The Dominican Communist Party ( es, Partido Comunista Dominicano) was a political party in the Dominican Republic. The party was founded in 1944 under the name Dominican Revolutionary Democratic Party. The party worked under the name Dominican Popular Socialist Party from 1946 to 1965. In August 1965 the name was again changed, to Dominican Communist Party. Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Доминиканская коммунистическая партия
/ref>

History

The party worked in illegality during extended periods. It was banned in 1947 was outlawed, and was subjected to brutal repression which resulted in the loss of several prominent figures. The killed party cadres included one of the founders of the party, Freddy Valdez. In June 1955, the party held a conference, which took the nature of the party congress. The congress adopted the party constitution, party programme and an elected leadership. In June 1959 the party took part in an armed uprising against the dictatorship of

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...

. In June 1960 a party conference was organized, which discussed the situation in the country and identified the challenges the party to strengthen the struggle against government. The conference expressed strong support for the Cuban revolution. After the fall of Trujillo in May 1961 the party intensified its activities. In September 1962 the party

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

adopted a document titled "On the political situation, ways and objectives of the revolution", which stressed that the strategic goal of the party was national liberation, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolution. During the presidency of Juan Bosch, the party strengthened its political influence and took part in the establishment of trade unions, whose leadership has now included a sizeable number of communists. After the military coup in September 1963 the party was once again outlawed and forced underground. In March 1965 the party had put forward the slogan of restoring constitutional order and establish democratic order, a move that gained support from other oppositional forces. The party took active part in the armed struggle against the military junta and U.S. forces. The August 1965 plenum of the Central Committee of the party called on progressive forces in the country to strengthen unity and continue the fight for democratic rights of the people and for the expulsion of foreign troops from the Dominican Republic. The Plenum also decided to rename the party. PCD opposed

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer. He was President of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms for that office from 1960 to 1962 ...

government, which came to power in July 1966. The party participated in the Moscow meetings of representatives of communist and workers parties in 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, and signed the documents adopted by these conferences by 1965. The party also participated in the international meeting of communist and workers parties held in 1969. PCD was built on the principle of

democratic centralism Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revo ...

. It published a party organ, ''El Popular''. In 1975 Orlando Martinez Howley, the journalist, PCD member and prominent critic of the Balaguer regime, was murdered. In 1996, the PCD ceased to exist and merged with the

July 21 Revolutionary Force July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mon ...

(FR 21), the

Revolutionary and People's Liberation Force A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor ...

(FRLP) and the

January 12 Liberation Movement January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

(ML-12) to form a new party,

Force of the Revolution In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as ...

.Stephen Marks, Revolution to the rhythm of merengue
/ref>

References

{{Dominican Republic political parties Communist parties in the Dominican Republic Defunct political parties in the Dominican Republic Political parties established in 1944 Banned communist parties