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The Politics of Civil-Military Relations in the Dominican Republic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
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The armed forces in nearly all of the developing countries have frequently played a significant role in the political process. Because civilian groups—such as political parties, interest associations, bureaucracies—tend to be weak, fluid, and amorphous during the transition from a “traditional” to a “modern” society, the military is liable to be the strongest and best organized actor in the system. The roles may vary, from performing minimal governmental functions to exercising exclusive governing power, but in general the armed forces in the developing countries have a deeper domestic involvement in government and politics than their counterparts in the more “developed” nations.
From an historical point of view, Latin America is often considered the home of political militarism. The caudillo, or “man on horseback,” has traditionally galloped in and out of the presidential palace with frequent regularity.
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References
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39 Hispanic American Report, XIV (October, 1961), 699; and EI Caribe, November 8, 1961, p. 13.
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51 See, for example, the booklet Conozca lo que ocurrirá a nuestro país si el comunismo logra adueñarse de poder (Santo Domingo: Centro de Enseñanza de las Fuerzas Armadas, 1963).
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54 Robert J. Alexander, “Democratic Victory in the Dominican Republic,” New Americas, III (January 15, 1963), 3 ff; and El 114, II (Aprü 26, 1963), 1. Evidence for this three-way split also came from interviews held by the author with armed forces personnel during the election campaign.
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58 Augustín Ant. Cruz Domínguez, “Exhortación a mis compañeros de armas”, XIII (January-February, 1963), 25; Elias Wessin y Wessin, “A todos mis hermanos de armas”, XIV (May-June, 1963), 13; José de Jesús Curiel Mejía, “Así actúa el Comunismo”, XIV (July-August, 1963), 23; and Manuel de Jesús Suero Cedeño, “El Comunismo: Peste Moral”, XIV (September-October, 1963), 29. See also Mario Bobea Billini, “Como están las relaciones entre el Presidente y las Fuerzas Armadas“? Ahora, II (2nd Fortnight of July 1963), 51.
59 The text is in El Caribe, July 9, 1963, p. 9.
60 El Caribe, June 9, 1963, p. 1.
61 El Caribe, July 11, 1963, p. 1; and Thelma Frías de Rodríguez, “Bosch se opuso a la modificación de la ley orgánica de la policía”, Ahora, III (December 12, 1964), 10 ff.
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65 See Gall, “Dominican Republic …”, pp. 159-161; and Wiarda, Howard J., “Trujilloism without Trujillo,” The New Republic, CLI (September 19, 1964), 5–6 Google Scholar, and reprinted in Spanish in Panoramas, XV (May-June, 1965), 65-69, for a more detailed analysis of this graft and oppression.
66 See the biographies of the armed forces leaders in their publications, Avance and Revista de las Fuerzas Armadas.
67 These observations were based on interviews with a sample of Dominican officers and enlisted men carried out during 1964 and early 1965. For a more detailed statement of the results and the methodology, see Howard J. Wiarda “The Aftermath of the Trujillo Dictatorship: The Emergence of a Pluralist Political System in the Dominican Republic,” unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1965, Chapter IV; and Wiarda, “Problems of Questionnaire Administration and Analysis in a Latin American Field Situation” in Proceedings of a Conference on “Strategies of Research in Studying the Changing Role of the Armed Forces” (Washington: Special Operations Research Office, American University, forthcoming).