Dominican+Republic+Coup+US+Invasion+(1965)

By Becca Phillips, Luke Nagel, Elaina Lara, Jess Giacchino
 * Dominican Republic Coup and US Invasion - 1965**

Name of Primary Countries Involved: USA Name of Secondary Countries Involved: Cuba, Puerto Rico After Trujillo was assasinated on May 30, 1961 Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962. Juan Bosch was known for his communist ideas and how he always leaned towards the side of socialism rather than capitalism.

He only held the presidency for a short amount of time before a coup stripped him of his power and lead to his exile.

Soon after, the "Triumvirate", a group of three leaders, headed by Emilio de los Santos came into power. When Emilio de los Santos resigned on December 23, 1962 he was replaced by Donald Reid Cabral.

The constitution of 1965, that separated church and state and guarenteed civil and individual rights angered the Catholic Church. They, along with many others, believed that the constitution was influenced by communists. During April of 1965, there was a pro-Bosch uprising in the capital.

On September 25, 1965 the military lead by Coloned Elion Wessin staged a coup against the government. Arms were even passed out to pro-Bosch civilians changing the conflict from a coup to a war.

This influenced U.S. President, Lyndon Johnson's, descision to send 1,000's of troops in fear of a communist take over. This was the first time that American troops inferfered with any latin nation since Nicaragua in 1927. A firm hand was needed to keep order to prevent "another Cuba."

1500 civilians ||
 * || **United States** || **Other inter-American peace force nations** || **Dominican Republic** ||
 * **Casualties** || 172-200+ || 11 || 500+ ||
 * **Deaths** || 13-44 || 20+ || 500+ soldiers

The conflict was eventually resolved when the U.S. occupation ended and a democratically elected government was put in place. In 1966, Joaquin Balaguer, who was the popular candidate in the U.S., becomes president of the Dominican Republic.

The current situation is that the Dominican Republic now has a democratically elected government with the Dominican Liberation Party (DLP) in the lead.

BOOK/WEB CITIONS:


 * Robert F. Gorman, Great Events from History. Pasadena California: Salem Press, 2008. Print.
 * "The Coup that Started a War" (The Hemisphere; DOMINICAN REPUBLIC) (Cover Story). Time 7 May 1965: 38. Global Issues in Context. Web 27 May 2010
 * MacMichael, David. "Dominican Republic: Coup and U.S. Invasion, 1965." Encyclopedia of Conflicts since WWII. Ed. James Ciment. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 2007. 400-407. Print.

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