It's been 50 years since that fateful day; Yet, I wonder what does it mean to most Quisqueyanos?
Is it just another 'holiday' to drink Brugal or Presidente, dance, and do all the other things associated with celebrations?

What does it mean to you?

Where you alive then?

Have you any idea of what happened on that memorable date in Santo Domingo, or as it was called then, Ciudad Trujillo? Have you been told?


Well, I was alive and I can remember vividly where I was on that date, what I did, and some of the things that happened on 30 May 1961.




I was living in el Ensanche Luperon in Ciudad Trujillo, when the news was heard all over the radio: El Jefe - El Generalisimo Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina had been attaked and was possibly dead. I was a small child, yet I could feel the fear, and at the same time a sense of relief. The greatest fear was that this was all propaganda, and that Trujillo was really alive or had faked this incident.
Well, the story was that he was on his way to San Cristobal and was fired upon by several armed men (a fantastic and daring manuever) a short distance from La Feria (then the western limits of the Capital and Trujillo's greatest pride).

I can remember picking up a kitchen knife and saying that I was ready to defend myself and the family. What a crazy thing for a little boy to say or do? I knew that Trujillo was a Tyrant, and that he had it coming to him. At home as quiet as it was kept, we did not like Chapitas; Neither did we ever have the 'mandatory' picture of the 'benefactor' on our walls. Dad did not like Trujillo, and minced no words about it; So, naturally I did not like Trujillo either, especially since that time when my Dad had resigned (handed his resignation to Petan) from his post at La Voz Dominicana, and we didn't see him for several days...

I believe it was that same afternoon that the "TURBAS" and "PALEROS" began running in the strets as we watched them through the slats of our windows accross from Hospital Moscoso Puello;
These gangs were made up of shabbily clad men with sticks, bats, chains, and machetes from Gualey y Guachupita. My folk were in no way going to attract any attention to ourselves as these ruffians ran wild through our block. I will admit we were scared, though we were not Trujillistas, or were connected to any 'CALIESES', which was what these men were looking for to kill or apprehend. It was like the flood gates had been released and the poor and downtroddened could now seek instant justice.

Well, that's most of what I remember from that interesting time in "our" history. Besides that, I also remember that after that day there were black outs, no school classes for several days, and constantly sirens and reports on the radio about another conspirator having been captured or killed. There were several of the "heroes" hiding in a church near our house - I believe it was near la Avenida Duarte esquina Nicolas de Ovando....They were captured and I think they were promptly killed. Ramfis Trujillo (Rafael Trujillo hijo) the dictator's son had arrived from France immidiately after the killing and began to round up all the participants of the ambush of his father; I believe Ramfis killed all of them except Imbert Barreras...

Thanks for your time.

Arsenio.

Useful link for futher reading in Spanish: http://tintarebelde.blogspot.com/2010/02/30-de-mayo-1961-ultima-noche-del-tirano.html

I remember, that day I went to school, as usual, and while in class, I began to notice people coming and going in the hallway. Young men, one at a time, came into my classroom and asked permission to take their sisters home (I was attending an all girl school) because "Mom got sick". I began to get a little nervous wondering why so many mothers were suddenly getting sick, and then I heard what sounded like airforce jets flying over while more and more girls were being excused to go home. By then I was scared to death and crying, then my cousin who was in medical school at the time, came for me, and as soon as he walked into the classroom the teacher shouted "Frank, I am soooo happy!". By then I was not only scared, but also confused.
When we stepped out, I saw soldiers with rifles everywhere, and I asked my cousin, what is going on?
He said we couldn't talk and I would found out after getting home. We lived across from Balaguer's sisters, so there was a lot of activity going on in our street. We got home and I heard my mother said "Thank you Virgin Mary for answering my prayers!". That's when I was told about it.

May 30 means hope and liberation to me. During Trujillo's reign one of my aunts had been in prison with the Mirabal's sisters. We know some of horrible things that were done to her because witnesses told my family. My aunt died last year without ever speaking about it. Another first cousing of mine had to go into hiding for over two years because he was accused of plotting to kill Trujillo. My father lost his job because he did not praised Trujillo at the end of a public speech. He was expected to say "Gracias al Generalísimo Dr. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, benefactor de la patria y padre de la patria nueva". My father was one of the few Agronomist that the D.R. had back then, but in spite of that Trujillo gave orders for no one to employ him.

Yes, 30 de mayo 1961 was a day of anxiety, nervousness, expectations, hope and wondering what was going to be like from then on.

I wasn't born yet but I heard from my relatives that the country was in chaos........people didn't leave their homes for a few days, in fear.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Well I was not even born yet. My dad was sixteen years old and my mom was about 8 years old.

From my perspective:

It was really a shocking time for a child living in the midst of all the turmoil that followed Trujillo's assasination. However, it was the beginning and an end at the same time; An end to the complete control of a nation's welfare (all aspects of life) by a single person, and the beginning of a new age (unlike 'la era de Trujillo'); which implied the birth of a new mindset, freedom, liberty, and peace.
This day marked a departure from the traditional autocratic power headed by a despot, to a more representative form of government. This was another independence day for Quisqueya. NO more Caciques, NO more Jefes, NO more avivatos...

Dios bendiga la Patria!

(Photo) http://www.listindiario.com.do/la-republica/2011/5/30/190159/No-iba-a-dejar-que-me-mataran


El 30 de mayo de 1961 cayó el régimen dictatorial más represivo que ha tenido República Dominicana con la muerte de Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. El país vivió esa dictadura durante tres décadas, un poder absoluto que no admitía oposición. El general Antonio Imbert Barrera es el único superviviente de los héroes que ajusticiaron a Trujillo. Imbert a sus 90 años confesó que asesinando a Trujillo fue la única forma de deshacerse de él.

http://www.hechosdehoy.com/memoria-de-la-resistencia-la-fiesta-del-chivo-y-visita-a-8880.htm

The end of one period of Educational disaster to be followed by an equally failed State of affairs in the same.


DESPUÉS DE TRUJILLO

La educación fue muy exclusiva durante la Era

EL ANALFABETISMO ALCANZÓ EL 70% Y EN LAS ZONAS RURALES HABÍA POCOS CENTROS ESCOLARES


Estudiantes. Parada escolar en el parque Independencia, frente al Altar de la Patria.

Bethania Apolinar
Santo Domingo

La educación en la Era de Trujillo se caracterizó por tener una cobertura muy limitada, lo que se evidencia en el hecho de que el analfabetismo alcanzó el 70%.

Aunque en las escasas escuelas imperaba el orden y la disciplina, protagonistas de la época lo atribuyen al terror y la represión de la dictadura.

El historiador Roberto Cassá y el profesor universitario Jesús de la Rosa coinciden en señalar que durante los 31 años del régimen de Trujillo había una educación de nivel, pero para una porción muy reducida de la población.

Destacan que a final de la Era de Trujillo había en el país unos 3,000 estudiantes universitarios, y sólo cursaban carreras tradicionales como derecho, farmacia, medicina e ingeniería.

Según de la Rosa, en términos educativos “la Era de Trujillo fue un desastre”. Dijo que la cobertura en la educación básica “era muy limitada”, ya que pocos dominicanos tenían la oportunidad de asistir a la escuela, lo que provocó que el analfabetismo llegara a niveles alarmantes, pasaba de 70%.

De la Rosa recordó que las pocas escuelas que funcionaban en el país estaban localizadas en zonas urbanas, cuando la mayoría del pueblo dominicano residía en el campo.

Los llamados palacios escolares no eran tantos, de esa época se recuerda el liceo secundario Juan Pablo Duarte y el Instituto Salomé Ureña, exclusivo para hembras, que la educación se dividía; los hombres en una escuela y las estudiantes en otra.

A nivel privado la educación era muy escasa, se limitaba a dos o tres colegios en la capital, uno en La Vega y otro en Salcedo.

Fue durante la década de los 50 que se inició la distribución del desayuno escolar en las escuelas públicas, y pese a que nunca se presentaron dificultades entre los estudiantes, De la Rosa asegura que no es que no se presentaran, sino que ningún periódico podía informarlo, en vista de que las empresas suplidoras eran propiedad de Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.

Cassá considera que actualmente hay un aparato educativo muy superior en términos de cantidad, pero muy deficiente.

“La educación dominicana es un desastre. Esta educación falla en todo, pero principalmente por la incapacidad de situar las condiciones para que el ejercicio de una ciudadanía libre y responsable. Eso es vital, y se tiene que enseñar en los hogares y en las escuelas desde la niñez”, insistió el historiador.

Ley Orgánica de Educación
En 1951 se crea la Ley Orgánica de Educación, una de las leyes más trascendentales para la familia y la niñez, la cual hizo obligatoria la educación primaria.

Mediante esta legislación se sustituyó la Ley General de Estudios número 418 de 1932 y se organizó el sistema escolar en sus diversos niveles: pre-escolar, primario, intermedio, secundario técnico vocacional, e hizo gratuita toda la educación, exceptuando la universitaria.

La obligatoriedad de la educación primaria exigió una gran responsabilidad de los padres de familia, quienes se vieron envueltos muchas veces en problemas legales cuando su hijo o hija no asistía a la escuela. “Un niño deambulante con edad comprendida entre 7 y 14 años, hacía pasible a su padre de una prisión correccional y el pago de un multa.

Esta ley también organizó las normas de funcionamiento del personal, el sistema de evaluación de los estudiantes y su promoción, además de que estableció el desayuno, la ropa escolar y la “Sociedad de Padres y Amigos de la Escuela”.

EL TESTIMONIO DE LA MAESTRA EVANGELINA
De acuerdo a Evangelina Santos Moreno de Bergés, con 69 años de experiencia como maestra y técnica del área educativa, la generación de 1930 a 1961 fue “una generación atrapada porque tenía limitaciones enormes”.

“Los lápices decían Era de Trujillo y había que tener un cuadro del tirano en casa”, recuerda Evangelina con tristeza. El salario por una tanda eran RD$25 y RD$40 en el sexto curso porque se trabajana en dos tandas, al igual que el bachillerato.

Cuando Trujillo inició su régimen tenía siete años de edad, inició el magisterio en la escuela Eugenio María de Hostos, y fue maestra de las ministras de Educación y Educación Superior, Josefina Pimentel y Ligia Amada Melo, respectivamente; así como de la ex secretaria de Educación y ministra de la Mujer, Alejandrina Germán, entre otras educadoras.

“El maestro de esa época estaba sometido y limitado en su libertad”, dijo, tras destacar que durante la dictadura en las escuelas había cierta organización, pero de miedo, de terror, no por voluntad propia”, dice.

http://www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2011/5/31/190258/La-educacion-fue-muy-exclusiva-durante-la-Era

Thanks for that quite descriptive article of la Era de Trujillo.
However, I do understand that in many other countries in Latin America, Africa, India, and Indo-China, literacy rates were comparable. Heck, in Cuba, your frequent subject, literacy rate was very low prior to the 1950's (la revolucion del '59); After the 1950's worldwide there were mass migrations to cities, --then most countries were agrarian societies and did not provide free education (or saw a need for education) to rural communities that lacked roads or had electric power. This is an fundamental fact that contributed to the vast numbers of uneducated people. Many fail to realize that electricity, and an extensive road system is what propelled most countries into the 20th Century. In our case in Latin America it wasn't until the 1960's that electricity and dependable roads reached the multitudes that lived off of the land; just as mankind has traditionally done for centuries especially in our D.R. where most folks were subsistence farmers.



Before our modern times (pre-world war 2) it was mostly people who read the Bible that were literate; For many folks it was the only book they had or needed...
That was what most people were able to read since there weren't readily available newspapers, libraries, or a need for more than just an intermediate knowledge of grammar. The function of education (specifically in Latin America) from colonial times to the recent past was relegated to the Catholic church and it's clerics who were the teachers and professors.

I just wanted to point out these factors; Not to defend the lack of educational initiatives on a national level, but, to illustrate that all these points have to be taken into consideration to be able to arrive at a more accurate conclusion of why there were not more people who were able to read and write before 1961 in the country.

On another note, my mother was an elementary education teacher at a public school in the Capital before Trujillo's death; Mother was a teacher at la Escuela Peru, near el Puente Duarte (then called Ramfis). So, I believe that it's not as cut and dry as just saying that Trujillo impeded a more ample education of the nation's citizenry. I remember the public schools in the Capital had free food for the students: a chocolate drink that resembled YOOHO, bread and cheese....The students would bring my Mother gifts for Teachers day; Many were so poor that they would bring a bar of soap as a gift. I remember these little details very well, friend.

To decide why such a high number of our citizens were analfabetos, we must examine many other factors before we conclude that it was Trujillo's fault. Our history has been one of devastation, turmoil, violence, occupation, and struggle. It's a miracle that the country's population survived all these negative influences? Let's also remember that under the Hatian occupations our books were burned, our colleges (one was "the oldest" in the western hemisphere) were closed, and newspapers published under heavy censorship. Even our native language was supressed! As I stated before the struggle has been fierce for the descendants of the natives, and of the many transplants to Quisqueya. Let's examine this issue and see what the real reasons are for there being such a high incidence of illiteracy pre 1961. I remember! I learnt how to read and write by the time I was 4 years old because Mom was a Teacher and taught me before 1959. How many other kids were that fortunate in the remote, inaccessable areas of the interior of D.R.?

In regards to your prediliction for Cuba and its preponderance;

I will reiterate a famous line:



I will keep it simple: My personal knowledge is of my country Quisqueya; I'll will defer any additional comments about Cuba in this thread. We Dominicans are like a painter's palette covering the full spectrum of colors which is good. I won't get into any racial discussions which happens to be a popular pass time for some people. But, I will point out that many poor people are of a darker complexion in most of the world, not just Quisqueya or the Caribbean. Back to education, it was the poorer and rural, 'disenfranchised' people (dysfunctional households, share-croppers, day laborers, Haitian immigrants, and fatherless) rural and urban poor that suffered the most under Trujillo's ruthless regime; Education or lack thereof was just the icing on the bizcocho. If you can't get anything to eat, you don't worry if you can't read?
Trujillo was no saint, but he did attempt to repair several centuries of destruction, abandonment, and corruption brought about by numerous factors too many to elaborate on at this time.

If the lack of Education were Trujillo's greatest crime he would have never been deposed so violently?. His real atrocities were the disrespect for his fellow-countrymen who longed for basic rights: freedom from tyranny, liberty to express their thoughts, the right to free representation, economic and civil prosperity. The crimes committed against hundreds of well to do and humble citizens warranted his murder. Looking at education as one of Chapitas' shortcoming is petty in my opinion.


A.