Dominican Republic 1959
Written: 1959;
Source: The Militant, Vol. 23, No. 49, 1959, p.3;
Transcribed: by Amaury Rodriguez
Transcriber’s note: This appeared in The Militant, organ of the US Socialist Workers Party (SWP), which sympathized with the Fourth International.
Generalissimo Trujillo, frightened dictator of the Dominican Republic, is still trying to convince the world that the threat to his rule comes from outside “plotters,” not the Dominican people.
So a Dominican court has sentenced Cuban Premier Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Romulo Betancourt to 30 years at hard labor for an “attempted invasion” of the island last June. [1] Also convicted in absentia was Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul. They headed a list of 113 persons accused of participating in the “plan” to overthrow Trujillo. The court also fined the list $ 100,000,000.
1. On June 14, 1959 the armed wing of the Dominican Liberation Movement (MLD) launched a guerilla invasion from Cuba.