Francisco Caamaño
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Col. Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó [Cah-MAH-nyoh Deh-NYOH] (born 11 June 1932 – died 16 February 1973) was a Dominican soldier and politician.
His entry into history books came during the Dominican Republic Civil War that began on April 24, 1965. He was one of the leaders in the movement to restore the democratically elected President Dr. Juan Bosch, who had been overthrown in a CIA sponsored military coup d'état in September, 1963. This faction came to be known as the Constitucionalistas, for their desire to return to a rightful and constitutional form of government, as opposed to the military junta that was in place.
As the Constitucionalistas successfully seized and held Santo Domingo over the initial days of the uprising, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson ordered an invasion by the U.S. military with the pretext that the lives of American citizens there needed to be protected. A factor that was arguably more involved in the decision was the fear that the Constitucionalistas would bring about a communist regime in the country, and this risk of "another Cuba" was something that would not be allowed.
During this period, Caamaño Deñó was de facto and, arguably, de jure, President of the Dominican Republic. After a few months of brave fighting by the Constucionalistas, who were outnumbered and outgunned by invading foreign forces, Caamaño and his men consented to a reconciliation agreement and thus ended the Consitucionalista government.
Facing ongoing threats and attacks during the following months, including a particularly violent attack at the Hotel Matum in Santiago, Camaaño Deño fled the Dominican Republic for England and, ultimately, Cuba.
During the Winter of 1973, after many years staying low-profile, Caamaño led the landing of a small group of rebels at Playa Caracoles, near Azua and then into the mountains of the Cordillera Central, with the purpose of starting a peasant revolution to overthrow Dominican President Joaquín Balaguer. Balaguer's government was repressive and highly centralized during this period, reminding many of the Rafael Trujillo regime in which Balaguer been one of the dictator's puppet presidents and close advisors. After a few weeks of guerrilla-fighting Balaguer's regular army and not having received the much hoped-for peasant support, he was wounded and captured by Dominican government forces, and then executed.
Some twenty years passed before Caamaño was officially honored by the Dominican government as a hero for his attempts to restore rightful government to his country. Today, there is an avenue in Santo Domingo that bears the name Presidente Caamaño (the avenue borders the western bank of the Ozama river harbor, near its outlet to the Caribbean sea).
