Not So Wondrous: The effects of a brutal dictatorial regime illustrated by Junot Diaz

The brutality of the Trujillo Regime lasted for thirty years. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was named the ruler of the Dominican Republic in 1930, and continued his tyranny until his assassination in 1961. El Jefe, as he was often referred to, (meaning “the boss”) was originally an army general, and took power as a dictator following the rule and overthrow of Horacio Vasquez. Under Trujillo’s rule, the intense violence in the country became overwhelming. Though he officially stepped down as president almost ten years before his assassination, he continued his command as an unelected military dictator (“History of the Dominican Republic”). Trujillo, in true dictator form, preformed horrible acts of violence. In the 1930’s, he developed a term of racial discrimination against dark-skinned Haitians called “Antihaitianismo,” and in 1937, he was responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Haitian cane-workers. He also abused his position by taking unfair advantage over Dominican citizens. “El Jefe” had the right to any woman of his choice, regardless of their age or marital status. These women were taken without consent, abused, and raped. In order to keep his people under control, Trujillo had a way of taking care of anyone who opposed these horrible acts. Torture and murder of all who opposed was very

common, and always kept quiet. One of the only truly publicized cases was that of the Mirabal Sisters. Patria, Maria, and Antonia Mirabal were all avidly involved in the anti-Trujillo movement, and as a result, Maria and Antonia were incarcerated and tortured on numerous occasions, and Trujillo had all three viciously murdered in a sugarcane field in 1960 (“History of the Dominican Republic”). The people of the Dominican Republic lived under such inhumanity for