The mirabal family

Dominican Republic political activists who in the generation after their deaths were transformed into national martyrs, feminist icons and revolutionary heroes. Name variations: Las Mariposas The Butterflies. Their father Enrique kept them on a tight rein. Although their mother Mercedes was barely literate, she recognized the importance of education.

Mercedes convinced her husband that if their daughter Patria, who hoped to become a nun, sought to be educated, then the path to learning should not be denied her sisters. As they matured, all four sisters developed social consciences, realizing that daily life in their country had been distorted for an entire generation as a result of Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship.

For more than three decades, the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic was ruled by Generalissimo Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina — , a megalomaniac who held on to power through terror, intimidation and corruption. He established his regime in with the approval of the United States , which had recently ended its occupation of the Dominican Republic and above all else desired stability in the region for economic and strategic reasons.

What happened to the mirabal sisters husbands

A military officer trained by the U. Marine Corps, Trujillo "won" the Dominican presidency in May , in a contested election. By the time he officially took office as president on August 16, , he had used terrorism to end the lives of enough real and potential opponents to look forward to a regime with little, if any, organized opposition to his rule.

The nature of his lust for power and wealth was crystal clear by the end of the first decade of the Era of Trujillo. He was feared, powerful, and rich by the time he became commander-in-chief of his nation's armed forces.

Mirabal sisters oldest to youngest

His investments in urban properties only whetted his appetite for more wealth and, once established in the presidential office, he took personal control of the nation's salt production. Now the owner of the Barahona salt mines, Trujillo promulgated a law prohibiting the traditional production of sea salt, which was virtually free, so that the people would have to purchase salt produced at his mine.

By the time his first presidential term ended in August , he was by far the richest man in the Dominican Republic. Trujillo also received an honorary doctorate from the national university and an appointment as a professor of political economy.