Joaquín Balaguer

is a country that has overcame many adversaries, one being ruled by Buenaventura Báez and Pedro Santana former presidents that advocated and ruled under a dictatorship in the 19th century. For that reason, having an authoritarian regime hindered democratization until Juan Bosch who was the first democratically elected president. Rafael Trujillo presidency in 1930 hindered the development of democracy because of his rule under absolute power. He eliminated any opposition by intimidation thus he was able to easily get reelected until his assassination in1961. Even though there were a couple years that he was not officially the president he gave his power to people that followed his regime. Rafael Trujillo passed his presidency to Joaquin Balaguer and Hector Trujillo at some point but he maintained definitive power through his political party, Dominican party. According to Hall in The Transition from dictatorship to democracy in the Dominican Republic “…empty treasury, a huge foreign debt, and a capital city destroyed by a hurricane. Within two decades, Trujillo had paid off the nation 's foreign debts, developed a national infrastructure, and laid the groundwork for economic development by promoting industrialization.” (14). When Trujillo was first elected Dominican Republic was in critical conditions it owned huge amount of money to other countries and a natural disaster hit Santo Domingo killing around 2,000 people. Eventually, he was able to bring economic prosperity and…

“Chucha shakes me awake. Sunlight is streaming in through the jalousie windows. Before I can ask her what’s the matter, gangster men in their dark glasses storm into the room, thrusting their guns here and there in the corners of the closet and under my bed, in search of something they can not find. Chucha and I clutch each other and watch the men pulling open drawers, throwing my clothes into the floor. Soon another bunch of men come into the room, pushing Mami in her nightgown before them.…

mass media of anti –Haitian propaganda, teaching the public false or misleading information about Haitians and bringing in white immigrants. The generation born into Trujillo’s rule was bombarded with literature that spoke ill of Haitians, and a general distrust occurred (Martin 221). It was at this time that anti-Haitians became an ideology of the Dominican people. One author who Trujillo utilized in his anti-Haitian propaganda and literature was Manuel A. Pena Batlle. Manuel A. Pena Batlle…