Chronology. From the death of Trujillo to the departure of his relatives. From May 30 to November 19, 1961.

May 30. Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, who assumed power in 1930 as a result of a military coup in February and fraudulent elections organized in May of the same year, is executed on the highway that leads from Santo Domingo to Haína, today known as the 30 de Mayo highway. Direct participants in this heroic action were: Antonio de la Maza, Antonio Imbert Barrera, Salvador Estrella Sadhala, Huáscar Tejada Pimentel, Amado García Guerrero, Roberto Pastoriza and Pedro Livio Cedeño, who was wounded in the confrontation, also García Guerrero was wounded in an ankle. 31. In the early morning of this day, the security services of the dictatorship begin the search for some people suspected of being involved in Trujillo's death. The residence of General Juan Tomás Díaz was first raided and hours later, that of Antonio de la Maza and then those of Modesto Díaz and Miguel Angel Baéz Díaz, that of Salvador Estrella, later that of Luis Amiama Tió and that of Antonio Imbert Barreras. In the garage of the residence of the first one, in the trunk of a car belonging to Antonio de la Maza, the bloody corpse of the tyrant was found as a result of multiple bullet holes. - The secret services were informed that Pedro Livio Cedeño, who was wounded in the action where Trujillo lost his life, was in the International Clinic, where he was taken for emergency treatment. Immediately the hospital center was occupied by members of the army, the police and the SIM, the recently operated wounded man was detained and placed under surveillance in the room where he was and they began to interrogate him without respecting his serious situation. - The main national newspapers, El Caribe, La Nacion and La Informacion in the morning, do not report Trujillo's death. - The newspaper La Nación, which circulated in the early evening, when Rafis Trujillo was already in the country, reported the death of the dictator. - From the early morning of the 31st, the de la Maza family was arrested, including Don Vicente - the patriarch - and his daughters and sons-in-law. - Two of Antonio de la Maza's brothers, Mario and Ernesto, had attended the Avenida in the previous weeks as part of the tyrannicide plan (on Wednesdays 17 and 24), but on the 30th, being Tuesday, they were not in the capital. They were arrested, tortured and murdered in prison. Mario and Bolivar de la Maza were killed in La Vega. Ernesto brought to 40 on the same night of May 31 to June 1; Pablo de la Maza (Pirolo) was surprised and arrested when they raided Antonio's apartment in the capital; he was also tortured and murdered in prison.

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June 1. The newspapers El Caribe and La Nación, bring the information of Trujillo's death, while the persecution against the members of the group that participated in the tyrannicide and their relatives continues, now expanded. The persecution began to be directed from that moment on by the dictator's son, Ramfis Trujillo, who arrived the night before from Paris, France. In a leased Air France jet and after a struggle with the pilot because he argued that he had no fuel to fly beyond San Juan P.R., he was forced at gunpoint to continue to the runway of the "Punta Caucedo" airport. At the same time, forces of the army, the police and the secret services began a military patrol of the main streets of Santo Domingo, which looks like an occupied city, with traffic reduced to a minimum. In the National Palace in the afternoon, the wake ceremony for the body of Rafael L. Trujillo began. - The newspapers El Caribe and La Nación on their front page carried photos of Juan Tomás Díaz, Antonio de la Maza, Huáscar Tejeda, Amado García Guerrero and Pedro Livio Cedeño, Antonio Imbert Barreras and Luis Amiama Tió, Luis Luisito Caceré Espaillat confused with his cousin Tunti Caceres, who were wanted by all the repressive forces. Also in the following days, photos of Salvador and Cesar Estrella Sadhala were included. Both newspapers reported that former general Juan Tomás Díaz appeared "among the conspirators", as "presumed leader of the gang". - Also this day, the newspaper El Caribe reported the "resignation" as Sindico of the National District, of Tomas Baez Diaz, who had been arrested on May 31 in his office. Then his residence was raided the day before, where all the members of his family were arrested, including the domestic staff, as had happened in other raids carried out in the residences of those implicated and suspects. Bolívar Báez Ortiz, Undersecretary of Finance, a relative of the previous one, was also arrested that day. - Also in the afternoon the secret service and police troops raided the Santo Cura de Ars Church, where in his parish they detained Father Gabriel Maduro, who tried to hide the persecuted Huáscar Tejada Pimentel. - He died bravely shooting with his regulation weapon confronting army and police troops that surrounded and tried to take by assault the house of his aunt where he was taking refuge, located in San Martin Ave. No. 59, Lieutenant Amado Garcia Guerrero. In the action several members of the assailants were killed and others were wounded by the shots fired by the hero Garcia Guerrero. - Segundo Imbert and Rafael Augusto (Papito) Sanchez who were prisoners in La Victoria disappeared and were assassinated on June 1st, by orders of General Pupo Roman, who at the time was trying to cover up his participation in the plot. 3. That day the newspaper "El Caribe" reported the capture of Huáscar Tejada and Roberto Pastoriza, members of the group of heroes who executed the dictator Trujillo. - In the morning hours with the presence of his widow, Maria Martinez, all the high officials of the nation and the high officials of the Armed Forces headed by Dr. Joaquin Balaguer, his son Ramfis, his brothers members of the army, the mortal remains of Rafael L. Trujillo were transferred to the Church of San Cristobal, his hometown, to be buried in a tomb that the tyrant himself had built. - The eulogy was read by Dr. Joaquin Balaguer, nominal President of the Republic, who among other things expressed: "Your spiritual children, veterans of the campaigns that you waged, for 30 years to aggrandize the Republic and stabilize the State, we will look towards your sepulcher as towards a standing symbol and we will not omit means to prevent the flame that you lit on the altars of the Republic and in the souls of all Dominicans from being extinguished." 4. General Ramfis Trujillo declares to the press that he only has "the intention of totally supporting the current government and its president, Dr. Joaquin Balaguer". - Meanwhile, the persecutions against those implicated in the death of the tyrant, his relatives and relatives continue. By this date, it is estimated that in the prisons of "La Cuarenta", "9" and "La Victoria" there are more than two hundred detainees. - The last to be arrested that day were the engineer Manuel Enrique Tavarez Espaillat, who hid Huáscar Tejada Pimentel, Luis Manuel Cáceres Michel (Tunti), Salvador Estrella Sadhala and the doctor Marcelino Vélez Santana in his mosaic factory. - Heroes Juan Tomás Díaz, former general of the army and Antonio de la Maza, main organizers of the action that ended the life of the tyrant Rafael L. Trujillo, were killed in a shooting confrontation with army troops and the secret service at the beginning of Bolívar Ave. in the capital city. 6. Bishops Tomas Reilly and Francisco Panal, send a circular letter to their parish priests ordering them to officiate masses for the soul "of the enlightened leader who so many times favored us and for the innumerable benefits he has done for the country and the Holy Church", according to a note published in "El Caribe". 7. The Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Ramfis Trujillo, requests the Executive Power to cancel John Abbes Garcia, as lieutenant colonel of the army. Four days later, the terrible torturer and murderer, head of the SIM, left the country by air. - That same day, the doctor Robert Reid Cabral, in whose residence Juan Tomás Díaz, Antonio de la Maza, Marcelino Vélez Santana and Salvador Estrella Sadhala were hiding in the early morning of May 31, upon noticing the presence in his house, for the second time, of several members of the SIM, the police and the army, with orders to arrest him, locked himself in the main room of his home and committed suicide by cutting several veins with a razor. 8. A commission of the Organization of American States, OAS, headed by the Panamanian ambassador Augusto Arango, arrives in Santo Domingo to study the human rights situation. Also that day and separately, President Balaguer and General Ramfis Trujillo declare to the press that "they are in the best disposition to attend to any denunciation of arbitrariness committed or excesses committed by civilian and military authorities". 9. The hero Pedro Livio Cedeño is interviewed by the national and international press while convalescing from his wounds in his sickbed at the military hospital Miguel Brioso Castillo, in San Isidro, today Dr. Ramón de Lara Hospital, declaring that "he only knew part of the plot and the plan was not to kill Trujillo but to kidnap him and force him to leave the country", according to the newspaper "El Caribe". 10. Dr. Balaguer receives the OAS Commission that traveled to the country to know the situation regarding the respect for human rights, denying that after Trujillo's death there had been violations to such rights, expressing that "he hopes that the Americans will put an end to the rupture of diplomatic relations". 11. The OAS commission meets privately with some forty relatives of prisoners implicated in the death of the tyrant. In the penitentiary of La Victoria, and in a residence that had belonged to General Pupo Román at Km. 14 of the Duarte highway, which was quickly set up to house the imprisoned women and some of the older prisoners or adolescents. - That same day, Mr. Salomón Sanz, a close collaborator of General Ramfis Trujillo, took over as the new director of Radio Caribe. 13. The OAS Commission visits the La Victoria prison and meets privately with some 30 prisoners involved in Trujillo's death, or their relatives, and also with Dr. Manuel A. Tavarez Justo, Engineer Leandro Guzman and Pedro Antonio Gonzalez, husbands of the three Mirabal sisters assassinated in November 1960. - That same day, a communiqué from the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces published in the national and foreign press, informed that former Major General Jose Rene Roman Fernandez admitted his complicity in the death of dictator Rafael L. Trujillo. The communiqué, however, silenced the barbaric procedures to which General Román was subjected in the interrogations, who at that time, due to the physical and psychological torture he had suffered, was a human waste. - That day also Dr. Balaguer issued a statement offering guarantees to the exiles to return "promising free and democratic elections". 15. President Balaguer sends a message to the President of the Dominican Revolutionary Party inviting him to send three delegates to the country "with full guarantees to initiate discussions" for their participation in the national political life. 18. The written press reports the beginning of a court martial to try General José René Román Fernández, accused of complicity in the action that culminated with the death of Trujillo. - On that day, Dr. Balaguer also issued a statement offering guarantees to the exiles to return "promising free and democratic elections". 15. President Balaguer sends a message to the President of the Dominican Revolutionary Party inviting him to send three delegates to the country "with full guarantees to initiate discussions" for their participation in the national political life. 18. The written press reports the beginning of a court martial to try General José René Román Fernández, accused of complicity in the action that culminated in the death of Trujillo. 20. The government announces a reduction in basic necessities while distributing the funds of the Dominican Party among guards and police, demagogic measures aimed at strengthening the image of the President of the Republic, Dr. Balaguer, who pretends, like Ramfis, son of the tyrant, to remain in power.

July. 2. The Extraordinary National Convention of the Dominican Party founded by Trujillo, unanimously decides to support the "efforts of the government for the democratization that the generalissimo had been promoting since before his death" according to the newspaper El Caribe. 3. All the members of the government cabinet resign from their posts, to allow Dr. Balaguer to appoint new ministers and thus wash the civilian face of the government. 4. An Amnesty Law grants freedom to 25 prisoners accused of organizing terrorist acts against the security of the State. Leandro Guzmán and Pedro Antonio González Cruz, husbands of Teresa and Patria Mirabal, national heroines assassinated by orders of the dictatorship in November of the previous year. 5. The representatives of the PRD, Angel Miolán, Nicolás Silfa and Ramón Castillo arrived in our country, who accepted the invitation made by the government. 6. During the night they continued to launch slogans over the loudspeakers from the balcony of the MPD office on Ave. Trujillo Valdés, today ave. Duarte Ave. 7. Dr. Joaquin Balaguer declares that he will not run for president in the May 1962 elections. - On the morning of that day, a mob of armed delinquents led by agent José Antonio Jiménez, alias "Bala" assaulted the MPD office located on Duarte Avenue and set it on fire. 8. Hundreds of demonstrators, shouting slogans against the presence of Balaguer in power and demanding the departure of the Trujillo family from the country, go to the Radio Caribe building and set it on fire. That day, for the first time, an improvised and spontaneous concentration took place in the Colon Park to listen to the speakers who intervened from the balcony of Count 15, a locale in front of the park, which the PRD was opening for the first time. 10. The police dissolve a meeting of the students of the University of Santo Domingo held at their Alma Mater, where they were discussing the program of activities to be followed for the conquest of University Autonomy, arresting some of the most prominent participants in the activity (Cucho Rojas F., Toni Isa Conde, Asdrúbal Domínguez, V. Armando Hopelman, J. Eugenio Villanueva, among others). 11. The newspapers El Caribe and La Nación, organs of the government, report that General Arturo Espaillat is under interrogation proceedings, the nature of which is not reported. Days later, he was released and put on a plane to Canada, where he had resided for some years. 13. The Senate passes a law outlawing communism. 14. President Balaguer and General Ramfis Trujillo meet at the National Palace with the representatives of the PRD, Miolán, Silfa and Castillo, and reiterate guarantees for their political activities. 16. With an initial membership of 2,144, the Unión Cívica Nacional (National Civic Union) is constituted as a political group with patriotic purposes. It is headed by doctors: Viriato Fiallo, Antinoe Fiallo, Emilio de los Santos, Luis Manuel Banguero, José Fernández Caminero, Rafael Alburquerque Zayas-Bazán, Osvaldo Peña Batlle, Ángel Severo Cabral, César de Castro, Asela Morel, Rafael Santoni Calero, Grico Grisolía Poloncy, Fdco. Carlos Alvarez, Melo Castillo, Cosme Gómez Patiño, Minetta Roques, Federico Henríquez Grateraux, Manuel Baquero Ricart. 17. The members of the Provisional Executive Committee of the Agrupación 14 de Junio, headed by Manolo Tavárez and Eng. Leandro Guzmán, announce the preparation of a convention for the creation of a party that will bear the same name. Francisco Prats Ramírez, ideologue and official of the dictatorship is removed as director of the official newspaper El Caribe. He is replaced by Dr. José Canó López.

August. 1. The Government of Dr. Balaguer announces the creation of a commission to study the rules to initiate an "Agrarian Reform" and it is presided over by Lic. Palibio Diaz, a long time collaborator of the dictator. 4. The police dissolve with sticks a demonstration of young people who had marched along El Conde Street and arrived at Colon Park demanding the resignation of Balaguer and the departure of the Trujillo family from the country. 5. The police raid the premises of the National Civic Union and the June 14th Grouping, arresting several leaders of both organizations. Among those arrested are doctors Viriato Fiallo, Antinoe Fiallo and José Fernández Caminero. 8. The official press brings information indicating that the National Police announces the dissolution of the gang of thugs led by José Antonio Jiménez, aka Balá, a member of the secret service of that force. - The government informs the country that Luis Salvador Estrella Sadhala, Antonio Imbert Barreras, Roberto Pastoriza Neret, Huáscar Antonio Tejeda and Pedro Livio Cedeño, were brought to justice, accused of participating in the death of the tyrant Rafael L. Trujillo. - Also reported is another file in which appear: Modesto Diaz, Miguel Sadhala, Luis Manuel Caceres Michel, Miguel Angel Bissie, Rafael Franklin Montaño, Luis Taveras Liz, Bienvenido Garcia Vasquez, Juan Alberto Mencia Jaquez and Luis Amiama Tio, subdued accused of plotting and attempting to overthrow the government. - President Balaguer informs of the distribution of 350,000 tareas of land among poor farmers to begin the "Agrarian Reform". 17. In a demonstration organized in Sosua, Puerto Plata by the National Civic Union, Pedro Clisante and Dr. Alejo Martinez, recognized anti-Trujillo supporters, are assassinated by the military. The Attorney General of the Republic announces that the incident is being investigated. 20. The police attack demonstrators in two rallies of the National Civic Union in Santiago and San Francisco de Macoris. In the first, 31 year old Erasmo Bermudez and 19 year old Fausto Jimenez were killed; Rafael Alejandro Llenas was seriously injured by the blows received by the National Police. In San Francisco de Macoris, doctors Ramon Tapia Espinal and Federico C. Alvarez were wounded. 24. In a joint session of the Legislative Chambers, Dr. Balaguer expresses that it is "absolutely necessary to continue the policy of progressive democratization that is being carried out with the support of General Trujillo". 27. The widow of the dictator Trujillo, Maria Martinez, her son Leonidas Radhames and her grandchildren, Ramfis Trujillo's children, leave the country for Europe. - Upon hearing the news the following day, young demonstrators took to the streets in the capital city, Santiago and other towns, celebrating the departure but demanding the departure of the other members of the Trujillo family and the resignation of Balaguer. -

September. 1. The OAS announces that it will send a new commission to the country to examine the efforts that have been made to "democratize" the regime of the heirs of the dictator Trujillo. 5. Dr. Viriato Fiallo denounces another police aggression against followers of the National Civic Union. This time the events occurred at the Maritza Theater in Moca, while a meeting of young people of this political entity was taking place. Two people were killed in the violent police action. In these days a new diplomatic mission of the OAS arrived, among them was De Lesseps Morrison, who on the day of his arrival caused an improvised concentration at the west end of the bridge over the Ozama where, among others, Dr. Victor Estrella Liz was shot and killed. His burial took the form of a massive march led by Msgr. Eliseo Perez Sanchez and followed by a group of ladies and then a multitude of men, women and teenagers, who walked from the cathedral to the cemetery then on Tiradentes Avenue, today Maximo Gomez. 15. The President attributes to "communist agitators" the political violence that has been registered in the country in the last days. 17. The government orders an impediment to the departure of close to a hundred political exiles residing in the United States, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and Europe. The list includes the names of Juan and Felix Doucudray, Dr. Pedro Mir, Dr. Tulio Arvelo, Dr. Jose Espaillat, Franklin Franco, Dr. Hugo Tolentino, Architect Rafael Calventi, Dr. Francisco Castellanos, Dr. Francisco Canto, Quirico Váldez, Justino José del Orbe, Edna Moore, Marcio Mejía Ricart, Juan Díaz and dozens more. 14. In a meeting held with the OAS commission, General Ramfis Trujillo declares that "he trusts Dr. Balaguer to achieve, with the support of the Armed Forces, the objectives that are being pursued and that we are all committed to cooperate with him". 17. Balaguer declares that if his presence becomes an obstacle, he could establish a coalition government with the three main opposition groups. 24. In a rally organized by the Dominican Party in the capital city, several speakers of Trujillo militancy denounce "interventionism" in the country, in clear reference to the United States, but do not dare to pronounce the name of that country. 30. The letter of the Unión Cívica Nacional (National Civic Union) is made public, demanding the departure from the Armed Forces of an important group of high-ranking members of the Armed Forces. 30. The letter of the National Civic Union is released demanding the departure from the Armed Forces of an important group of high officers of the E.N., M. de G. and AMD, including the military members of the Trujillo family. This document was taken to the U.S. by the Vice-Secretary General of the U.C.N. Dr. Ramon Caceres Troncoso and was delivered to President Balaguer and the press when the document was already in the U.S. A coalition government with the three main opposition groups was formed.

October. 1. The newspaper "El Caribe" informed that Mrs. Angelita Trujillo de Leon Estevez left the day before to Europe accompanied by her children. - The National Civic Union responds to Balaguer's proposal to form a coalition government, that the main members of the Trujillo family must leave the country first. It also added that the elections scheduled for May 1962 should be postponed to December 1963. 3. Dr. Balaguer, who had traveled to New York on October 29th to attend the UN General Assembly, in his speech proposed to the OAS the lifting of the sanctions imposed on our nation because of the attempt organized by Trujillo against President Betancourt of Venezuela. He emphasizes that this was an event of the past and "a personal act of enmity between two politicians". He also stated that the Dominican situation should be observed with objectivity ''to avoid a new communist spear through the side of the Caribbean to the very heart of America'' and reiterated his promise to continue channeling the country towards democratization. 5. U.S. Cardinal Francis Spelman offers a lunch at his residence in New York to Dr. Joaquin Balaguer. 8. The government organizes a reception for Dr. Balaguer attended by hundreds of people transported in official vehicles and buses hired for this purpose. 9. The national press reports the beginning of the activities of the Nationalist Revolutionary Party led by Dr. Pedro Perez Cabral and Dato Pagan Perdomo. - The 14 de Junio movement rejects participating in a coalition government as proposed by President Balaguer, pointing out that "this would harm the sacred interests of the Dominican people". 11. The PRD is also opposed to participate in the formation of a coalition government, since it understands that "its participation would defraud the Dominican people". 12. President Balaguer declared to the national and foreign press that the permanence of General Ramfis Trujillo as head of the Armed Forces "is indispensable". On the other hand, he maintains that the departure of other Trujillo family members could be discussed. 18. Massive demonstrations are registered in the capital city, Santiago and other important towns of the country demanding the resignation of Balaguer and the military relatives of Trujillo and other henchmen and in favor of the autonomy of the University of Santo Domingo. Most of the demonstrators are young women. 20. Professor Juan Bosch returns to his country after a long exile of 24 years. He is greeted by a cheering crowd at the airport in Santo Domingo. - Police forces violently attacked a demonstration of young students on El Conde Street demanding the resignation of Balaguer, the departure from the country of Trujillo's relatives, university autonomy and justice against the henchmen of the dictatorship. - At the interception of El Conde and Espaillat streets, police shots mortally wounded several demonstrators and another 20 were wounded. The youths in response occupy the rooftops of several buildings, being chased there too by police officers, who throw several of the participants to the pavement, a savage action that increases the number of dead to five in the end, according to declarations of the newspaper Unión Cívica Nacional. - That same night, in a speech to the country, President Balaguer congratulates the National Police for their "exemplary conduct". He maintains that the departure of other Trujillo family members could be discussed. 22. The government declares the Movimiento Popular Dominicano "outside the law" and orders the raid of its headquarters, an action carried out by the District Attorney of the National District, Dr. Fabio Rodriguez. 23. In a radio address to the country, Dr. Balaguer expresses that "all partisan hatreds must cease and a formula that adjusts to the current reality of the Dominican people must be sought in order to reestablish the harmony that the Dominican people need so much". In the same speech, he indicated that several members of the Trujillo family would soon be leaving the country. 25. Former President of the Republic Hector B. Trujillo leaves the country. Trujillo leaves the country and in the Bermuda Islands, where he arrived, he declares that he is "traveling on vacation". Ten other people accompanying him were not identified. 29. The head of the OAS mission in the Dominican Republic, Panamanian Ambassador Sanchez Arango, declares that General Ramfis Trujillo has offered to leave the country if the international organization lifts the economic sanctions imposed in 1960. 30. General Jose Arismendi Trujillo leaves for abroad and that same day arrives in Cap Haitien and heads to Guadeloupe, from where he will reportedly travel to Europe. November. 14. The United States suggests to the OAS to eliminate some economic restrictions imposed on the Dominican Republic, such as the embargo of oil and its derivatives, as well as trucks and their spare parts. 15. Former President Héctor B. Trujillo and his brother, General José Arismendi Trujillo, return to the country by air and it is rumored that they are trying to organize a military coup. 17. Several members of the families of the personalities involved in the heroic action of May 30, inform the President of the Republic, Dr. Balaguer, that they have information that indicates that a criminal action is being plotted against the lives of several of their relatives who are being held in the La Victoria prison. 18. A group of Air Force officers originates an uprising attacking with projectiles the San Isidro base and demanding the departure of the Trujillo family and their support to the Balaguer regime. The group is led by General Rodríguez Echavarría. - General Ramfis Trujillo, son of the despot who disappeared on May 30, resigns from his position as Joint Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and prepares to leave the country on the Navy frigate President Trujillo, the yacht Angelita, carrying his father's corpse. Before leaving, he ordered to take from the prison of La Victoria several of the prisoners involved in the action that ended the life of his father, Modesto Díaz, Pedro Livio Cedeño, Huáscar Tejada, Roberto Pastoriza Neret Salvador Estrella Sadhala and Luis Manuel Cáceres Michel (Tunti) and after taking them to the hacienda María, located near Haina, he personally shot them, a genocidal action that shocked the nation. 19. President Balaguer addresses the nation by radio and television, and emphasizes in his message that "the country is on the verge of a civil war as a consequence of the disputes arising in the Armed Forces" and warns that such situation "could lead to a foreign intervention". - The President declares the country in national emergency. He also assumes the leadership of the Armed Forces, ordering the Chiefs of Staff and the Chiefs of Police not to obey orders not directly given by him. - In an indescribable overflow of thousands of people taking to the streets shouting Freedom! Freedom! in the capital city, Santiago, San Francisco de Macoris, La Vega, Puerto Plata, San Pedro de Macoris, and in other towns of the country, the Dominicans celebrate the departure of the relatives of the tyrant. - In Santiago, the enormous statue of the despot located in the front esplanade of the "Movimiento a la Paz de Trujillo" is pulled down by the demonstrators while in the other towns all the busts and portraits of Trujillo, located in parks, avenues and public offices, are destroyed and thrown to the pavement of the streets. - In Santo Domingo, just before the horizon, the ships of the United States naval fleet, located there, according to Lincoln White, spokesman of the White House, expressed the following day, "to support Balaguer if he requested it to defeat the plans for the capture of the island's command".

Heroes of May 30. Biographies and Background.

Antonio de la Maza Vasquez

He was born in Moca on May 24, 1912. He was the second son of Vicente De La Maza, who participated in the execution of dictator Ulises Heureaux (Lilis) on July 26, 1899, and Ernestina Vásquez y Vásquez, niece of President Horacio Vásquez.

Since the beginning of the tyranny, he showed his dissatisfaction with the way Trujillo had taken power as well as with the development of intolerance and the implementation of terror. As a young man he tried to join the uprising of Desiderio Arias, which his father Vicente de La Maza prevented. On another occasion, in the company of his brother Mario and his friend Arcadio Domínguez, they shot at the National Guard in Moca, at the beginning of the regime when a rally in favor of Don Federico Velásquez y Hernandez was forcibly dissolved.

Dissatisfied for years with the regime, in the face of the crime of his brother Octavio in 1957, he assumed a radical position and the elimination of the tyrant became an objective.

The crimes against the 1959 expeditionaries moved him deeply, but the assassination of the Mirabal sisters convinced him that the execution could not wait any longer, that he would do it with or without help and as soon as possible. After devising several plans to execute Trujillo, at the end of 1960, together with Antonio Garcia Vasquez and Juan Tomas Diaz, they began to give shape to the conspiracy, so that by that time, they also had Antonio's brothers, Mario, Ernesto and Bolivar De La Maza, Miguel Angel Baez Diaz and Pedro Livio Cedeño.

His decision was such that if the May 30 plan did not materialize, on June 3, the de la Maza brothers, Eduardo Antonio García Vásquez, Miguel Bissié and Luis Manuel Cáceres (Tunti) and the Mocanos Danilo Rodriguez and Leonte Schott Michel, were ready to execute Trujillo during his trip to Moca. His participation on the night of May 30 was protagonist, firing the first shot that mortally wounded Trujillo and after the exchanges of gunfire and after Trujillo had already been killed, he gave him the coup de grace shot in the chin.

Five days later, on June 4, he fell in combat together with Juan Tomás Díaz on Bolívar Avenue, facing SIM troops, in an unequal fight. His corpse was exhibited, but never delivered to the family, so he has no known burial.

He was married to Doña Aída Michel Vda. de la Maza and left a daughter, Lourdes de la Maza Michel.

Juan Tomas Díaz Quezada

Juan Tomás Díaz was born in Yaguate, San Cristobal on October 5, 1905. He was the son of Eloisa Quezada de Diaz and Lucas Diaz, who obtained the rank of general in the country's internal wars. Juan Tomas' grandfather, also General Modesto Diaz, was a soldier of the Independence who acted as second in command of the Dominican cavalry in the battle of Santome and later stood out in the emancipation war of Cuba, together with General Maximo Gomez.

Juan Tomas joined the Army in 1932 and studied at military academies, progressively rising through the ranks until he reached the rank of general. He remained in this institution for 28 years. He was separated from the ranks of the army after the expedition of Constanza, Maimon and Estero Hondo on June 14 and 20, 1959, and retired in June 1961. All agree that his retirement was ordered by Trujillo because Diaz Quezada did not authorize the torture of the expeditionaries detained in his jurisdiction.

In civilian life he became a person with deep roots in Dominican society. He was humane, helpful and above all a faithful and loyal friend. He made a friendship that later became a brotherhood with Antonio de la Maza. He participated directly in the plot and the action that culminated in the execution of Trujillo on the night of May 30, 1961.

He died on June 4, 1961 in an armed confrontation with Trujillo's repressive agents who were pursuing him. Together with Juan Tomás, Antonio de la Maza fell in combat. The exchange of gunfire took place on Bolivar Avenue, in front of the Reid Hardware Store in the Dominican capital. In the place where they were killed there is a monument that remembers the event.

General Diaz's oldest son, medical student Juan Tomas Diaz Astacio (Tomasito), was also assassinated in those days while in prison, by order of Ramfis and Radhames Trujillo, sons of the dead dictator.

Modesto Díaz Quezada

Modesto Diaz Quezada was born in San Cristobal on October 19, 1901. Brother of Juan Tomas, son of Lucas Diaz and Eloisa Quezada. From an early age he served in the public administration, starting as a municipal employee and then municipal treasurer of San Cristobal. He contributed to promote the arrival of his childhood friend Rafael L. Trujillo to power. The Trujillo family and the Diaz family had very close ties.

In the 1924 elections, he was elected deputy for the Province of Santo Domingo, under whose jurisdiction was the municipality of San Cristobal. He later held various positions as Undersecretary of State, Secretary of Public Works, President of the Administrative Council of the National District, Consul and for many years was a prominent leader of the Dominican Party and served as its President.

In 1961 he joined the conspiracy movement that sought the physical elimination of Trujillo. He was one of the leaders of the group of conspirators. Regarding the motivations that impelled him to participate in the movement against the Trujillo regime, Modesto Díaz is attributed with the following phrase: 'It is necessary that my children and the children of my children, do not live again the terror, the ignominy and the horrors of which the Dominican family has been victimized'.

He did not participate directly in the action on the avenue on May 30, 1961, since he was on a mission to locate General Jose Rene Roman. He was later arrested and subjected to terrible tortures.

He was assassinated on November 18, 1961 by Ramfis Trujillo in Hacienda María.

Modesto had six children, five sons and one daughter.

Luis Manuel Cáceres Michel (Tunti)

Born in Moca on November 3, 1938. Son of Luis Manuel Cáceres Ureña and Octavia Michel Díaz.

He was the grandson of Ramón (Mon) Cáceres Vásquez, and grandnephew of President Horacio Vásquez Lajara, and nephew of Antonio de la Maza Vásquez, who considered him as a son.

He worked for several years in the pine cutting and sawing business that de la Maza had in Restauración. Due to his family background, he joined the May 30 conspiracy, under the understanding that he could not fail, since he carried in his blood the spirit of resistance to oppression.

Tunti was to drive the car that would carry out the attack on the tyrant, as he was considered an excellent driver and of great mettle. For this purpose, he carried out a test on what is today 30 de Mayo Avenue.

He could not be present on the night of May 30, nor were the other Mocanos who belonged to the group, because the action was brought forward by one day.

He was imprisoned in Moca several days after the execution, tortured along with others of his companions and then taken to La Victoria prison. From there he was taken on November 18, 1961 to Hacienda María and assassinated by Ramfis Trujillo, along with Modesto Díaz, Huascar Tejeda, Roberto Pastoriza, Salvador Estrella Sadhalá and Pedro Livio Cedeño. Their remains were disappeared.

Ing. Roberto Pastoriza

Roberto Pastoriza was born in Paris, France, on May 10, 1922. Son of Dr. Tomas Pastoriza and Martha Neret, of French nationality.

He did his primary studies in Martinique, then moved to Santo Domingo where he attended high school and graduated from the University of Santo Domingo as a civil engineer in 1946. He practiced his profession in association with his great friend Huascar Ejeda Pimentel. Both joined the conspiracy that culminated in the execution of Tujillo on May 30, 1961.

Arrested along with his wife, Maria Aleman, on June 1, 1961 by Trujillo's repressive agents at their residence at 92 Mexico Street extension, he was systematically tortured in the regime's prisons.

He was subsequently imprisoned in La Victoria penitentiary. His wife was imprisoned for three months.

On November 18, 1961 he was assassinated by Ramfis Trujillo in Hacienda María.

In 1962 the government of the Council of State, designated with the name of Roberto Pastoriza the street where he resided when he was imprisoned in the city of Santo Domingo.

Ing. Huascar Tejeda

Huáscar Antonio Tejeda Pimentel was born on March 31, 1926, in the town of Santana, located at the edge of the road that leads from San Cristóbal to Baní, about fifteen kilometers from the latter. His mother was Leopoldina Pimentel, and his father was Amable Antonio Tejeda Veloz. The Tejeda Pimentel couple also had two daughters, Filis Berta, the eldest of the three, and Flérida Catalina, the youngest.

Huáscar began his university career at the University of Toronto, Canada. However, it was at the University of Connecticut, in the United States, where he received his degree in Civil Engineering.

Upon his return to the country in 1954, he worked in partnership with his friend, Engineer Roberto Pastoriza Neret. At the same time, he took care of the family's properties, since his father was retired from productive activities. In addition, Mr. Tejeda also worked as a professor in the Physics Laboratories of the University of Santo Domingo (today Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo).

In 1956 he married the young María Leonor González Camejo (Lindín), daughter of an immigrant couple, the Spanish Manuel González Alonzo, and his Cuban wife Rosalina Camejo Vireya. They had three children, one female, the eldest, Rocío Del Carmen, and two sons, Huáscar Antonio and Manuel Tomás.

It was his stay abroad, in countries where they lived in democracy, what made Huáscar want to put an end to the tyranny that oppressed the Dominican people.

In June 1959, together with Roberto Pastoriza, he went to the city of La Vega, where his friend General Juan Tomas Diaz, to whom they proposed to blow up the bridges of the Duarte Highway, and give military support to the patriots who had come to fight Trujillo. Juan Tomas explained to him that militarily the conditions for the execution of such purpose were not given.

One night, Huáscar and Roberto were about to execute the tyrant in a house next to Roberto's, where one of the dictator's "darlings" lived. The plan was frustrated by the sudden departure of Trujillo. The engineers cut the barrels of the shotguns used in the tyrannicide. This work did not turn out well, and had to be corrected by the Spaniard Miguel Angel Bissié Romero.

During his almost daily visits to his brothers Juan Tomás and Modesto Díaz, Huáscar met Antonio De La Maza, who soon became a regular visitor to Huáscar's house on Arístides Fiallo Cabral Street in the Zona Universitaria.

Tejeda's participation on the night of May 30 was in the ambush itself, forming part of the group of seven men whose responsibility was the physical elimination of the tyrant. He drove one of the three vehicles, with which he hit the tyrant, knocking him to the pavement.

The night of May 30, after the dictator was executed, Huáscar picked up his pregnant wife, whom he had left with their two small children, at the home of his compadres Augusto Sánchez and Ana María Cernuda. They passed by the house of Juan Tomás Díaz and then by the house of his compadres Manuel Tavares and Rosa Emilia Sánchez, to later go to their house. Shortly after arriving, he told his wife how the events had occurred on George Washington Avenue.

Given the failure of the second part of the plan, those involved in the execution of the tyrant tried to seek refuge to avoid being captured by the SIM, then under the command of Colonel Roberto Oscar Figueroa Carrion. Engineer Tejeda was finally taken prisoner on June 1st, in the Santo Cura de Ars church, in the upper part of the capital city.

His capture was followed by a process of interrogation and torture, initially at the headquarters of the Dominican Military Aviation, at the San Isidro Air Base, and later in a house that the regime had converted into a torture center, located at kilometer 9 of the Mella highway, known as the Carcel del 9. He was later transferred to the La Victoria prison, where he was able to receive a visit from his wife, who had recently given birth to their third child.

Finally, the engineer Huáscar Tejeda was taken on November 18, 1961 by the then Chief of Police, Colonel Marcos Jorge Moreno and his assistant Américo Dante Minervino, to the country house called "Hacienda María", property of the Trujillo family. There he was murdered along with Modesto Díaz, Roberto Pastoriza, Pedro Livio Cedeño, Salvador Estrella and Luis Manuel (Tunti) Cáceres, by the dictator's eldest son, Ramfis, and a group of his friends, among whom were the brothers Colonels Luis José and José Alfonso León Estévez, and Colonel Gilberto Sánchez Rubirosa (Pirulo).

This group was later convicted in contumacy, along with General Fernando Sanchez (Tuntin).

On the day of his death, Huáscar Tejeda was 35 years old.

Luis Salvador Estrella Sadhalá

Luis Salvador Estrela Sadhalá was born in Tamboril, Santiago de los Caballeros, on June 21, 1919. Son of General Pedro Antonio Estrella and Paulina Sadhalá de Estrella.

He was one of the organizers of the plot that culminated in the physical elimination of dictator Trujillo. Several meetings of the conspirators were held in his residence.

Her relatives agree that Trujillo's attacks on the Catholic Church and the assassination of the Mirabal sisters, perpetrated by repressive agents of the dictatorship on November 25, 1960 on Trujillo's direct orders, influenced Estrella Sadhala's determination to join in the preparation of the May 30, 1961 operation.

Estrella Sadhalá participated directly in the execution of Trujillo that took place on the highway leading to San Cristobal, today called the 30 de Mayo highway. He occupied the left side of the chase car just behind the driver.

He was arrested on June 4, 1961 by Trujillo's repressive agents and was subjected to torture. His wife Urania Mueses was also detained, as well as other family members.

He was assassinated on November 18 of that year by Ramfis Trujillo at Hacienda María, in Nigua. With the complicity of then president Joaquín Balaguer.

Teniente Amado García Guerrero

Amado García Guerrero was born in La Romana on June 2, 1931. He joined the Armed Forces at a very young age. In 1961 he held the rank of 1st lieutenant, attached to Trujillo's corps of Military Assistants based in the National Palace. At that time he was already integrated into the conspiratorial movement that sought the physical elimination of the dictator Trujillo, through the mediation of Salvador Estrella Sadhalá, as he was a cousin of the latter's wife.

Amadito García Guerrero played a decisive role in the materialization of the action that culminated in the execution of the tyrant, as the officer in charge of alerting the security agencies of the regime about the dictator's movements. Occupying the right side of the chase car, just behind Antonio de la Maza and next to Salvador Estrella Sadhalá, the car was driven by Antonio Imbert Barreras.

Instead of informing Trujillo's protectors, he reported the route to the group of the conspirators on the night of May 30, 1961.

Instead of informing Trujillo's protectors, he reported the route to the group of the conspirators on the night of May 30, 1961.

At the end of the action, Garcia Guerrero hid in his aunt's residence. There he was discovered, on June 2, 1961, by agents of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) of the Trujillo regime. Despite the fact that the residence was surrounded by a considerable number of repressive agents, García Guerrero put up a tenacious armed resistance against his pursuers, eliminating several of them.

Barricaded in the family house where he took shelter, the young soldier fired his weapons without the slightest hesitation until he was hit by the fire of the SIM members. He died on his birthday. He had just turned 30 years old.

Pedro Livio Cedeño

Born in Higuey on May 4, 1912. Son of Rolando Cedeño and Altagracia Herrera. After finishing high school, he studied Military Sciences in the United States. At a very young age, he joined the Dominican Army, reaching the rank of captain.

In 1961 he joined the conspiracy movement that sought the physical elimination of Trujillo. In those days he told a relative: 'I prefer to be dead than to continue living as a slave. I will not let my eyes grow in a country that is not free'.

He participated directly in the action that ended with the execution of Trujillo on the night of May 30. There he was wounded in the action during the exchange of gunfire. He was taken to the Clinica Independencia, where he was detained by repressive agents.

He was kept in prison until he was assassinated on November 18, 1961 by Ramfis Trujillo in Hacienda María.

Luis E. Amiama Tió

Luis E. Amíama Tió was born in San Pedro de Macorís on November 9, 1914, son of Luis Amíama Gómez and Carmen Tió Joubert. With his mother already widowed, he developed a strong sense of family and married Nassima Diná Troncoso with whom he had three daughters: Ana María, Altagracia and María del Pilar.

In his personal life he dedicated himself to diverse business activities, working tirelessly with notable success in agriculture and commerce; due to his closeness to the people, he became a person loved by those who knew him, being affable and helpful. In 1954 he became President of the Administrative Council, that is to say, the Mayor of the city of Santo Domingo. His participation in public service enterprises kept him in a position to have his ears to the heart of the people. Thus, when he learned of the crime that took place on November 25, 1960, when the heroic Mirabal Sisters were assassinated, he unleashed in Amíama Tió feelings of deep solidarity towards the three martyrs and the driver, which ratified his firm will to put an end to the tyrannical ruling regime. He was not an unthinking young man driven by passion or hatred. At the beginning of 1961 he was 46 years old, with a firm character, flexible attitude and conscious of his social commitments. Owner of important economic enterprises, he knew what he was exposed to, including his own, if that conspiracy failed.

Luis Amiama Tió, a close friend of the brothers Modesto and Juan Tomás Díaz, who first integrated him to the need to confront the regime and later from where the conspiracy for the execution of Trujillo was conceived and thus began his active and direct participation in the political arm of the May 30 conspiracy, which ended the life of Rafael L. Trujillo, in which the Dominican Republic was liberated from the cruelest tyranny of America. José René Román Fernández (then Secretary of State of the Armed Forces at that time) opens the way to the conspiracy, and after several meetings, he obtains from "his compadre" the commitment that the government will be taken over by means of a military coup d'état, as soon as Trujillo disappears; this fact turns Amíama Tió into one of the intellectual authors of the political plan, a mission that is entrusted to him along with Gen. Juan Tomás Díaz to formalize the same with Gen. Román Fernández as soon as the execution took place. This was done on the night of May 30, 1961 when they went to look for Gen. Román Fernández to show the corpse of the tyrant in the trunk of the car, he had left his house, with military men who already knew about the attempt; when they did not find him, an intense search began in multiple places for several hours and the original plan was not carried out, the moment became fruitless and desperate, filling with great confusion.

Since the dawn of May 30, Amíama Tió is pursued by the military intelligence of the regime that looks for him to arrest him; but it is the family who goes to prison; including his wife, daughters, mother, brother, sisters and nephews. Meanwhile Amíama Tió takes refuge in the home of Andrés Freites Barrera and Antonia Vásquez de Freites, and two days later he moved to the home of Dr. Tabaré Alvarez Pereyra (brother of Niño Alvarez, one of the founders of the June 14th Movement) and Josefina Gautier de Alvarez, who in an unprecedented gesture of solidarity, and in spite of the risk that it implied for the family, without knowing him, they welcome him in their home. He lived in that house for the next six long months, and managed to survive hidden in a narrow closet, without coming to public light, until December 4, 1961.

At the beginning of January 1962, he was invited to be a member of the Council of State, the Dominican government that directed the destiny of the country and organized on December 20, 1962, the first free elections after the dictatorship, electing Prof. Juan Bosch, candidate of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, as President of the Republic. Since 1962, he always maintained a permanent desire of care and attachment to the widows and daughters of the deceased comrades, participants in the immortal deed of May 30, 1961 and shot by the henchmen of the Trujillo regime, after imprisoning and torturing them.

Subsequently, he dedicated himself to participate in Dominican political life, essentially mediating to reach a consensus of conflicting interests, bringing together adverse political party sectors, businessmen and union leaders, divided families, etc... using his most outstanding quality that made him a great national conciliator, even welcoming into his home anyone who felt persecuted. This was the case in September 1963, when the coup d'état against the government of Prof. Juan Bosch, practically the entire cabinet took refuge in his house for more than sixty days, as a plan of shelter and protection. This was also the case during the Revolution of April 1965, with personalities from opposing sides, including high military commanders of that time, both on one side and the other. He cultivated friendships with leaders of the left, center and right, treating them all equally, with an attitude out of the ordinary; in his private office it was common to meet with the most adverse characters debating their differences in a civilized manner.

Antonio Imbert Barrera, who had been shot in a street in Santo Domingo, was appointed Secretary of State of the Interior and Police in 1967. He quickly completed this investigation, identifying and locating those responsible for the attack and made the information gathered available to the superior for its subsequent legal consequences. There being no immediate action, and not wanting to be part of the complicit silence, Amíama Tió presented his irrevocable resignation to the position, just a few days after being appointed. Once again he ratified being a man of firm character and proven responsibility and on other occasions he resigned from positions and functions, hardly rejected by any human being. Already in 1962, appointed General of the National Army by law, he resigned shortly after his appointment. An unusual case in the history of the country. In 1974, the PRD offered him the presidential candidacy, but he quickly declined. In 1976 he accepted to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to Spain.

Dedicated to the service of others, stripped of almost all his patrimony and having left his historical legacy to the country and all his descendants, Luis E. Amíama Tió passed away on December 7, 1980 in Philadelphia, United States, and was buried in Santo Domingo. He was an example of an exceptional citizen and politician, for the common good of all.

Antonio Imbert Barreras

Born in Puerto Plata on December 3, 1920, son of Segundo Manuel Imbert and Consuelo Barreras. He married Guarina Tesón. The imprisonment of his brother Segundo Imbert and his friendship with Salvador Estrella moved him to join the conspiracy of May 30.

He participated directly in the action of May 30, driving the first car that pursued the tyrant. He survived in hiding until the Trujillo family left the country. Declared by the National Congress as a National Hero for his participation in the execution of the dictator Rafael L. Trujillo.

He was a member of the Council of State that governed the country from January 1962 to February 1963. When he ceased his functions in the Council of State, he became a brigadier general of the National Army Advitam, as well as a survivor of the May 30th group. Luis Amiama Tio.

He was part of the Civic-Military Junta that for two days was in charge of the direction of the country in September 1963, after the coup d'état that overthrew the Constitutional President, Professor Juan Bosch. He was president of the Government of National Reconstruction (1965), which functioned parallel to the presidency by Colonel Caamaño on behalf of the constitutionalist forces.

He was Secretary of State of the Armed Forces during the twelve-year Balaguer dictatorship. During Balaguer's term 1986-1988, he was appointed President of the Board of Directors of the Rosario Dominicana.

He holds the decoration of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella, in the rank of Officer.

Miguel Ángel Báez Díaz

Miguel Angel Báez Díaz, married to Aida Perelló de Báez, had five children, Miguel Angel, Pilar, Tania, Nelson and Mayra. He was a cousin of Juan Tomás and Modesto Díaz.

Don Miguel Angel was a man of fine manners, of jovial character, of deep human sense. According to testimonies, he collaborated through moral and economic support with the young people of the June 14th Revolutionary Movement, motivated by the barbarities committed against the heroes of 1959. There is evidence, according to historians, that he was aware of the conspiracy since 1958, through his cousins, the Diaz brothers. Don Miguel Angel worked with competence in the different positions he held, occupying several State Secretaries. He was Deputy and Senator of the Republic. In February 1960 his daughter Pilar, married to Lt. Jean Awad Canaán, died of an unexpected hemorrhage, after a cesarean section performed to give birth to her first daughter. Angelita Trujillo's infatuation for Pilar's husband, who nine months later died in a supposed road accident in November, five days after the "accident" of the Mirabal Sisters, was well known. These facts caused great suspicion in different sectors of society.

This, added to the indignation provoked by the assassination of the Mirabal sisters, determined his participation in the plot. During a trip to the United States, he communicated with exiles such as Don Homero Hernández Almánzar. Faced with the oppression under the yoke of tyranny, a state of consciousness and yearning for freedom and justice had been created. He joined the political group of the conspiracy headed by his cousins the Diaz brothers, which was to assume important executorships once the tyrant disappeared. Don Miguel Angel, supported by his brother Tomas, continued his apparently normal life, prey to a great impotence, which led him to temporarily absent himself from the walks on the avenue which as a high official he was supposed to attend. In view of his notorious absence, he decided to resume them. He negotiated with Dr. Nicolás Pichardo to obtain a medical indication that would allow Antonio de la Maza to remain in the city, waiting for the opportune moment to execute the action. He despised the favors and privileges of the political power, committing his life for the freedom of the homeland.

On May 30, he walked down the avenue with the tyrant and later confirmed to the conspirators the departure from the city of Trujillo. In addition, he personally made two more visits to the place where the conspirators were waiting to inform them not to despair, that the man was on his way.

Don Miguel Angel was arrested at his home on the morning of May 31. He shared a cell with his cousin Don Modesto. Both were tortured mercilessly in the torture center of San Isidro and El Nueve. Don Miguel Angel suffered the longest and most macabre martyrdom to which any person has ever been subjected, with the most stoic courage. It is presumed that he died during the tortures in the month of August. His corpse was never delivered. He was 49 years old. His son, Miguel Angel Báez Perelló, 23 years old, unaware of the plans for the tyrannicide, was also captured, tortured and murdered on an unknown date, and it is not known where his remains rest.

Ernesto Antonio de la Maza Vásquez

He was born in Moca on April 1, 1917 to Vicente De La Maza and Ernestina Vásquez y Vásquez.

He graduated as an Agronomist and Farm Administrator, and managed his own farms dedicated to rice cultivation and cattle raising.

Ernesto always talked with his brother Antonio about implanting a new political order in the country, a democratic one, where Dominicans would enjoy freedom. Like the others, the crimes against the expeditionaries of June 1959 and the assassination of the Mirabal sisters prompted him to get involved in the final plot.

In the final conspiracy, Ernesto was supposed to go with his brother Antonio in the Chevrolet chasing Trujillo's car, but plans were moved forward so he could not be present on the night of May 30. However, he was present in the two attempts prior to May 30, on May 17 and 24. He was arrested around 2:30 a.m., in La Vega, taken to La Fortaleza, from there he was transferred to the 40th Street jail. Ernesto always talked with his brother Antonio of implanting a new political order in the country, a democratic one, where Dominicans would enjoy freedom. Like the others, the crimes against the expeditionaries of June 1959 and the assassination of the Mirabal sisters prompted him to get involved in the final plot.

He was tortured and this is the story:

''... "that while Clodoveo Ortiz, Cándido Torres, Lieutenant Germán Pérez Mercado, Juan Reyes among others massacred his body stuck in the electric chair to the question: Who killed the Chief? His answer was: ''That murderer should have died a hundred times'',..." he finally died charred''. Taken from the book ''30 de mayo, Trujillo ajusticiado'', by Eduardo García Michel.

Ernesto Antonio de la Maza Vásquez was married to Hilda Tactuk, with whom he had three children, Rolando, Fernando and Elizabeth.

Mario de la Maza Vásquez

Ernesto Antonio de la Maza Vásquez was married to Hilda Tactuk, with whom he had three children, Rolando, Fernando and Elizabeth.

He joined the plot in the final months of 1960. To this effect Antonio Garcia Vasquez in his notes quoted by Eduardo Garcia Michel, in his book "30 de Mayo Trujillo Ajusticiado" tells us "In the final months of 1960 he only knew as participants of the plot, besides Antonio De La Maza Vasquez, his brothers Mario, Ernesto and Bolivar De La Maza, Juan Tomas Diaz, Miguel Angel Baez Diaz and Pedro Livio Cedeño".

He was present in the two attempts prior to May 30, on May 17 and 24, the first time he went to the avenue in place of Salvador Estrella Sadhalá and the second time he stayed with Antonio Garcia Vásquez in the house of Juan Tomas Diaz. In this last trip he was in charge of accompanying Luis Amiama Tió in the task of looking for General Pupo Román for the execution of the second part.

Mario was supposed to travel to Santo Domingo together with his brother Ernesto, Antonio García Vásquez and Luis Manuel Cáceres (Tunti) on the morning of Wednesday, May 31, the coup would take place that night, but the plans were moved forward 24 hours. Mario and his companions were not present on the avenue, they were arrested in the early morning of May 30 without knowing that the plan was a success.

He was part of the conspiracy that on June 3, together with his brothers Antonio, Ernesto and Bolivar De La Maza, in the company of Eduardo Antonio Garcia Vasquez, Leonte Schott Michel and Danilo Rodriguez among others. This plan contemplated the elimination of Trujillo, in case the May 30 plan failed, and would be carried out on the occasion of a parade that would be offered in Moca for the date.

He was beaten to death that same night along with his brother Bolivar, in the courtyard of the Fortaleza de la Vega, under the orders and in the presence of Petan Trujillo. He was married to Mrs. Altagracia Rodriguez Luciano, with whom he had five (5) children, Dulce, Ernesto, Eduardo, Mario and Oscar.

Pablo de la Maza Vásquez (Pirolo)

He was in Santo Domingo on the night of May 30. He was not part of the plot and was not scheduled to go to George Washington Avenue, he stayed at his brother Antonio's house.

After the events he was captured almost immediately and taken to the torture center of the 9th, where he remained with his father Vicente. He was killed by Ramfis the first week of June.

About his death, Eduardo Garcia Michel expressed in his book "30 de Mayo, Trujillo ajusticiado": In the jail of the 9th, "Ramfis ordered to bring Pablo Antonio de la Maza Vasquez to his presence, what was left of that strong and young man was brought to him, and with the same insolence, the same vanity, the same stamp of the executed father, he said to that creature that had ceased to be: "your brother Antonio has just died of four bullets in the chest... you will die tomorrow".

Bolívar de la Maza

Born in Moca on July 28, 1937, to Vicente De La Maza and Atenas Soto. Brother of Antonio's father, like his other siblings he was involved in the plot.

He made a mechanical arrangement to increase the power of the engine of one of Antonio de la Maza Vásquez's cars, used in the execution of Trujillo.

There were four de la Maza brothers ready to kill Trujillo, Rafael was out of the country and the seventh son of Don Vicente, Octavio, had already been assassinated by Trujillo in 1957.

Bolivar was captured the same night of May 30, taken to the Fortress of La Vega and beaten to death along with his brother Mario. The de la Maza brothers, as well as the Patiño and Perozo brothers before them, were assassinated by Trujillo and his family, who had the habit of exterminating entire families.

The story goes that Don Vicente in the first weeks of May, having practically given up his children, told Eduardo Antonio Garcia Vásquez: ''Tell Antonio that all my children are already here, that he should be careful not to fail, that they should all die, but that he should not fail''.

Taken from the book ''30 de mayo, Trujillo ajusticiado", by Eduardo García Michel.

Bolivar De La Maza Soto was married to Mercedes Romero Collado with whom he had two children, Lisette and Bolivar.

Eduardo Antonio García Vásquez.

Born in Moca in 1920. Son of Eduardo García Díaz and Amalia Vásquez Hernández. Married to Rosa Michel Díaz, with whom he had 4 children. He was imprisoned in 1956. In 1957 he made a commitment with Antonio de la Maza Vásquez to promote the change of political regime.

On the occasion of the expedition of June 14, 1959, he told General Juan Tomás Díaz that the people had hopes in him to overthrow the tyranny. Juan Tomás replied 'that Trujillo was a monster, that he had to be overthrown, but that at that moment he had no possibilities of leading a military movement against the despot'.

On his return to Moca, he communicated to Antonio de la Maza Vásquez the feelings of General Juan Tomás Díaz. Both went to La Vega the following day, talked with General Diaz and there was born the movement that culminated with the deed of May 30. Almost two years would pass until the execution of the tyrant.

He drafted a political plan that contemplated the confiscation of the properties of the compromisers of the regime, the expulsion of some and the shooting of others, as well as a short period of transition to call for free elections. As well as the proclamation that urged the people to join in the struggle to overthrow the tyranny and that was to be transmitted through the Voz Dominicana, while another group based in Santo Domingo would do the same on another radio station.

The night of the execution he should have been at the house of Juan Tomás Díaz, to initiate the coup d'état phase, but like Tunty Cáceres Michel, Mario and Ernesto de la Maza Vásquez, he could not be present because the date of the tyrannicide was brought forward by one day.

The night of the execution he should have been at the house of Juan Tomás Díaz, to initiate the coup d'état phase, but like Tunty Cáceres Michel, Mario and Ernesto de la Maza Vásquez, he could not be present because the date of the tyrannicide was brought forward by one day.

In his notes he wrote ''that heroes in life are too great a burden for the society that harbors them''. He was comforted to know that when history called for his participation, he was able to fulfill with humility what the sense of duty and family tradition demanded of him.

Miguel Ángel Bissie Romero

Miguel Ángel Bissié Romero of Spanish nationality, born in Marcilla, Navarra, emigrated in 1957 to the Dominican Republic to collaborate with the Salesian priests in the technical metallurgical teaching, met and became part of the De la Maza Michel family, which derived in his participation in certain actions of the May 30 heroic deeds. Married to Lourdes Michel Andújar.

He accepted, at that time of so much terror, Antonio de la Maza Vasquez's order to cut out two 12-gauge shotguns; to make two sets of false plates to be used in the plot; to keep those weapons in his house, along with three Garand M-1 rifles, and a 38-caliber revolver, with its corresponding ammunition. And he agreed to take this arsenal to Antonio de la Maza's house, every time he was warned that the action group would go in pursuit of the tyrant.

This operation was carried out on several occasions prior to May 30, in which Trujillo's departure to his Hacienda Fundación was awaited, without success. And he did it again the same night of the assassination.

The weapons used were prepared and delivered to the executioners by Miguel Angel Bissié.

Angel Severo Cabral y Ortíz

In Angel Severo Cabral's heart there was a feeling of impotence that he handled with serenity, to carry out whatever was necessary to achieve the freedom of the Dominican people.

He acted with firm steps, making contacts throughout the island with like-minded people in the idea of eliminating the Trujillo dictatorship.

He never accepted the high positions offered by Trujillo, nor did he register in his party. Finally with great pain he obtained "la palmita" (To travel around the country it was mandatory to present "la palmita" identification as a member of the Dominican Party) as a necessity to travel in the interior, always with valid pretexts, in search of contacts that at the fall of the dictatorship would serve as a wild card to a new order of things.

He was the person chosen by the group of men willing to eliminate Trujillo, as spokesman and guarantee to the U.S. that once the dictator was eliminated, a peaceful transition would take place.

At that time there were not so many foreign representations in the country to whom one could turn to. The help from the Americans was really timid, due to other political issues that were occupying them at that time.

However, for the conspirators, the belief that they had the full support of the northern country prompted them to hasten the execution, realizing almost immediately that they had been abandoned to their fate.

Angel Severo Cabral perfectly concealed his participation in the events, resuming his normal life. The next morning, he left on foot for his work as he would have done on any other day; then he interceded with Balaguer so that his other companions would not be eliminated by Ramfis Trujillo. "You can leave peacefully" Balaguer told him "That is not going to happen".

These groups organized by Angel Severo Cabral around the island were key to the formation of the National Civic Union.

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