occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965 66).

The United States occupation of the Dominican Republic occurred from 1916 to 192 4. It was one of the many interventions in Latin America undertaken by American military forces. On May 13, 1916,[1] Rear Admiral William B. Caperton forced the Dominican Republic's Secretary of War Desiderio Arias, who had seized power fro m Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra, to leave Santo Domingo by threatening the city wi th naval bombardment.[1] Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 Occupation Withdrawal Aftermath Gallery See also References

Occupation Three days after Arias left the country,[1] United States Marines landed and too k control of the country within two months,[1] and in November the United States imposed a military government under Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp.[1] The ma rines restored order throughout most of the republic, with the exception of the eastern region; the country's budget was balanced, its debt was diminished, and economic growth resumed; infrastructure projects produced new roads that linked all the country's regions for the first time in its history; a professional mili tary organization, the Dominican Constabulary Guard, replaced the partisan force s that had waged a seemingly endless struggle for power.[2] Most Dominicans, however, greatly resented the loss of their sovereignty to fore igners, few of whom spoke Spanish or displayed much real concern for the welfare of the republic. A guerrilla movement, known as the gavilleros,[1] enjoyed cons iderable support from the population in the eastern provinces of El Seibo and Sa n Pedro de Macors.[1] Having knowledge of the local terrain, they fought against the United States occupation from 1917 to 1921.[3] American naval forces maintai ned order during a period of chronic and threatened insurrection.[RL30172] [3] I n 1921, the gavilleros were crushed due to the superior air power, firepower and counterinsurgency methods of the United States military.[1] Withdrawal After World War I, public opinion in the United States began to run against the occupation.[1] Warren G. Harding, who succeeded Wilson in March 1921, had campai gned against the occupations of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.[1] In Jun e 1921, United States representatives presented a withdrawal proposal, known as the Harding Plan, which called for Dominican ratification of all acts of the mil itary government, approval of a loan of US$2.5 million for public works and othe r expenses, the acceptance of United States officers for the constabulary now know n as the National Guard (Guardia Nacional) and the holding of elections under Unit ed States supervision. Popular reaction to the plan was overwhelmingly negative. [1] Moderate Dominican leaders, however, used the plan as the basis for further negotiations that resulted in an agreement between U.S. Secretary of State Charl es Evans Hughes and Dominican Ambassador to the United States Francisco J. Peyna do on June 30, 1922,[4] allowing for the selection of a provisional president to rule until elections could be organized.[1] Under the supervision of High Commi ssioner Sumner Welles, Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos assumed the provisional presi dency on October 21, 1922.[1] In the presidential election of March 15, 1924, Ho racio Vsquez Lajara, an American ally who cooperated with the United States gover nment, handily defeated Peynado. Vsquez's Alliance Party (Partido Alianza) also w on a comfortable majority in both houses of Congress.[1] With his inauguration o n July 13, control of the republic returned to Dominican hands.[1]

Aftermath Despite the withdrawal, there were still concerns regarding the collection and a pplication of the country's custom revenues. To address this problem, representa tives of the United States and the Dominican Republic governments met at a conve ntion and signed a treaty, on December 27, 1924, which gave the United States co ntrol over the country's custom revenues.[5] In 1941, the treaty was officially repealed and control over the country's custom revenues was again returned to Do minican Republic government.[5] However this treaty created lasting resentment o f the United States among the people of the Dominican Republic.[6] One major consequence that resulted from the occupation was the rise of Rafael T rujillo.[6] Trujillo had received a commission as a second lieutenant in the UScreated national guard in early 1919.[6] Trujillo, a onetime thief, forger and p imp,[6] received high marks from US military officers and eventually became the country's army chief of staff in 1928.[6] Through the rigged election of 1930, T rujillo became the country's president.[6] Though the US State Department saw Tr ujillo as a "a kind Frankenstein, brought to life by the US marines" and likely to spawn new insurrections,[6] the US government warmed to him when his strong-a rm tactics obviated the need for military intervention.[6] Thanks to the benefic ent US control of the country's customs,[6] Trujillo could divert funds to his a rmy for suppression of domestic dissent.[6] Political corruption, military muscl e, torture, murder, nepotism, commercial monopolies and raids on the country's n ational treasury enabled Trujillo to quiet his opponents and amass a fortune of $800 million