Strange Sight | CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND UNSOLVED CASES

The Mirabal Sisters

[OVERVIEW]

This is a case I've been obsessed with ever since I watched the movie about it. It's called In the Time of the Butterflies which is an extremely good movie and book based off The Mirabal Sisters. If you haven't watched it or read the book, you need to.

[SISTERS]

There were four sisters. The oldest was Patria Mercedes Mirabal Reyes. She was born in 1924.

The second born was Bélgica Adela Mirabal Reyes. She is best known as DeDe. She was born in 1925.

The third born was María Argentina Minerva Mirabal Reyes. She was born in 1926. She was allowed into law school but at graduation Rafael Trujillo denied her her diploma after she denied his sexual advances.

The fourth and youngest girl was Antonia María Teresa Mirabal Reyes who was born in 1935.

They were a family of farmers from the central Cibao region of the Dominican Republic. The sisters grew up in a middle-class environment, raised by their parents, Enrique Mirabal Fernández and Mercedes Reyes Camilo.

Now before I get to what they did and why they are so important, let me tell you about the man that all of them opposed.

[RAFAEL TRUJILLO]

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina was born in 1891. was a Dominican politician, soldier and dictator, who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, ruling for the rest of the time as an unelected military strongman under figurehead presidents. His 31 years in power, to Dominicans known as the Trujillo Era are considered one of the bloodiest eras ever. Trujillo and his regime were responsible for many deaths, including between 20,000 and 30,000 Haitians in the infamous Parsley massacre.

In 1916, the United States occupied the Dominican Republic due to threats of defaulting on foreign debts. The occupying force soon established a Dominican army constabulary to impose order. Trujillo joined the National Guard in 1918 and trained with the U.S. Marines. Seeing opportunity, Trujillo impressed the recruiters and won promotion from cadet to general and commander-in-chief of the Army in only nine years.

A rebellion against President Horacio Vásquez broke out in February 1930 in Santiago. Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña; in return for Trujillo letting Estrella take power, Estrella would allow Trujillo to run for president in new elections. As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them. However, feigning "neutrality", Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Estrella's rebels to take the capital virtually unopposed. On 3 March, Estrella was proclaimed acting president, with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police and of the army. As per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the Patriotic Coalition of Citizens. The other candidates became targets of harassment by the army. When it became apparent that the army would not allow anyone other than Trujillo to campaign unhindered, the other candidates pulled out. Ultimately, the Trujillo-Estrella ticket was proclaimed victorious with an implausible 99 percent of the vote. In a note to the State Department, American ambassador Charles Boyd Curtis wrote that Trujillo received far more votes than actual voters.

Three and a half weeks after Trujillo ascended to the Presidency the destructive Hurricane San Zenon hit Santo Domingo and left 2,000 dead. As a response to this disaster, Trujillo placed the Dominican Republic under martial law and began to rebuild the city. After the city was rebuilt he renamed the capital of the Dominican Republic Ciudad Trujillo (Trujillo City) in his honor and had streets, monuments, and landmarks to honor him throughout the country. On 16 August 1931, the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trujillo made the Dominican Party the nation's sole legal political party. However, the country had effectively become a one-party state with Trujillo's swearing-in. Government employees were required by law to "donate" 10 percent of their salaries to the national treasury, and there was strong pressure on adult citizens to join the party. Party members had to carry a membership card, nicknamed the "palmita" as the cover had a palm tree on it, and a person could be arrested for vagrancy without one. Those who did not join or contribute to the party did so at their own risk. Opponents of the régime were mysteriously killed. In 1934 Trujillo, who had promoted himself to Generalissimo of the army, was up for re-election. By this time, there was no organized opposition left in the country, and he was elected as the sole candidate on the ballot.