Mirabal Sisters of Dominican Republic

 


Mirabal sisters, opponents of the dictatorship (from 1930 till his death in 1960) of Rafael Trujillo, of the Dominican Republic, were assassinated along with their driver on 25th June 1960. 

Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal came from a rich family in the Dominican Republic's central Cibao region. They and their husbands resisted the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Minerva, the first woman to graduate from law school in the Dominican Republic, rejected Trujillo's advances at a party. She was repeatedly harassed by his forces. Trujillo's regime was brutal. Known as "El Jefe" he exercised total control over the country, suppressed political opposition, restricted civil liberties, abused human rights on a large scale, and regularly employed violence and intimidation against his critics. He massacred lakhs of Haitians and cracked down harder in the wake of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. To hold the power and to continue it dictators also do some good works. Trujillo developed infrastructure like laying roads. To hide his atrocities on women he provided the right to vote to women and deputed a women representative to the United Nations Organisations. The butterflies (Mirabal sisters) helped and led the 1959 June 14th Movement. The sisters and their husbands were arrested by the secret police. The sisters were released. On their way to visit their husbands in jail, they and their driver were killed on 25.11.1960 by Trujillo's men. The butterflies became martyrs. Their actions and assassinations played key roles in modern Dominican history. The nation finally broke free of the Trujillo regime. Trujillo was assassinated at the age of 69 on 30th May 1961. Reportedly the members of his own armed forces backed his murder. The CIA of America was also involved. 

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