The Dominican Republic, and its owner, Rafael Leonidas...

The Dominican Republic, and its owner, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo All throughout the 20th century we can observe the marked presence of totalitarian regimes and governments in Latin America. Countries like Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic all suffered under the merciless rule of dictators and military leaders. Yet the latter country, the Dominican Republic, experienced a unique variation of these popular dictatorships, one that in the eyes of the world of those times was great, but in the eyes of the Dominicans, was nothing short of deadly. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, or â€Å"El Chivo†, controlled the people of the Dominican Republic in a manner that set him apart from the other leaders of that time.†¦show more content†¦The United States occupied the Dominican Republic in 1916, and when they vacated the country, they named Rafael Leonidas Trujillo second chief of a military branch. (Bosch, 173) The weakened ruling party allowed Trujillo to ascend through the ranks and gain popularity from 1924 to 1930, when he was elected President. Promises and ideas of economic stability filled the eyes and ears of the Dominican people, and allowed El Chivo to come into power. The Great Depression and World War II also allowed Trujillo to do as he pleased; due to the fact that the great powers had to shift their focus elsewhere. Slowly but surely Rafael Trujillo started making the Dominican Republic his own little piggybank. As he saw that the country had been stripped of many industries, he started to buy back everything that was in foreign control. (Sagas, 172) If he could not buy the business or gain control of the economic sector through lawful competition, he would gain control unlawfully. These other means often consisted of giving unfair interest rates to the businesses he competed against, using the banks that he owned. Ultimately, if he didn’t own the leading business, through his banks, he slowly ate away his competitors. The main target in his quest to regain economic control of the Republic was buying back the sugar cane plantations and sugar factories, almost all of which were owned and run by theShow MoreRelatedThe Reverse Resource Curse : Costa Rica Essay1803 Words   |  8 PagesThe Reverse Resource Curse The Republic of Costa Rica is a small nation; it is home to just over 4.8 million people in an area roughly comparable to Vermont and New Hampshire combined. The land that comprises modern Costa Rica is significantly lacking in terms of ‘classical natural resources,’ that is, fossil fuel deposits, and precious metals, among others. Sections of the nation that do contain such deposits are often protected national forests, or in some cases purposefully undeveloped. Thus,Read MoreJaun Bocsh1753 Words   |  8 PagesPuerto Rican mother. Juan Bosch was born in La Vega, Dominican Republic where most of the income came from farming. Due to Boschs surrounding he grew up close to peasants and landowners, even though his father owned a small business in La Vega, Dominican Republic. While many thought that he would follow in his fathers footsteps he decided to become a writer, novelist, essayist, political leader, and a former president of the Dominican Republic(Olmmos 4). All those experiences he lived as a child