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Dominican Republic ULISES HEUREAUX, 1882-99
Ulises Heureaux, Luperón's lieutenant, stood out among
his
fellow Dominicans both physically and temperamentally. The
illegitimate son of a Haitian father and a mother who was
originally from the island of St. Thomas, he was
distinguished by
his blackness from most other contenders for power, with
the
exception of Luperón. As events were to demonstrate, he
also
possessed a singular thirst for power and a willingness to
take
any measures necessary to attain and to hold it.
During the four years between Báez's final withdrawal
and
Heureaux's ascension to the presidency, seven individuals
held or
claimed national, regional, or interim leadership. Among
them
were Ignacio María González Santin, who held the
presidency from
June to September 1878; Luperón, who governed from Puerto
Plata
as provisional president from October 1879 to August 1880;
and
Meriño, who assumed office in September 1880 after
apparently
fraudulent general elections. Heureaux served as interior
minister under Meriño; his behind-the-scenes influence on
the
rest of the cabinet apparently exceeded that of the
president.
Although Meriño briefly suspended constitutional
procedures in
response to unrest fomented by some remaining
baecistas,
he abided by the two-year term established under Luperón
and
turned the reins of government over to Heureaux on
September 1,
1882.
Heureaux's first term as president was not particularly
noteworthy. The administrations of Luperón and Meriño had
achieved some financial stability for the country;
political
conditions had settled down to the point that Heureaux
needed to
suppress only one major uprising during his two-year
tenure. By
1884, however, no single potential successor, among the
various
caciques who constituted the republic's ruling group,
enjoyed
widespread support. Luperón, still the leader of the
ruling Blue
Party, supported General Segundo Imbert for the post,
while
Heureaux backed the candidacy of General Francisco
Gregorio
Billini. A consummate dissembler, Heureaux assured Luperón
that
he would support Imbert should he win the election, but
Heureaux
also had ballot boxes in critical precincts stuffed in
order to
assure Billini's election.
Inaugurated president on September 1, 1884, Billini
resisted
Heureaux's efforts to manipulate him. Thus denied de facto
rule,
Heureaux undermined Billini by spreading rumors to the
effect
that the president had decreed a political amnesty so that
he
could conspire with ex-president Cesareo Guillermo
Bastardo
(February 27-December 6, 1879) against Luperón's
leadership of
the Blues. This precipitated a governmental crisis that
resulted
in Billini's resignation on May 16, 1885. Vice President
Alejandro Woss y Gil succeeded Billini. Heureaux assumed a
more
prominent role under the new government; a number of his
adherents were included in the cabinet, and the general
himself
assumed command of the national army in order to stem a
rebellion
led by Guillermo, whose suicide when he was faced with
capture,
removed another potential rival for power and further
endeared
Heureaux to Luperón, a longtime enemy of Guillermo.
Luperón accordingly supported Heureaux in the 1886
presidential elections. Opposed by Casimiro de Moya,
Heureaux
relied on his considerable popularity and his demonstrated
skill
at electoral manipulation to carry the balloting. The
blatancy of
the fraud in some areas, particularly the capital,
inspired
Moya's followers to launch an armed rebellion. Heureaux
again
benefited from Luperón's support in this struggle; it
delayed his
inauguration by four months, but it further narrowed the
field of
political contenders. Having again achieved power,
Heureaux
maintained his grip on it for the rest of his life.
Several moves served to lay the groundwork for
Heureaux's
dictatorship. Constitutional amendments requested by the
president and effected by the Congress extended the
presidential
term from two to four years and eliminated direct
elections in
favor of the formerly employed electoral college system.
To
expand his informal power base, Heureaux (who became
popularly
known as General Lilís, thanks to a common
mispronunciation of
his first name) incorporated both Reds and Blues into his
government. The president also established an extensive
network
of secret police and informants in order to avert
incipient
rebellions. The press, previously unhampered, came under
new
restrictions.
In the face of impending dictatorship, concerned
Dominican
liberals turned to the only remaining figure of stature,
Luperón.
The elections of 1888 therefore pitted Heureaux against
his
political mentor. If the dictator felt any respect for his
former
commander, he did not demonstrate it during the campaign.
Heureaux's agents attacked Luperón's campaigners and
supporters,
arresting and incarcerating considerable numbers of them.
Recognizing the impossibility of a free election under
such
circumstances, Luperón withdrew his candidacy, declined
the
entreaties of those of his followers who urged armed
rebellion,
and fled into exile in Puerto Rico.
Although plots, intrigue, and abortive insurrections
continued under his rule, Heureaux faced no serious
challenges
until his assassination in 1899. He continued to govern in
mockconstitutional fashion, achieving reelection through
institutionalized fraud. Despite his relatively secure
position,
his repression of dissent became more severe, and the
number of
political prisoners expanded along with the dictator's
paranoia.
Like Santana and Báez before him, Heureaux sought the
protection
of a foreign power, principally the United States.
Although
annexation was no longer an option, the dictator did offer
to
lease the Samaná Peninsula to the United States. The deal
was
never consummated, however, because of opposition from the
liberal wing of the Blue Party and a number of concerned
European
powers. In 1891 Washington and Santo Domingo did conclude
a
reciprocity treaty that allowed twenty-six United States
products
free entry into the Dominican market in exchange for
similar
duty-free access for certain Dominican goods. The
governments of
Germany, Britain, and France all filed official protests
over the
treaty, which they saw as detrimental to their
most-favored-
nation trading status.
Under Heureaux, the Dominican government considerably
expanded its external debt. Although some improvements to
infrastructure resulted, much of the money went to support
the
dictator's personal extravagances and the financial
requirements
of his police state. The failure to apply the funds
productively
exacerbated both domestic budget deficits and shortfalls
in the
external balance of payments. In an effort to head off
complete
bankruptcy, the government turned to the familiar
expedient of
printing paper money. The huge issuance of 1897, however,
debased
the currency to such an extent that even Dominicans
refused to
accept it.
Despite the dictator's comprehensive efforts to repress
opposition--his network of spies and agents extended even
to
foreign countries--a revolutionary organization eventually
emerged. Established in Puerto Rico by Horacio Vásquez
Lajara, a
young adherent of Luperón, the group called itself the
Young
Revolutionary Junta (Junta Revolucionaria de Jóvenes).
Other
prominent members of the group included Federico Velásquez
and
Ramón Cáceres Vásquez. The three returned to their
plantations in
the Cibao and began to lay the groundwork for a
coordinated
rebellion against the widely detested Heureaux. The
impetuous
Cáceres, however, opted for a revolution at a single
stroke when
the dictator passed through the town of Moca on July 26,
1899. He
shot Heureaux several times and left the longtime ruler
fatally
wounded amid a startled crowd. Cáceres escaped unharmed.
Data as of December 1989
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