The Dominican Republic, and its owner, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Essay

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. By controlling every aspect of the country’s economy, he controlled the people, by controlling each individual’s income and their jobs, he controlled their lives. (Sagas, 173) It is true that from the outside it may appear that the economy was getting better in the Dominican Republic, but the problem was that all of the enterprises and businesses were directly or indirectly owned and controlled by Trujillo himself, not the government. Building bridges, making better roads, and establishing monuments were Trujillo’s ideas as to how to make the Dominican Republic a better place. (de Besault, N/A) True that these things made the Republic more appealing and made transportation better, but the inhumane methods Trujillo employed to maintain his complete and utter control of the people completely ove rshadowed any positive things that he may have done. This previously inexistent economy is what allowed Trujillo to attain and strengthen his power in the Dominican Republic. Oddly enough, the same peo... ... In addition to being powerful, his ruthless murders made him a dangerous man too. This specific case in Latin American history comes to show how economic â€Å"stability† does not always mean happiness and wealth. The Dominican Republic’s economy was stable, but all the wealth belonged to one man, Trujillo. A Nation’s wealth in the hands of one man only means that the Nation’s safety and life-force also rest in his hands. Works Cited Bosch, Juan. Trujillo: Causas de una tirania sin ejemplo. Caracas: n.p., 1961. de Besault, Lawrence. President Trujillo: His work and the Dominican Republic. Santiago: Editorial El Diario, 1941. Ferreras, Ramon. Trujillo : 20 aà ±os despues. N.p.: n.p., 1981. Roorda, Eric. The Dicator Next Door. London: Duke UP, 1998. Sagas, Ernesto. The Dominican People: A Documentary History. Princeton: Markus Weiner, 2003.