Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina

Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina , 1891-1961, president of the Dominican Republic (1930-38, 1942-52). Trained by U.S. marines during U.S. occupation of the country, he was army chief in the presidency of Horacio Vásquez , whom he ousted in 1930. He became dictator and retained power until his death even when not in the presidency. His autocratic, efficient, and ruthless regime accomplished considerable material progress. Terroristic methods were used, however, not only to repress Dominican opposition, but also against neighboring Haiti; in 1937, to stop Haitian infiltration, Dominican troops crossed the border and massacred between 10,000 and 15,000 Haitians. Generalissimo Trujillo was constantly embroiled in difficulties with other Caribbean countries, charging that plots were being hatched against him abroad. In 1956 rumor blamed the Trujillo regime for the disappearance from New York City of Jesús de Galíndez, a Columbia Univ. instructor who had sharply criticized Trujillo. Trujillo was assassinated in 1961.

Bibliography: See R. D. Crassweller, Trujillo: The Life and Times of a Caribbean Dictator (1966); J. de Galíndez, The Era of Trujillo (pub. after his disappearance, 1973).

Trujillo y Molina, Rafael Leonidas (b. 24 Oct 1891, d. 30 May 1961). President of the Dominican Republic 1931–61 The creator of the most comprehensive and ruthless dictatorship in Latin America, he had already made a fortune as a local commander of the armed forces through monopolizing the supply of his soldiers with food, clothes and other provisions. As Comander-in-Chief from 1927, he took part in the coup to overthrow President Vásquez and eliminated all other opposition to become President himself. He immediately began to establish legal monopolies, involving his own firms, on essential supplies such as meat, salt, and rice. He came to control virtually every aspect of the economy, diverse businesses involving e.g. tobacco, insurances, banks, fruit exports, and even prostitution. In addition, every public employee was forced to pay a levy of 10 per cent of their earnings to his party, whose finances he controlled. He thus established complete and direct control over the lives of virtually every individual in the Republic, which he complemented by the ruthless quashing of all opposition. In contrast to most other Latin American dictators, therefore, he managed to stay in power despite the Great Depression of the 1930s and the general democratizing tendencies after World War II. As he amassed an ever-greater fortune, his collaborators became jealous and disgruntled. His erstwhile protégés organized his assassination, whereupon his businesses were nationalized.