Dominican Republic: The Coup That Became a War

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In 1962, Wessin y Wessin helped stop the Armed Forces Secretary from overthrowing the seven-man civilian Council of State that administered the country after Trujillo. A year later, he led a coup to depose the country's newly elected President, Juan Bosch, whose promises of reform won wide praise but whose attitude toward Communists was highly permissive. Bosch declared an amnesty for all exiles, permitted scores of far leftists to return from Cuba and Europe?"the better to watch them," he said. When Bosch refused to restrict the Communists' right to travel and even allowed trips to Cuba, Wessin y Wessin demanded that the President outlaw the Communist Party. Bosch refused and demanded Wessin y Wessin's resignation. Instead, in September 1963, the general staged the bloodless coup that ousted Bosch and sent him into exile in Puerto Rico. "As far as I'm concerned," says Wessin y Wessin, "Bosch is a Communist."

Donald Reid Cabral, 41, a Santo Domingo auto dealer, emerged as the leader of the civilian triumvirate that succeeded Bosch. With the general's backing, Reid instituted some beginning social and economic reforms, even tried to stop the time-honored military practice of smuggling in goods from overseas. All the while, Bosch's supporters plotted for their leader's return ?and apparently found considerable backing among young army officers. Bosch's men also found encouragement among the country's leftists, notably the Castroite 14th of June Movement, which attempted an abortive anti-Trujillo invasion from Cuba in 1959. To exactly what extent Bosch himself knew of the Castroite involvement is unclear. The fact remains that in the past few weeks, according to intelligence sources, considerable numbers of Cuban-trained Dominicans have been slipping across the Windward Passage. Last week three boats loaded with about 65 Dominicans were seen leaving the Cuban port of Santiago. "I reported the conspiracy to President Reid for 15 or 20 consecutive days," says Wessin y Wessin, "but he paid no attention to me."

Kill a Policeman! On Saturday, April 24, at 3:30 p.m., three army sergeants and a handful of civilians seized Radio Santo Domingo and announced a "triumphant revolution to restore Juan Bosch to the presidency." The announcement was enough to send the crowds boiling out onto the streets, where agitators whipped them into a frenzy. Army units at two nearby bases joined the revolt, and mobs invaded the central fire station, stole the engines and drove them all night, sirens howling, through the city streets.