Editing Rafael Trujillo (section)

==Foreign policy==
[[File:Former President of San Domingo inspects Marine Guard on arrival in Capital. Washington, D.C., July 6. General Rafael L. Trujillo, former President of the Dominican Republic, inspects the LCCN2016875900.jpg|thumb|Trujillo in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1939]]
[[File:Presidente Rafael L. Trujillo en 1945 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|150px|Trujillo in 1945]]
[[File:Trujillo-Somoza 1952.jpg|thumb|Rafael Trujillo (right) and Nicaraguan president [[Anastasio Somoza García]] (left) at the inauguration of Héctor Trujillo as president in 1952]]
[[File:El Caudillo y Rafael L. Trujillo en una demostración 2.jpg|thumb|Trujillo with Spanish leader [[Francisco Franco]] in 1954]]
Trujillo tended toward peaceful coexistence with the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]]. During [[World War II]], Trujillo symbolically sided with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] and declared war on [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italy]] and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] on 11 December 1941. While there was no military participation, the Dominican Republic thus became a founding member of the [[United Nations]]. Trujillo encouraged diplomatic and economic ties with the United States, but his policies often caused friction with other nations of Latin America, especially [[Costa Rica]] and [[Republic of Venezuela|Venezuela]]. He maintained friendly relations with [[Francisco Franco|Franco]] of [[Francoist Spain|Spain]],<ref>[http://hoy.com.do/trujillo-y-franco-la-alianza-de-dos-generalisimos-2/ Trujillo y Franco, la alianza de dos generalísimos]</ref> [[Juan Perón|Perón]] of [[Argentina]], and [[Anastasio Somoza García|Somoza]] of [[Somoza family|Nicaragua]]. Towards the end of his rule, his relationship with the United States deteriorated.

Trujillo encouraged foreign investment in the Dominican Republic, particularly from Americans. He gave a [[Concession (contract)|concession]] with mineral rights in the Azua Basin to [[Clem S. Clarke]], an [[petroleum|oil]]man from [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Reminiscences of Clem S. Clarke: Oral history, 1951| first1= Allan| last1= Nevins |authorlink1= Allan Nevins| first2= Frank Ernest |last2= Hill |authorlink2= Frank Ernest Hill |publisher=[[Columbia University]]|location= New York |oclc = 122308295| isbn= }}</ref>

===Hull–Trujillo Treaty===
Early on, Trujillo determined that Dominican financial affairs had to be put in order, and that included ending the United States's role as collector of Dominican customs—a situation that had existed since 1907 and was confirmed in a 1924 convention signed at the end of the occupation.

Negotiations started in 1936 and lasted four years. On 24 September 1940, Trujillo and the American Secretary of State [[Cordell Hull]] signed the Hull–Trujillo Treaty, whereby the United States relinquished control over the collection and application of customs revenues, and the Dominican Republic committed to deposit consolidated government revenues in a special bank account to guarantee repayment of foreign debt. The government was free to set custom duties with no restrictions.<ref>{{harvp|Capdevilla|1998|p=84}}</ref>

This diplomatic success gave Trujillo the occasion to launch a massive propaganda campaign that presented him as the savior of the nation. A law proclaimed that the ''Benefactor'' was also now the ''Restaurador de la independencia financiera de la Republica'' (Restorer of the Republic's financial independence).<ref>{{harvp|Capdevilla|1998|p=85}}</ref>

===Haiti===
[[File:Magloire Trujillo 1951.jpg|thumb|upright|Trujillo with President [[Paul Magloire]] of Haiti. Hector and Ramfis Trujillo in attendance]]

Haiti formerly [[Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo|occupied]] what is today called the Dominican Republic for 22 years – from 1822 to 1844. Prior to their occupation, Spanish colonial rule prevailed. Encroachment by Haiti was an ongoing process, and when Trujillo took over, specifically the northwestern border region had become increasingly "Haitianized".<ref name="Crassweller pp. 149-163">{{harvp|Crassweller|1966|pp=149–163}}</ref> The border was poorly defined. In 1933, and again in 1935, Trujillo met the Haitian President [[Sténio Vincent]] to settle the border issue. By 1936, they reached and signed a settlement. At the same time, Trujillo plotted against the Haitian government by linking up with General Calixte, Commander of the Garde d'Haiti, and [[Élie Lescot]], at that time the Haitian ambassador in Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo).<ref name="Crassweller pp. 149-163"/> After the settlement, when further border incursions occurred, Trujillo initiated the [[Parsley Massacre]].

====Parsley massacre====
{{Further|Parsley massacre}}
Known as ''La Masacre del Perejil'' in Spanish, the massacre was started by Trujillo in October 1937. Claiming that Haiti was harboring his former Dominican opponents, he ordered an attack on the border. Tens of thousands of Haitians were murdered as they tried to escape. The number of dead is estimated to be 12,000–30,000.<ref>{{harvp|Capdevilla|1998}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Crassweller mentions those estimates and adds that, "A figure of 15,000 to 20,000 would be reasonable, but this is guesswork."<ref>{{harvp|Crassweller|1966|p=156}}</ref>|group=Note}}{{#tag:ref|Roorda mentions 12,000 as a likely figure.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Eric Paul Roorda |year=1996 |title=Genocide next door: the Good Neighbor policy, the Trujillo regime, and the Haitian massacre of 1937 |journal=Diplomatic History |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=301–319 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.1996.tb00269.x}}</ref>|group=Note}}{{#tag:ref|"anyone of African descent found incapable of pronouncing correctly, that is, to the complete satisfaction of the sadistic examiners, became a condemned individual. This killing is recorded as having a death toll reaching thirty thousand innocent souls, Haitians as well as Dominicans."<ref>{{cite book|last=Alan Cambeira |title=Quisqueya la bella|edition=October 1996 |publisher=M.&nbsp;E. Sharpe |isbn=978-1-56324-936-5 |page=182|year=1997}}</ref>|group=Note}} The Dominican military used [[machete]]s to murder and decapitate many of the victims; they also took people to the port of Montecristi, where many victims were thrown into the sea to drown with their hands and feet bound.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Galván|first1=Javier A.| title= Latin American Dictators of the 20th Century: The Lives and Regimes of 15 Rulers|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|page=53}}</ref>

The Haitian response was muted, but its government eventually called for an international investigation. Under pressure from the US government, Trujillo agreed to a reparation settlement in January 1938 of US$750,000. By the next year, the amount had been reduced to US$525,000 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|0.525|1937|r=2}}}}&nbsp;million in {{CURRENTYEAR}}); 30 dollars per victim, of which only two cents were given to survivors because of corruption in the Haitian bureaucracy.<ref name="Block p. 672"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bell |first=Madison Smartt |year=2008 |title=A Hidden Haitian World |journal=[[New York Review of Books]] |volume=55 |issue=12 |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2008/07/17/a-hidden-haitian-world/ |page=41}}</ref>

In 1941, Lescot, who had received financial support from Trujillo, succeeded Vincent as President of Haiti. Trujillo expected that Lescot would be his puppet, but Lescot turned against him. Trujillo unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him in a 1944 plot and then published their correspondence to discredit him.<ref name="Crassweller pp. 149-163"/> Lescot fled into exile in 1946 after demonstrations against him.<ref>{{cite journal|title=VIVE 1804!: The Haitian Revolution and the Revolutionary Generation of 1946|journal=Caribbean Quarterly|volume=50|number=4|date=December 2004|author=Matthew J. Smith|pages = 25–41|publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd.|doi = 10.1080/00086495.2004.11672248|jstor = 40654477|s2cid=151106144}}</ref>
[[File:Rafael Trujillo and Joaquin Balaguer with Pius XII.jpg|thumb|Trujillo and [[Joaquín Balaguer]] being received in audience by [[Pope Pius XII]] in 1955]]

===Cuba===
In 1947, Dominican exiles, including [[Juan Bosch (politician)|Juan Bosch]], had concentrated in Cuba. With the approval and support of Cuba's government, led by [[Ramón Grau]], an expeditionary force was trained with the intention of invading the Dominican Republic and overthrowing Trujillo. However, international pressure, including from the United States, made the exiles abort the expedition.<ref>{{harvp|Crassweller|1966|pp=237ff}}</ref> In turn, when [[Fulgencio Batista]] was in power, Trujillo initially supported anti-Batista supporters of [[Carlos Prío Socarrás]] in [[Oriente Province]] in 1955; however, weapons Trujillo sent were soon inherited by [[Fidel Castro]]'s insurgents when Prío allied with Castro; Dominican-made [[Cristóbal Carbine|Cristóbal]] carbines and hand grenades became the rebels' standard weapons.

After 1956, when Trujillo saw that Castro was gaining ground, he started to support Batista with money, planes, equipment, and men. Trujillo, convinced that Batista would prevail, was very surprised when Batista showed up as a fugitive after [[Cuban Revolution|he had been ousted]]. Trujillo kept Batista until August 1959 as a "virtual prisoner".<ref name=c344>{{harvp|Crassweller|1966|pp=344–348}}</ref> Only after paying US$3–4&nbsp;million could Batista leave for [[Portugal]], which had granted him a visa.<ref name=c344/>

Castro made threats to overthrow Trujillo, and Trujillo responded by increasing the budget for national defense. A foreign legion was formed to defend Haiti, as it was expected that Castro might invade the Haitian part of the island first and remove [[François Duvalier]] as well. A Cuban plane with 56 fighting men landed near [[Constanza, Dominican Republic|Constanza]], Dominican Republic, on Sunday, 14 June 1959, and six days later more invaders brought by two yachts landed at the north coast. However, the Dominican Army prevailed.<ref name=c344/>

In turn, in August 1959, [[Johnny Abbes]] attempted to support an anti-Castro group led by Escambray near [[Trinidad, Cuba]]. The attempt, however, was thwarted when Cuban troops surprised a plane he had sent when it was unloading its cargo.<ref>{{harvp|Crassweller|1966|p=351}}</ref>

===Betancourt assassination attempt===
{{main|Assassination attempt of Rómulo Betancourt}}
[[File:1960. Junio, 24. Atentado a Rómulo Betancourt en Los Próceres.jpg|thumb|Explosion in [[Paseo Los Próceres]] during the attempted assassination of Betancourt, 24 June 1960]]
By the late 1950s, opposition to Trujillo's regime was starting to build to a fever pitch, especially among a younger generation who had no memory of the poverty and instability that had preceded the dictatorship. Many clamored for democratization. The Trujillo regime responded with greater repression. The Military Intelligence Service (SIM) secret police, led by [[Johnny Abbes Garcia|Johnny Abbes]], remained as ubiquitous as before. Other nations ostracized the Dominican Republic, compounding the dictator's paranoia.

Trujillo began to interfere more and more in the domestic affairs of neighboring countries. He expressed great contempt for Venezuela's president [[Rómulo Betancourt]]; an established and outspoken opponent of Trujillo, Betancourt associated with Dominicans who had plotted against the dictator. Trujillo developed an obsessive personal hatred of Betancourt and supported numerous plots by Venezuelan exiles to overthrow him. This pattern of intervention led the Venezuelan government to take its case against Trujillo to the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS), a move that infuriated Trujillo, who ordered his agents to plant a bomb in Betancourt's car. The assassination attempt, carried out on Friday, 24 June 1960, injured but did not kill the Venezuelan president.

The Betancourt incident inflamed world opinion against Trujillo. Outraged OAS members voted unanimously to sever diplomatic relations with his government and impose economic sanctions on the Dominican Republic. The brutal murder on Friday, 25 November 1960, of the three [[Mirabal sisters]], Patria, María Teresa and Minerva, who opposed Trujillo's dictatorship, further increased discontent with his repressive rule. The dictator had become an embarrassment to the United States, and relations became especially strained after the Betancourt incident.