Political Unrest in the Dominican Republic - Essay Example

Political Unrest in the Dominican Republic No Caribbean or Central American nation has been a greater victim to political upheaval than the DominicanRepublic. Since the landing of Columbus, the island nation has been colonized, exploited, oppressed, occupied, and plundered. Some of the forces were external nations extending their colonial reaches in search of gold and economic resources. Other forces have been internal, as class and cultural differences struggled for power. Since the time the Europeans first set foot on the island formerly known as Hispaniola, the people of the Dominican Republic have had little chance to advance socially or politically. The long-suffering population has been constantly at siege of dictators, military juntas, and civil wars. This history is the legacy of the modern Dominican Republic. External forces hoping to capitalize on the Dominican Republics physical and geographical resources have exploited the Dominican Republics cultural history of class and caste separation, and have been at the root of their history of military coups and civil war. The political history of the Dominican Republic can be divided into the period before independence in 1844 and the period since independence. The social system of the Dominican Republic is largely the result of the centuries of rule by Spain. The slave society of the 17th century grew into a feudal order system with well-defined classes and castes, each with distinct rights and privileges. However, a middle class was almost non-existent as, "a very few people monopolized almost all the wealth and power while the vast mass of the population, forced to labor for the few, lived in abysmal poverty".1 The wealth was accumulated through plantations and the production of sugar, coffee, and cattle. These plantations were in the hands of a few elite families that ruled the government in their districts with little if any tradition of popular participation or democracy. The Spanish colonization passed in the early 1800s and gave way to a period of ruthless Haitian rule. The Dominicans struggled for independence from France, Spain, and Haiti for the fifty-year period leading up to independence and in the process destroyed what little social and cultural fabric that had existed. The period of 1822-1844 was characterized by Haitian rule and the near extinction of the European traditions. The "Haitians held the highest offices, closed the universities, severed the churchs ties with Rome, disrupted the economy, forced out the ruling class, and came near to exterminating all the whites".2 By the time that the Dominican Republic declared itself independent in 1844, it had lost all forms of self-government, had no merchant class, and little remained of the ruling families. This left little form for a government or society to begin a nation with. In fact, during the 19th century the Dominican Republic would remain a protectorate of Spain, Columbia, and the United States. In 1861, the father of independence General Santana converted the country back into a Spanish colony and in 1898 General Heureaux put the national economy under control of the Santo Domingo Improvement Company, a US backed monopoly.3 Thus the lack of a middle and merchant class and a history of external exploitation formed the cultural disadvantage that the Dominicans faced while attempting to form a national identity. The stripping of any governmental infrastructure, court system, and economic structure left the Dominican Republic in a political climate that was ripe for exploitation by force and violence. In addition, there were several competing interests that had a motivation to rise to power. There was the elite ownership class that had an economic and class interest in maintaining their power and position. There was also the mass of the population that had struggled for political and economic participation for centuries without success. There was even constant turmoil among the elite families that owned and controlled the islands commerce, leading to four revolutions and five presidents between 1899 and 1905.4 The opposing forces of social justice and private greed fomented as the Dominican Republic solved the turmoil by its cultural tradition of revolution rather than democracy and free elections. By the turn of the twentieth century the tradition of power, and the rise to the presidency, was firmly established in the historical context. The people had no voice and no political mechanism to make their voice heard. The nation was governed by authoritarian rule that was traded among the first families through revolution and civil war. The competing factions were often rivalries that were represented by the caudillos, men on horseback that would ride in and assume power.5 The caudillos would represent the elite families as they "jockeyed to gain the favor of rag-tag unprofessional bands of armed camp followers, and they galloped in and out of the presidential palace with regularity".6 In essence, the nation had never learned to form a national consensus on identity and power. The masses, where the power in a democracy lies, were excluded from any political participation and there was no formal structure or tradition for an orderly rise to the presidential palace. According to Wiarda, "Political groupings represented rival "first family" alliances with little or no differences in programs or ideology, and control of the government was determined by whatever clique could muster enough allies among the oligarchy and the several provincial caudillo-led military forces to seize power".7 The Dominican Republic lacked any political consolidation, had no historical tradition to build one upon, and was also hampered by the culture of seize and rule governance. Adding to the Dominican Republics internal problems were the external forces that were influenced by the countrys prized geographical location. When Columbus landed in Hispaniola, he found an idyllic island paradise where he imagined a wealth of gold and silver available to claim for Spain. When Columbus wrote the Spanish finance minister about his discovery, he reported, "The seaports there are incredibly fine, as also the magnificent rivers, most of which bear gold. The trees, fruits and grasses differ widely from those in Juana. There are many spices and vast mines of gold and other metals in this island".8 The reports of gold and precious metals would later prove unfounded, but set off a wave of Spanish invaders. The Spanish used the island as a base of operations for the exploration and conquering of the other islands, Mexico, and South America. Because of its geographical location, it has been of strategic importance to the world powers that were determined to colonize and rule the new world. Pirates used the island as a base to prey on Spanish fleets carrying gold from Mexico and South America, and both the British and the French laid claims to the nation during the 16th and 17th centuries.9 By the turn of the 20th century, the nation would come under the influence of the United States as US policy in Central and Latin America began to view it as a primary strategic and hemispheric concern. The Dominican Republic, as with all Latin America, had been constantly under external rule or protection by the worlds great powers, and in 1895 that influence was passed to the United States. This involvement by the US was to set the stage for a century that was wracked by further oppression, turmoil, and political indecision. The Monroe Doctrine articulated the US policy towards the Dominican Republic. In part, the Monroe Doctrine stated, "It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent, without endangering our peace and happiness: nor can any one believe that our Southern Brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord".10 The doctrine formed the basis of the official US policy that European powers would not inflict undue influence in the Western Hemisphere. By the turn of the 20th century the policy began to shape the events in the Dominican Republic. Secretary of State Olney declared on July 20, 1895, "Today the United States is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition".11 These actions, more than any other, would shape the destiny of the Dominican Republics politics and policies for the next century. The degree of commitment to the Dominican Republic by the United States at the end of the 19th century, and its degree of influence, cannot be overstated. The intervention into the economy of the Dominican Republic that began in 1898 was expanded and became more sharply defined under President Roosevelts Big Stick Policy towards Latin America. Known as the Roosevelt Corollary, it called for "the maintenance of political stability and the prevention of further foreign (European) influence and control".12 Fearing European intervention into the Dominican to collect the massive debt that the nation had accumulated through the practice of printing worthless currency, the US reached an agreement with the Dominican Republic to assume control of their economy. The agreement stated, "The United States government agrees to attempt the adjustment of all the obligations of the Dominican government, foreign as well as domestic".13 An interim agreement was reached and in effect, the United States would resolve all outstanding claims and take control of the Dominicans customs houses and administer the receipts.14 This would seem to place the Dominican Republic on the road to economic fairness and political stability in their quest for self-governance and democracy. However, the country still lacked the necessary infrastructure and social organization for civil self-rule. The next decade would lay the groundwork for another century of civil unrest as the United States intervened and occupied the nation, often with conflicting and self- competing interests. The Roosevelt Corollary was having the intended effect, as after April 1905, the Dominican Republic fell into a relative state of civil calm and peasants and farmers enjoyed an economic prosperity that had seldom been known in their history.15 However, the balancing act between protector and oppressor was a narrow path for the United States to stay on. According to Bailey, "The United States is perhaps a little too close for comfort, and its power perhaps a bit too overwhelming. More important than this, however, is the extreme unpredictability of U. S. policy, seemingly eternally vacillating between direct intervention and absolute indifference, between power politics and idealism".16 The United States would find itself inflicting democracy, in the capitalist style of the US, on a country that had experienced centuries of oppression and whose ideals may lean more towards Marxism. This placed the US in the position of supporting governments that were at odds with their ideals, fighting ideologies, and once again preventing the Dominican Republic people from forming their own culture of government. While the economic situation improved considerably under the Roosevelt Corollary, the situation began to deteriorate during the Wilson administration and the Dominican Republic again returned to anarchy and chaos. Wilson saw the lack of progress towards a constitutional democracy as a grave threat to the stability of the Caribbean and believed that it could be imposed by force by external pressure.17 Fearing that the nation could fall prey to a hostile foreign power, Wilson authorized the occupation of the country in 1916. During the occupation from 1916-1924, "The Dominican Congress was suspended, the Supreme Court stripped of its authority, and the US military governor granted power to rule by decree".18 The years of US occupation helped the government become more centralized and less localized. Improvements in roads and education helped bring the Dominican Republic into the 20th century as an industrializing nation, though still lagging behind the hemisphere. Yet, after the withdrawal of US troops, the nation returned to its roots and President Vasquez, elected in 1924, expanded his powers and engaged in widespread economic corruption.19 By 1930, with the economy in shambles due to the worldwide depression, the Vasquez regime was overthrown and a new dictator assumed power. US trained and backed General Rafael Trujillo would double-cross the United States and resort to the ages old tradition of a military coup to assume power for the next three decades.20 The Trujillo regime would finally end a century of never ending chaos, revolution, and political uncertainty. The Trujillo regime has been both lauded as a socially conscious movement into modernization and cursed as a bitter and brutal dictatorship that controlled the people with an iron fist. On the one hand, Trujillo is said to have returned the arable land owned by the sugar concerns to the peasants and provided for a minimum wage well in excess of those that previously existed.21 However, his critics contend that Trujillo exerted monopolistic control over the economy, the military, society, and as many as seventy-five percent of the population worked for the Trujillo family operations both in and out of the government.22 While there was modernization of radio, communications, and the educational system, it was tightly controlled by Trujillo and were used as instruments for further oppression and control.23 This oppression, ignored by the US for three decades, resulted in an outward stability but fomented an internal pressure cooker that called for revolution. After three decades of Trujillo rule, the United States had become more deeply involved in Latin America without any clear policy. This further drove the Dominican Republic into political chaos. On May 30, 1961, "A conspiracy contrived by the CIA on the basis of a US presidential decision" assassinated General Trujillo.24 To fill the political vacuum left by the absence of Trujillo, members of his family and allies attempted to retain power. However, they were ineffectual and the Dominican Republic returned to its roots of revolution and insurrection. After the assassination of Trujillo, the US policy was to prevent a pro-Castro regime from taking power.25 In 1962 Juan Bosch, who was criticized as a pro-communist leftist And Castro protégé, won the first free elections since 1924.26 His soft on communism stance was unwelcome by the US and would result in his overthrow and again send the country into violent chaos. However, critics have pointed out that this was due to paranoia of the US Cold War politics, an unclear policy, and did not bear out in reality, as Bosch had no communists in his government.27 A US Marine occupation in 1965 would temporarily stabilize the situation long enough to install Juaquin Balaguer, a pro-Trujillo puppet, as the new president in 1966. After 12 years of US backed oppression under Balaguer, as a means to fight the leftist pro-communist factions in the Dominican, the country came under the rule of the Dominican Revolutionary Party and has since experienced a period of peace and economic prosperity devoid of outside intervention. In conclusion, the political chaos and revolutions in the Dominican Republic have been the result of outside influences exploiting a culturally and politically naive population. Centuries of rule and oppression by the Spanish, Portuguese, French, British, and Americans had left a country without any tradition of national identity. United States policies of the 20th century further exacerbated the problem. When allowed, the Dominican Republic would return to its traditions of the ins fighting the outs as a means to vie for power. However, these practices and policies were unable to establish a national consensus or national identity. The government institutions of the military and economy were left to be exploited by private interests and elite concerns. The Cold War politics of the US continued to splinter the nation well into the 20th century. The last three decades have shown that the Dominican Republic can live in peace and prosper in a modernizing world. Bibliography Atkins, G P., and L G. Wilson. The United States and the Trujillo Regime. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1972. Bailey, Norman A. "The United States as Caudillo." Journal of Inter-American Studies 5, no. 3 (1963): 313-24. Columbus, Christopher. "The Letter of Columbus to Luis De Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery." Historic Documents. Independence Hall Association. http://www.ushistory.org/documents/columbus.htm (4 October 2008). Draper, Theodore. The Dominican Revolt: A Case Study in American Policy. New York: Commentary Reports, 1968. Gutierrez, Carlos M. The Dominican Republic: Rebellion and Repression. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972. Lizarazo, J A. Birth and Growth of Anti-Trujilloism in America. Madrid: Graficas Res, 1958. Monroe, James. "President James Monroes Seventh Annual Message to Congress, December 2, 1823." Historic Documents. Independence Hall Association. http://www.ushistory.org/documents/monroe.htm. Scott, James B., and George G. Wilson. The American Journal of International Law. New York: Baker, Voorjis, and Company, 1907. Wiarda, Howard J. The Dominican Republic: Nation in Transition. New York: Frederick A Praeger, 1969. Wiarda, Howard J. "The Politics of Civil-Military Relations in the Dominican Republic." Journal of Inter-American Studies 7, no. 4 (1965): 465-84. 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