Biography of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo and Molina | Dominican dictator.

(San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, 1891 - Santo Domingo, 1961) Dominican dictator. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo was commander of the National Guard, a military body set up by the United States to preserve their interests on the island. In 1930 he staged a coup and proclaimed himself President of the Dominican Republic.

Rafael Leonidas Trujillo

Trujillo served until his death a dictatorial power, although during the years 1938 - 1952-61 and 42 served as his trusted intermediaries for leading political posts (as his own brother, Héctor welcome, he stood as President and Prime Minister in 1952).

The dictatorship of Trujillo leaned on the army and the police, brutally suppressing the opposition. Nepotism and corruption enriched, to the detriment of the majority of the country, to a narrow oligarchy headed by own clan of the Trujillo, who became with business as the tobacco monopoly.

In his delusions of grandeur, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo came to change the name of the Dominican capital, renaming Ciudad Trujillo; He built huge public works to perpetuate his memory; and he launched his army operations of intervention in other countries in the Caribbean. To such excesses, the United States stopped supporting him and promoted a military coup, in which the dictator was murdered.

Extracted from the website: Biografías y Vidas