the candidacy of Trujillo and all candidates of the Dominican party won with the exception of two deputies reserved according to law for the minorities. In total, the Dominican party received officially 781,389 votes; the National Democratic party, 29,765; and the National Labor party, 29,186. There was not a single abstention" (page 63). "The general elections of 1947 were the only complicated ones in the history of Trujillo's regime, because of the game carried on with the National and Labor parties...The results were published in the 'Official Gazette,' No. 6632 of May 27" (page 98). Describes opposition party participation in the election (pages 147-148).

Grullón 1999: "En la farsa electoral, el Partido Dominicano de Trujillo obtuvo 781,389 votos, el Partido Nacional Democrático 29,765 votos y el Partido Laborista Nacional 29,186 votos. Votaron 840,340 electores" (page 54).

Hartlyn 1998: In 1947 "two regime-sponsored opposition parties were allowed to run, and each officially received a similar vote of just under 4 percent of the total, which was carefully distributed so that each could win exactly one deputy seat" (page 44).

McDonald 1989: Trujillo "was unopposed in all but one election, 1947, and his 'opponents' in that election were no more than agents chosen by him to go through the motions of an 'honest' election. He received 781,000 votes, and his two opponents each received 29,000 votes" (page 325).

May 29

Galíndez 1973: "On May 29 both chambers of Congress met solemnly in National Assembly to proclaim the victory of Trujillo" (page 63).


Galíndez 1973: In June a law is passed "prohibiting any Communist, anarchist, or similar groups" (page 64).

Haggerty 1991: Trujillo's "attitude toward communism tended toward peaceful coexistence until 1947, when the Cold War winds from Washington persuaded him to crack down and to outlaw the Dominican Communist Party (Partido Comunista Dominicano-PCD)" (page 29).

Hartlyn 1998: "(R)epression increased in 1947, and one month after his May 1947 reelection, Trujillo had the Communist Party declared illegal. A wave of repression effectively destroyed both the communists as well as the nascent independent labor movement" (page 51).


Galíndez 1973: "On August 16, 1947, Trujillo took the oath for the fourth time" (page 64).


Galíndez 1973: "In June, 1950, the usual campaign for reelection began-two years before the elections" (page 67).



Galíndez 1973: "In February, 1952, the reelection campaign was suddenly renewed. The Chamber declared the nomination of the Generalissimo for the term 1952-57 to be 'of the highest national desirability,' the Senate did the same in another resolution" (page 68).


Galíndez 1973: In July "Trujillo addressed a message to the convention of the Dominican party declining his nomination as a presidential candidate...and suggesting the name of his brother Héctor B. Trujillo; of course, this suggestion was accepted and confirmed by the convention" (page 69).


Nickson 1995: In 1952 "elected municipal councils in the rest of the country [were replaced] by appointed committees" (page 163).

May 16: election (Héctor Trujillo / PD)

Atkins 1998: In 1952, Rafael Trujillo's "brother, Héctor B. Trujillo, assumed the presidency. Rafael continued as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and became ambassador-at-large to the United Nations" (page 87).

Campillo Pérez 1986: Trujillo "leyó un mensaje rehusando su nueva postulación. Con 'grandes sentimientos' la Convención aceptó su decisión y nominó entonces a su hermano el General Héctor B. Trujillo Molina…Héctor…triunfó a 'unanimidad' sin siquiera una sola papeleta adversa" (page 204). Gives the results of the election (page 472).

Dominican crisis 1965 1971: In "1952, Trujillo relinquished the presidency to his brother, although he still retained 'de facto' control over the island" (page 9).

Galíndez 1973: "The elections May 16 could not have been more colorless; there was not even a pretense of a preceding electoral campaign...The electoral results were not surprising: 1,038,816 votes in favor of Héctor B. Trujillo; once again the votes were 100 percent in favor of all candidates of the Dominican party (including Francisco Prats Ramírez and Rafael A. Espaillat, [presidential candidates for 'opposition' parties in 1947], elected deputies)" (page 70). The election results "were published in the 'Official Gazette,' No. 7428 on May 31...The figure for the whole Dominican Republic was 1,038,816 votes, without mention of the number of registered electors or abstentions. The unanimity was perfect" (page 99). Gives a personal account of the elections (page 100-101).

Grullón 1999: "En 1952 Trujillo desistió de postularse. Impuso como candidato presidencial a su hermano el general Hector Bienvenido Trujillo Molina (Negro), quien sacó 1,038,816 votos contra ninguno" (page 54).


Galíndez 1973: "Preparations for the new term were completed by the passage by Congress of a law, at the end of June, creating from the coming August 17 the new position of 'Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic.' Trujillo himself had proposed this law...The appointment of Trujillo himself some days later illuminated the real reason for its creation" (page 70).


Ventura 1985: Hector Trujillo assumes the presidency on August 16, 1952 (page 71).


Atkins 1981: "The Dominican Republic was the first Latin American state to sign a bilateral Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with the United States (on March 6, 1953)" (page 11).


Hartlyn 1998a: "Trujillo favored the [Catholic Church] tremendously, subsizing the construction of church buildings, enhancing religious education, providing stipends for clergy and ultimately providing other prerogatives to the church through a concordat with the Vatican in 1954" (page 100).


Campillo Pérez 1986: "(L)a Vicepresidencia..había sido restablecida en la reforma constitucional de 1955" (page 204).

Hartlyn 1998a: "The regime appeared to be at its apogee in 1955, when the country sponsored a massive world fair to celebrate the twenty-five years of the Trujillo era. At that point Trujillo's domination of the island appeared absolute, even as support from the United States for its staunch 'anticommunist' ally was also high. Yet the fair constituted a massive drain on the country's budget" (page 95).


ICSPS 1966: "The Dominican Revolutionary Vanguard [VRD] was formed in exile in 1956 by Horacio Ornes Coiscou as a splinter group of the PRD, and its platform is much like that of the left-of-center party" (page 24).


Galíndez 1973: In March 1956, Jesús de Galíndez "disappeared forever. Although the case was never officially solved, Galíndez was almost certainly kidnapped in New York, taken to the Dominican Republic, and murdered, all on order of Trujillo...Galíndez's disappearance [turned] hemispheric opinion against Trujillo as nothing else had" (editor's note page ix).

Hartlyn 1998a: "In 1956 the kidnapping of Jesús de Galíndez marked a turn toward a more erratic and brutal use of repression, as Trujillo's rhetoric focused less and less on the national goals he had initially articulated and more on the 'communist' threat" (pages 95-96).


McDonald 1989: "In 1957 Trujillo decided to have a vice-presidential running mate for the first time since 1938. He was Joaquín Balaguer, who was to reemerge after Trujillo's death as a major political leader" (page 326).

May: election (Héctor Trujillo / PD)

Atkins 1998: "In 1957 Héctor was again elected president unopposed" (page 87).

Campillo Pérez 1986: Gives the results of the election (page 472).

Grullón 1999: "En esta farsa electoral el Partido Dominicano de Trujillo obtuvo 1,265,681 votos contra ninguno" (page 54).

Statistical abstract of Latin America volume 12 1968: In the May 16, 1957 presidential election Hector Trujillo is re-elected president (page 149).


Dominican crisis 1965 1971: In 1958 Trujillo "canceled American aid agreements and military assistance pacts" (page 10).

Hartlyn 1998a: "Trujillo remained commander-in-chief of the armed forces even when he was not formally president (in 1958, in the face of U.S. pressure, Trujillo claimed to have stepped down as commander-in-chief, but the ostensible move was never publicized within the country)" (page 97).



Kantor 1969: "Much of this opposition [to Trujillo] centered in Venezuela and after Rómulo Betancourt became president of Venezuela, in February 1959, he used his position to press the issue of human rights in the Dominican Republic before the Organization of American States. In reaction to this, Trujillo financed campaigns to overthrow the Venezuelan government" (page 6).


Atkins 1981: "In 1959, dissidents supported by Cuba landed in the Dominican Republic attempting to overthrow the Dominican dictator. Their efforts were easily thwarted, but Trujillo reacted with brutal repression. Many of Trujillo's former supporters, including sectors of the Roman Catholic Church and the government bureaucracy, protested the indiscriminate persecution. Serious opposition to Trujillo even developed within the armed forces" (pages 11-12).

Dominican crisis 1965 1971: "On June 14, 1959, a force of Dominican guerillas trained in Cuba was landed in the Dominican Republic but was wiped out by Trujillo's forces. This event triggered mass arrests throughout the Dominican Republic in late 1959 and early 1960. Those arrested in this sweep, although not involved with the Cuban-sponsored invasion, became known as the pro-Communist 14th of June Movement" (page 11).

Hartlyn 1998: "The country's political crisis gradually sharpened after June 1959, when a failed invasion attempt from Cuba took place" (page 70).

Kantor 1969: The Venezuelan government "on June 12, 1959, broke relations with the Dominican Republic. After an attempt was made to invade the Dominican Republic from Cuba, Trujillo arrested and had killed a large number of people. As a result, President Betancourt brought charges in the Organization of American States" (page 6).


Bosch 1965: "Around the end of 1959, youths who opposed Trujillo formed a secret political party called the 14th of June Movement (Movimiento 14 de Junio)" (page 11). "June 14, 1959, was the date of the Castro-backed sea-and-air invasion of the Dominican Republic" (page 12).

ICSPS 1966: An "exile group, the 14th of June Movement (1J4), was founded in 1959 and maintained a clandestine existence within the Republic until the Trujillo assassination, after which it came out into the open" (page 21).

Kantor 1969: The 14th of June Movement "had the support of many of the republic's most prominent citizens when it was first organized, but it permitted anyone who wanted to do so to enter the organization. It included within its ranks both Fidelistas, Communists, anti-Fidelistas and anti-Communists and as a result, the 14th of June Movement soon broke up into warring factions and the pro-Fidelistas elements captured the organization" (page 13).



Hartlyn 1998: "A major underground movement emerged...that was brutally crushed in January 1960; children of the wealthy were among the victims of this repression, pushing more of the economic elite into the active opposition. For the first time, the Catholic Church expressed its disapproval. International pressure built inexorably" (page 70). "The...Agrupación Politica 14 de Junio (1J4, Political Group 14th of June)...took its name from the failed invasion from Cuba of June 14, 1959, and from the underground Movimiento Revolucionario 14 de Junio (MR1J4, Revolutionary Movement 14th of June) destroyed by Trujillo in January 1960. The 1J4 would become a leftist, Fidelista party" (page 74).

Hartlyn 1998a: "Ricardo Pittini, archbishop of Santo Domingo and leader of the church from 1936 until 1960, was an open admirer of Trujillo and procided unequivocal support for his regime. However, an open break between Trujillo and the church finally came in January 1960, in the form of a pastoral letter that was read in all the country's Roman Catholic churches" (page 100).


Dominican crisis 1965 1971: "External sanctions against the Dominican Republic were applied in 1960, when the U.S. cut off all military aid and withdrew the quota for Dominican sugar to be bought by the U.S. This action came immediately after an attempt to assassinate Pres. Romulo Betancourt of Venezuela...Thereafter Trujillo sought to placate the U.S. and others by making moves towards democracy: elections were scheduled for the near future, and it was announced that all parties could participate" (page 10).

Haggerty 1991: Based on a series of events, Trujillo "ordered his foreign agents to assassinate Betancourt. The attempt, on June 24, 1960, injured, but did not kill, the Venezuelan president. The incident inflamed world opinion against Trujillo...The firestorm surrounding the Betancourt incident provoked a review of United States policy toward the Dominican Republic by the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The United States had long tolerated Trujillo as a bulwark of stability in the Caribbean; some in Washington still saw him as a desirable counterforce to the Castro regime. Others, however, saw in Trujillo another Fulgencio Batista-the dictator Castro deposed in 1959-ripe for overthrow by radical, potentially communist, forces" (pages 30-31).

Hartlyn 1998: Rafael Trujillo resigns as head of the PD (pages 70-71). "Out of desperation, Trujillo began to turn to the Soviet bloc. The Communist Party was legalized in June 1960, but emissaries seeking help from the Soviet Union met with no success" (page 71).


Atkins 1981: "In August 1960, because of Trujillo's complicity in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the president of Venezuela, the Organization of American States imposed multilateral diplomatic and economic sanctions" (page 12).

Hartlyn 1998: Hector Trujillo resigns from the presidency, and is replaced by vice-president JoaquRn Balaguer. "Free elections were promised and opposition parties were asked to organize" (page 71).

Ventura 1985: Joaquín Balaguer assumes the presidency on August 3, 1960 (page 76).


Hartlyn 1998: Trujillo's "advisers took steps-such as the killing by means of a staged auto accident of the anti-Trujillista middle-class Mirabal sisters in November 1960-that further alienated upper- and middle-class elements" (page 69).


Bosch 1965: "Trujillo's last Constitution-there were many Constitutions during his regime-was a treasure house of constitutional oddities. One of its articles declared untouchable, beyond seizure and beyond human, judicial, or other reach any properties held by any President of the Republic or his widow or heirs. That same constitution provided that relations between the Catholic Church and the Dominican State were to be governed by the Concordat that Trujillo had signed with the Pope. This meant that the governments that succeeded Trujillo's were powerless to act in vital areas of Dominican life" (pages 127-128).

Campillo Pérez 1986: "En las postrimerías de su régimen y de su vida, Trujillo quiso crear un falso 'clima democrático', con el fin de contradecir vanamente las graves acusaciones que en el plano internacional, pesaba sobre su conducta. Cambió la Constitución y dispuso celebración de 'elecciones' municipales y provinciales. Inmediatamente se inventaron unos grupos políticos fantasmas que recibieron los nombres de Partido Nacionalista, Laborista Dominicano y Agrupación Trujillista Política Juvenil" (page 204).

Hartlyn 1998: "(T)wo token pseudo-opposition parties were created in December 1960" (page 71).

December 15: election

Campillo Pérez 1986: "El 15 de Diciembre de 1960, tanto el Partido Dominicano como sus sucursales, o sea dichas agrupaciones, se fueron a las urnas para escenificar la última comedia electorera de Trujillo" (page 204).


ICSPS 1966: The PRSC "was formed in mid-1961 by three returning exiles" (page 25).
"The PPDC was founded in 1961 by Ramón Castillo, a former PRD leader who had broken with Bosch" (page 25).


Hartlyn 1998a: "Over the next year, Trujillo sought unsuccessfully to acquire the tile of 'benefactor of the church' as he launched a bitter campaign against the church that drove the bishops to write him a conciliatory letter [in January 1961]" (page 100).


Atkins 1998: "On 30 May 1961 Trujillo's thirty-one-year dictatorship came to an end with his assassination. The United States, which by then considered Trujillo a liability and the major impediment to a democratic transition, played a role in the killing" (page 119). Describes the CIA involvement (pages 119-120).

Dominican crisis 1965 1971: "The conspirators had planned to take over the government, but their plan badly misfired, and Ramfis Trujillo, the dictator's son, was able to take effective control. The younger Trujillo began a reign of terror, executing people under even the slightest suspicion" (page 11).

Hartlyn 1998: "In May 1961...when Trujillo was assassinated, the CIA was intimately involved in the plots leading up to his death, and the United States interfered extensively to insure that Trujillo's family would not retain control of power. The change in attitude of the United States can be explained principally by one fact: the Cuban Revolution. The Cuban Revolution led the United States to shift to a far more interventionist policy in the region" (page 70).

Langley 1989: "Trujillo's death did not destroy the power structure he had created, nor did it remove the Trujillo family from national politics. Through direct and indirect means the Trujillos owned virtually the entire Dominican economy…Outside the family others hoped to inherit Trujillo's position. One, Joaquín Balaguer, was a Trujillo protégé, but he was regarded as a man of decent if politically conservative views" (page 223).

Statistical abstract of Latin America volume 12 1968: Rafael Trujillo is assassinated on May 30, 1961 by a group of his military officers and former civilian supporters (page 149).

Wiarda 1992: "The seven-man assassination team did not represent the most oppressed sector of Dominican society, nor was the assassination accompanied by social revolution …Though they succeeded in assassinating Trujillo, their plot to seize power failed; all but two of the assassins were subsequently rounded up and killed" (page 37).


Hartlyn 1998: "Both President Balaguer and Trujillo's son Ramfis, commander of the armed forces, began to implement'democratization' measures, exiling some of the most visible symbols of repression and promising free elections for May 1962" (page 73).

Kantor 1969: "With Trujillo dead, the strongest groups in the country were the armed forces, the business-professional-landowning elite, and the Catholic Church hierarchy... But with Trujillo dead newer groups began to emerge: political parties, labor unions, peasant organizations, and independent public opinion influencing groups, particularly the press, radio and television" (page 7).

Wells 1966: "Within a few weeks after Trujillo's death, Balaguer started to introduce liberal reforms…Political parties were allowed to organize and preparations for the holding of free elections the following May were set in motion. Balaguer seems to have recognized that the Trujillo system of personal autocracy could not survive its founder and that his own continuance in office depended on a democratizing of the new regime" (page 15).

Wiarda 1992: "Power had been inherited by Ramfis Trujillo, the dictator's son, and by JoaquRn Balaguer, one of a number of puppet presidents through whom the old tyrant had ruled. They tried to maintain the regime and go about business as usual, but it soon became clear that they could not hope to wield the power or exert the authority that Trujillo had for thirty-one years" (page 39).


Bosch 1965: "The arrival of the Dominican Revolutionary Party in Santo Domingo on July 5, 1961…gave the people the feeling that they now had leaders who would protect them from tyranny" (page 12). "With the climate of fear dissipated by the appearance of the PRD, the upper stratum of the Dominican middle class now organized an apolitical patriotic movement called the National Civic Union (Unión Cívica Nacional, or UCN). It was one of those jokes of history, frequent in backward countries like the Dominican Republic, that both the U.S. State Department and the Communist Party supported the formation of the National Civic Union" (page 15).

Cedeño 1991: "El partido Unión Cívica Nacional tuvo su origen en una organización patriótica creada inmediatamente después de la muerte del tirano Rafael Leonidas Trujillo y la cual tuvo una destacada participación en la expulsión del país de los remanentes del trujillato, que encabezaron Ramfis Trujillo y otros familiares" (page 135).

Chester 2001: "In July 1961, a new political party, the National Civic Union (Unión CRvica Nacional or UCN), with its base in the traditional oligarchy, made its first public appearance" (page 23).

Hartlyn 1998: "The Unión CRvica Nacional (UCN, National Civic Union)...was formed in July 1961 by prominent Dominican businessmen, most of whom had benefited under Trujillo, and which was to become a conservative, but anti-Trujillista movement" (page 73).

ICSPS 1966: "Founded in July 1961, the [UCN] was for a time the strongest political movement in the Dominican Republic" (page 26).

Kantor 1969: "The second largest political party to emerge after Trujillo's death was the National Civic Union (UCN). This was formally launched on July 15, 1961, and had the support of most of the business and professional men in the country, particularly those who had never gone into exile" (page 13).

Langley 1989: "The professional and propertied interests, whose ancestors had ruled the republic before Trujillo came to power, wanted to reassert their power. With Balaguer they created a political coalition, the National Civic Union" (page 223).

Wiarda 1992: "Within weeks, Balaguer was allowing exiles to return and permitting opposition parties to form…Three major groups emerged. The National Civic Union (UCN)…organized a series of demonstrations and general strikes against the leaders aimed at getting rid of the Trujillo influence. It constituted the strongest early opposition to the regime. Potentially more important than the UCN was the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), a social-democratic party founded in exile by Juan Bosch, who was now allowed to return to lay the groundwork for a popular movement based on social reform. The third group was the Fourteenth of June Movement, whose followers included many students and young people and which came eventually to represent the pro-Castro element" (page 40).


Hartlyn 1998: "The two token opposition parties Trujillo had organized in December 1960 officially disappeared in August 1961" (page 74).


Wells 1966: "Since September the main opposition group, the [UCN] had been demanding the expulsion of the Trujillos as a precondition of U.C.N. participation in a coalition government" (page 16).


Atkins 1998: Juan Bosch "had been in exile for twenty-five years in several Latin American states until his return to the Dominican Republic in October 1961" (page 128).


Bosch 1965: "Beginning on November 19, 1961, the UCN was to dedicate all its strength to overthrowing both Balaguer and Rodríguez Echavarría" (pages 39-40).

Dominican crisis 1965 1971: "After 6 months of bloodshed, an OAS commission was authorized to investigate. The Trujillo family left the country Nov. 18, 1961...Joaquin Balaguer was legally the chief executive of the Dominican Republic throughout this period, although Ramfis Trujillo was actually in control until his departure" (page 11). "Balaguer assumed control of the armed forces Nov. 19, 1961 after the U.S. unofficially made it clear that it would oppose attempted coups by pro-Trujillo elements in the armed forces" (page 12).

Hartlyn 1998: "Ramfis urged his uncles, Trujillo's brothers, to return to the island, which they did on November 15, but the United States was determined not to allow them to return to power, fearing that the violence and instability that would be provoked would favor communism...Balaguer, opting to break with the Trujillos and side with the United States, dramatically refused to step aside. In the face of a threatened U.S. military intervention if they tried to reimpose themselves and of serious opposition from Balaguer and within the Dominican armed forces, HJctor and JosJ Arismendi Trujillo and a number of their close collaborators fled into exile four days after they returned. Thus in mid-November the Trujillo period finally came to an end as the regime collapsed" (page 74).

Wells 1966: "Once the Trujillos had gone, the U.C.N. turned its fire on Balaguer and tried to force his resignation by staging an eleven-day general strike. When that effort failed, the U.C.N. acquiesced to a Balaguer proposal whereby the existing government would be replaced by a Council of State, to consist of Balaguer as president and six others-the six others being members of the U.C.N. or acceptable to it" (page 16).

Wiarda 1975: "From the time of the assassination of the dictator Trujillo until November, 1961, Balaguer shared power with Lt. Gen. Rafael L. Trujillo, Jr. ('Ramfis'), who was head of the armed forces. After the departure of Ramfis on November 18, Balaguer retained at least nominal control until the installation of the first Council of State on January 1, 1962" (page 263).

Wiarda 1992: "In November 1961, unable to stem the unrest and not very adept at politics, Ramfis Trujillo and the rest of his family fled the country…Balaguer remained behind but was forced to share power in a seven-man Council of State that included businessmen, clergy, politicians from the UCN, and the two surviving Trujillo assassins" (page 40).


Hartlyn 1998: On "December 28, 1961, the PD was formally dissolved with the party property reverting to the state" (page 74).

Ventura 1985: Balaguer relinquishes power on December 31, 1961 (page 76).


Campillo Pérez 1986: "En el curso de 1962, desplegaban actividad proselitista los siguientes partidos o agrupaciones políticas: Partido Unión Cívica Nacional, Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, Partido Revolucionario Social Cristiano, Partido Nacional, Partido Alianza Social Demócrata, Partido Vanguardia Revolucionaria Dominicana, Partido Nacionalista Revolucionario Democrático, Agrupación Política '14 de Junio', Partido Nacionalista Revolucionario, Partido Revolucionario Dominicano Auténtico, Partido Acción Social, Partido Social Cristiano, Partido Socialista Popular, Movimiento Popular Dominicano, Partido 14 de Junio, y otros. El Partido Nacional resultó una débil y pequeña resurrección del viejo Partido horacista. Los Partidos Progresista Demócrata Cristiano y Partido Revolucionario Dominicano Auténtico fueron fundados por líderes disidentes del Partido Revolucionario Dominicano e igual cosa ocurrió con el Partido 14 de Junio con respecto a la Agrupación Política 14 de Junio y el Partido Social Cristiano con respecto al Partido Revolucionario Social Cristiano. El Partido Socialista Popular y Movimiento Popular Dominicano, estaban declarados ilegales" (page 214).

ICSPS 1966: "The Christian Democratic Party [PDC] was founded in 1962 by Mario Read Vittini, who broke away from the PRSC and formed his own party" (page 25).

Kantor 1969: "The PRD, the UCN and the 14th of June were the most important political organizations, but at least two dozen other political groups functioned. Of these, the most important were the Revolutionary Social Christian Party (PRSC), the Dominican Revolutionary Vanguard (VRD), the Democratic Nationalist Revolutionary Party (PNRD), and the Social Democratic Alliance (ASD). A Russian-oriented Communist Party operated under the name of Popular Socialist Party and a Chinese-oriented Communist Party operated under the name Popular Dominican Movement (MPD), but neither of these had any significant support" (pages 13-14).


Chester 2001: "On...January 1, 1962, the council assumed power, committed to holding democratic elections within the year. Although Balaguer remained as president, several members of the UCN were now included on the Council...Two weeks after the installation of the Council, General RodrRguez EchavarrRa moved to seize power...The Dominican military was warned that the overthrow of the civilian government would lead to the abrupt termination of U.S. aid, and the possibility of direct military intervention. These threats brought a quick end to the coup. RodrRguez EchavarrRa was disarmed, and sent into exile. Since Balaguer had relied on RodrRguez EchavarrRa to keep him in power, the failure of the coup forced his resignation as president...The Council of State would remain in power throughout the fourteen-month transition from the fall of Balaguer to the inauguration of Juan Bosch in February 1963" (page 27).

Dominican crisis 1965 1971: "Serious rioting broke out Jan. 15, 1962 in Santo Domingo. The rioters demanded the ouster of Balaguer. Balaguer resigned Jan. 16, and Armed Forces Min. Rodriguez led a coup and set up a 3-man military junta in place of the Council...(Y)oung air force officers Jan. 18 led a counter-coup that ousted Rodriguez. They subsequently exiled him to New York and reinstated the Council of State minus Balaguer" (page 12).

Kantor 1969: "The real power in the country...remained in the hands of the armed forces, now headed by a General Rodríguez Echevarría. He, at this time, began to put members of his family into key positions and to take other actions which convinced many that he wanted to reintroduce dictatorship with himself as the new Trujillo. On January 14 the decisive battle began after the armed forces fired at a meeting of the opposition...The forces of the people had the help of the United States which made it clear to the armed forces officials that it wanted no new dictatorship. By the 18th, the officers of the Air Force accepted the United State's point of view, freed the arrested Council members and arrested General Rodríguez Echevarría, the would-be dictator. A new Council of Government was set up without Balaguer and with the new Council headed by Dr. Rafael Bonelly in control" (page 10).

Wells 1966: "On January 16…the Council was overthrown by a military coup directed by the secretary of state for the armed forces, Major General Pedro Rodríguez Echavarría, a Balaguer appointee. Two days later another group of military officers arrested Rodríguez Echavarría and restored to power all members of the Council of State except Balaguer, last of the Trujillo heirs, who soon retreated into exile" (page 16). Describes the Council of State and its activities.

Wiarda 1975: Gives names of members of council of state which takes power on January 1, 1962 (page 263). It is dissolved by a military coup on January 16, 1962 and replaced by a civilian-military junta, whose names are listed here (page 263). This junta is in turn replaced by a council of state on January 18, 1962 (their names are listed here) which governs until February 27, 1963.


Rutinel Domínguez 2000: "Partido Revolucionario Social Cristiano: Organización política fundada el 22 de marzo de 1962" (page 701).


Brea Franco 1987: "1962 - 5 mayo: promulgación de la Ley Electoral" (page 62).

Campillo Pérez 1986a: Describes some of the changes in the electoral law 5891 of May 8, 1962 (page 46).


Hartlyn 1998: "The council was governing on the basis of Trujillo's last constitution, as amended to establish the council in December 1961. It mandated elections for delegates to a constitutional convention on August 15 and presidential and congressional elections on December 20. Two months prior to the proposed August elections, however, preparations had not yet begun; after complicated machinations up to the last minute, the August elections were canceled and it was decided that the congress elected along with the president in December would also rewrite the constitution" (page 77).


Rutinel Domínguez 2000: "Alianza Social Demócrata: Organización política fundada en el 1961, pero reconocida por la Junta Central Electoral el 19 de septiembre de 1962" (page 26).

December 20: general election (Bosch / PRD)

Alexander 1973: "Elections to reestablish a constitutional government were finally held at the end of 1962" (page 293). Gives the number of votes for the top two presidential candidates. "The PRD also won 25 of the 27 members of the Senate and 52 of the 74 members of the Chamber of Deputies, as well as control of most of the municipalities of the country."

Atkins 1998: "Eight political parties representing the political spectrum from left to right campaigned for the presidency and seats in the National Assembly. The main contenders were the 'Partido Revolucionario Dominicano'...to the left of center and the 'Unión Cívica Nacional'...to the right of center. Juan Bosch was the PRD's head and presidential candidate...Viriato Alberto Fiallo, a country physician, was the UCN's presidential nominee" (page 128).

Bosch 1965: Describes the campaign and election (pages 88-98, 111-122). "In the elections of December 20, 1962, Congressmen and their alternates had been elected. According to the law that governed the elections, the Congressmen would make up the Revisory Constituent Assembly, and if that body did not complete its task by February 27, 1963-the date on which the officials elected on December 20 were to take their seats-their alternates would serve in the Chamber of Deputies until the Congressmen finished revising the Constitution" (page 127).

Campillo Pérez 1986: Describes the campaign and election (pages 216-222). Gives the results of the election (pages 477-482).

Cedeño 1991: "En las primeras elecciones libres celebradas en el país en 1962, [UCN] alcanzó la cifra de 317,327 votos...La agrupación patriótica UCN...se transformó en partido político en 1962, con fines de participar en las elecciones de ese año organizadas por el denominado Consejo de Estado" (page 135).

Conaghan 1994: The "centre-left (PRD), led by the outspoken nationalist Juan Bosch,…was able to organise freely in 1961, gaining broad-based support to win the 1962 national election" (page 333).

Contreras 1986: "Número y porcentaje de votos obtenidos por principales partidos políticos a nivel de municipios en las elecciones nacionales de 1962" (pages 9-11). "Porcentaje de votos en provincias elecciones de 1962 para los tres principales partidos políticos" (page 62). "Provincias ganadas por el PRD en las elecciones de 1962" (page 63). "Provincias ganadas por la UCN en las elecciones de 1962" (page 63). "Elecciones generales de 1962--votación por partidos en municipios" (pages 73-74). "Porcentaje población urbana y votación elecciones de 1962" (pages 95-97).

D'Agostino 1992: "Results of the 1962 election" (page 209).

Dominican crisis 1965 1971: "The election contest shaped up as a battle between leftist and rightist political elements, with the right uniting behind Dr. Viriato Fiallo of the National Civic Union and the left supporting Juan D. Bosch, head of the Dominican Revolutionary Party...Bosch was charged by the Catholic Church with being a 'Marxist-Leninist,' and he threatened to withdraw from the race. The Church rescinded the charge Dec. 18, and Bosch remained a candidate for the Dec. 20 elections" (page 13). "Bosch won with a 2-to-1 majority over Dr. Viriato Fiallo of the right-of-center National Civic Union. He received 580,000 votes to Fiallo's 270,000. 'The new president was assured of congressional control under a system which permits voters to cast ballots for candidates of one party only,' the Christian Science Monitor noted Dec. 24" (page 15).

Grant 1969: Describes the 1962 election (pages 44-46).

Grullón 1999: Describes the campaign and gives the election results (pages 82-84).

Haggerty 1991: "The leading candidates were Juan Bosch GaviZo, a scholar and poet, who had organized the opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Dominicano-PRD) in exile, and Viriato Fiallo of the National Civic Union (Unión Cívica Nacional-UCN). In the balloting of December 20, 1962, the conservative image of the UCN and its association with the country's economic elite benefited Bosch, whose support came mainly from the urban lower class. Bosch won the election with 64 percent of the vote; the PRD also captured two-thirds majorities in both houses of the legislature" (page 32).

Hartlyn 1998: "At one time, twenty-nine 'parties' were participating in the campaign, and ultimately six candidates presented themselves for the presidency" (page 76). Describes some of the parties. "Bosch won a clear majority of 58.7 percent of the votes..., with Fiallo receiving 30.1 percent. At the congressional level, the PRD won in all but five provinces, gaining twenty-two of the twenty-seven senators and forty-nine of the seventy-four deputies (chosen by closed list proportional representation); the UCN won in only four provinces, thus electing four senators, and twenty deputies. A small caudillo-based party swept San Juan province, electing a senator and four deputies" (page 78).

Hartlyn 1998a: The provisional government, "dominated by anti-Trujillista but conservative and economically wealthy forces, called for elections, which it expected to win easily. But the elections were won by Juan Bosch, recently returned from exile" (page 103).

ICSPS 1966: In the elections of December 20, 1962 "approximately 1,054,944, or 34% of the total Dominican population, actually voted. This turnout represents 70% of the estimated total eligible electorate (around 1,500,000)" (page 19). "Who votes: distribution of 1960 population and 1962 electorate, by province" (page 20). Gives by province the total votes cast and the percentage they constitute of the total vote in the 1962 presidential election. "An analysis of the 1962 election" (page 40). "1962 presidential election returns, by province" (page 41). Lists results by province and party. "1962 presidential election returns, by party" (page 42). "Congressional elections" (page 42). "Municipal elections" (page 42). "1962 congressional election returns, by province" (page 43). Lists results by province and party. "1962 congressional elections returns, by party" (page 44). "Distribution of seats in the senate and chamber of deputies, 1962 election" (page 44). Lists results by province and party.

Maríñez 1990: "1962: las primeras elecciones libres en las últimas décadas" (pages 68-71). "(E)l 20 de diciembre, día de las elecciones, el PRD obtuvo una aplastante victoria, con 619 491 votos (58.7%), contra 317 327 votos (30.0%) de la UCN. La representación parlamentaria alcanzada por el PRD también guardaba las mismas proporciones: 22 senadores y 49 diputados para el PRD, y tan sólo cuatro senadores y 20 diputados para la UCN" (page 71).

Mitchell 1998: "In many ways the 1962 contest set the parameters for contemporary politics, including a high level of political participation, a strong role for national parties, and a focus on the presidency as the key electoral stake. The [PRD] emerged in 1962 as the first modern national party, with a populist structure and a reformist program…The PRD's sweeping triumph paradoxically weakened its overal political position, however. More conservative elites despaired of winning at the ballot box and allied with the military to overthrow President Juan Bosch" (pages 118-119).

Ramírez Morillo 1997: "Elecciones de 1962" (pages 54-57). "Resultados elecciones de 1962" (page 57). Gives results by province.

Wells 1966: "Although many of the U.C.N. leaders had served the dictatorship in one capacity or another…., they had never accepted the Trujillos as their social equals. The founder of the U.C.N. and later its candidate for president, Viriato A. Fiallo, was one of the few who never collaborated with Trujillo in any way…In general, they belonged to the traditional ruling class and, partly because of the patronage at the Council's disposal, they confidently expected to win the election" (page 16). Describes the campaign and election (pages 16-17). "The 628,000 votes that [Bosch] received were 60 per cent of the 1,055,000 and twice as many as the number gained by Fiallo, his nearest competitor… P.R.D. candidates also won 22 of the 27 seats in the senate and 49 of the 74 seats in the chamber of deputies, as compared with 4 and 20, respectively, won by U.C.N. candidates" (page 17).

Wiarda 1992: "As the parties organized and prepared for December elections, it became increasingly clear that the PRD had the largest popular following…The election outcome was therefore no surprise. Bosch and the PRD defeated Fiallo and the UCN by a 2-1 margin. The PRD's stunning victory represented the triumph of the urban and rural masses over the country's traditional ruling elites in the upper and upper-middle classes" (page 41).