Antonio Imbert Barrera

Antonio Imbert Barrera
44th President of the Dominican Republic
In office
May 7, 1965 – August 30, 1965
Vice President Manuel Joaquín Castillo
Preceded by Pedro Bartolomé Benoit
Succeeded by Héctor García-Godoy
Minister of Defense of the Dominican Republic
In office
October 8, 1986 – June 17, 1988
President Joaquín Balaguer
Preceded by Víctor M. Barjan Muffdi
Succeeded by Elías Wessin y Wessin
Personal details
Born (1920-12-03)December 3, 1920
San Felipe de Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Died May 31, 2016(2016-05-31) (aged 95)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Nationality Dominican
Spouse(s)
  • Giralda Busto Sánchez
  • Guarina Mercedes Tessón Hurtado
  • María Sánchez
Relations

Carmen Imbert Brugal (niece)
Segundo Imbert (grandfather)

José María Imbert (great-grandfather)
Children
Mother María del Consuelo Barrera Steinkopf
Father Segundo Manuel Imbert Mesnier
Profession Army Major General

Major General Antonio Cosme Imbert Barrera (December 3, 1920[1] – May 31, 2016) was a two-star army general advitam of the Dominican Army and was President of the Dominican Republic from May to August 1965.

Imbert, who plotted to assassinate dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961, was one of the two rival rulers in the Dominican Republic from May 7, 1965 until August 30, 1965, amid the Dominican Civil War. He had succeeded General Pedro B. Benoit van der Horst who ruled for less than a week. After the civil war ended, both General Imbert and his rival Colonel Francisco Caamaño resigned and Héctor García-Godoy, a civilian, was sworn as interim president.

Early life

Imbert was born into a prominent family[2] of military tradition: his father, Brigadier General Segundo Manuel Imbert Mesnier had a leading role in the northern region of the Dominican Republic; Brigadier General Segundo Francisco Imbert, Imbert Barrera’s grandfather, was Vice-President of the Dominican Republic and candidate for President, and fought in the Dominican Restoration War; meanwhile his great-grandfather, Major General José María Imbert, who was a French migrant, achieved important victories against Haiti in the Dominican War of Independence.

Imbert’s first significant position was as governor of Puerto Plata in 1940.[2] He was removed from the post by then president Rafael Trujillo for sending him a telegram informing upon the names of the survivors of the failed Luperón invasion. This caused, in a personal manner, the beginning of the assassination plan against Trujillo.

His brother Segundo, an army official too, was imprisoned in 1956 by Trujillo’s regime.[2] Segundo was convicted for murder;[3][4] implicated in the murder of Domingo Marión in 1943.[5]

Assassination of Trujillo

On May 30, 1961 Trujillo was shot dead when his car was ambushed on a road outside the Dominican capital.[6] Imbert, accompanied by Antonio de la Maza, Salvador Estrella Sahdalá and Amado García Guerrero, who was the driver of the ambushing vehicle, were the active participants who carried out the plot. Most of those involved in the assassination plot were subsequently captured and executed, with the exception of Imbert and Luis Amiama Tió. Imbert went into hiding until December 2.[7]:253

After Joaquín Balaguer, Trujillo’s figurehead president, was overthrown in 1962 and the Trujillo family was ousted, Imbert was declared a "National Hero" and was promoted to Major General with the special grant of it being advitam or lifelong. In the Civil War in the Dominican Republic of 1965 he led one of the factions in the struggle which faced the constitutionalist government led by Colonel Francisco Caamaño, who tried to bring back Juan Bosch to the country's presidency. Imbert's faction, called the Government of National Reconstruction was endorsed by the U.S. troops inspectors, in addition, he was one of the collaborators with the Americans, finally signing a peace act that put an end to the April war.

Later life

On March 21, 1967, he was shot in Santo Domingo while traveling with Marino García,[7]:256 in an attempted assassination made by the late dictator Trujillo's supporters. He survived by driving himself to a medical clinic. On February 15, 1970 the Dominicana de Aviación flight wherein his sister Aida Imbert Barrera, his wife Guarina Tessón Hurtado, and his daughter, sportswoman Leslie Imbert Tessón, were travelling, crashed into the Caribbean Sea.[8][9]

He was Minister of Defense of the Dominican Republic from 1986 to 1988; earlier that decade, his second-cousin Mario Imbert McGregor was also Minister of Defense. In 1989 he was assigned chairman of the board of directors of Rosario Dominicana. In September 2013, the Constitutionalist Soldiers of 25 April 1965 Foundation asked the National Congress of the Dominican Republic to explore the possibility of stripping Imbert his status of national hero as it considered that he went against constitutional precepts.[10]

Imbert died on May 31, 2016, the day following the fifty-fifth anniversary of Trujillo's assassination, at the age of 95. Dominican President Danilo Medina declared three days of mourning.[11][12] His niece, Carmen Imbert Brugal, said that cause of his death was complications of pneumonia.[2]

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=HEFACwAAQBAJ&pg=PA175&dq=Antonio+Imbert+Barrera+1920&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihn7_UxJPUAhUL3SwKHS5WDmsQ6AEIKDAC#v=onepage&q=Antonio%20Imbert%20Barrera%201920&f=false
  2. 1 2 3 4 Semple, Kirk (7 June 2016). "Antonio Imbert Barrera, Who Helped Assassinate Dominican Dictator Trujillo, Dies at 95". Mexico City: The New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Ornes, Germán E. (1960). Trujillo: pequeño César del Caribe. Caracas: Editorial Las Novedades. p. 189. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  4. ↑ https://books.google.com.do/books?id=tXgaAQAAIAAJ&q=Segundo+Manuel+Imbert&dq=Segundo+Manuel+Imbert&hl=es&sa=X&redir_esc=y
  5. ↑ Reyes, Francisco (16 June 2016). "Acusan hermanos Imbert Barreras crímen en Puerto Plata en 1943" (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Al Momento. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "'I shot the cruellest dictator in the Americas'". BBC News. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  7. 1 2 Diederich, Bernard. Trujillo. The Death of the Goat. Little, Brown, and Co., 1978. p. 253. ISBN 0-316-18440-3.
  8. ↑ Herrera, Dalton (1 June 2016). "Adiós al último héroe que ajustició a Trujillo" (aspx). Listín Diario (in Spanish). Santo Domingo. p. 6A. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Editorial: Adiós a un Héroe Nacional". Listín Diario (in Spanish). 1 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  10. ↑ Apolinar, Bethania (3 September 2013). "Constitucionalistas piden despojar a Imbert Barrera de condición de Héroe Nacional". Listín Diario (in Spanish). Santo Domingo. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  11. ↑ Abiú López, Ezequiel (31 May 2016). "Ex-Dominican president who helped topple dictator dies at 95". Santo Domingo: The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Antonio Imbert Barrera, who toppled Dominican dictator, dies". BBC News. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
Government offices
Preceded by
Pedro Bartolomé Benoit		 President of the Dominican Republic
1965 		Succeeded by
Héctor García-Godoy
Preceded by
not available		 Governor of Puerto Plata
1940–? 		Succeeded by
not available
Military offices
Preceded by
Víctor M. Barjan Muffdi		 Minister of Defense of the Dominican Republic
1986–1988 		Succeeded by
Elías Wessin y Wessin
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