Col. Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó (June 11, 1932 – February 16, 1973) was a Dominican soldier and politician who took the constitutional presidency of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

during the Civil War of 1965. During the Dominican Republic Civil War, which began on April 24, 1965, Caamaño was one of the leaders in the movement to restore the democratically elected President Dr. Juan Bosch, who had been overthrown in a military ''coup d'état'' in September 1963. Caamaño was the son of General Fausto Caamaño Medina; his father was cousin of Juan Pablo Medina de los Santos, the father of both former President Danilo Medina Sánchez and House Speaker Lucía Medina Sánchez.

Early life

Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó was born on June 11, 1932 in

San Juan de la Maguana San Juan de la Maguana is a city and municipality in the western region of the Dominican Republic and capital of the San Juan province. It was one of the first cities established on the island; founded in 1503, and was given the name of San Juan ...

. He was the son of General Fausto Caamaño Medina, who died in 1986. His father was a prominent military man during the dictatorship of

Rafael Leónidas 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 ...

, and he received the highest decorations of the regime, even holding the position of Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Minister of Defense) from 1952 to 1955. Caamaño's family is originally from

, his military family tree includes other military personalities such as Pedro Plutarco Caamaño Medina (1889-1893) his uncle, and others such as Jorge Casimiro Fernández Medina, who was a prominent lieutenant colonel in the

Dominican Army The Dominican Army ( es, Ejército de República Dominicana, is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Dominican Navy, Navy and the Dominican Air Force, Air Force. The Dominican army with 28,75 ...

. Thanks to the influence of his accentuated military kinship, Francisco Alberto excelled in an efficient and careful vocation of service to the military institutions of his country, entering the Dominican Navy at a young age, where he graduated as Ensign and advanced rapidly in the military ladder. During the last years of the Trujillo Era, Caamaño commanded the White Helmeted Corps of the National Police. Caamaño married María Paula Acevedo Guzmán, known as Chiquita, in 1958. The couple had three children - Alberto Alexander, Francis Alexander and Paola Alexandra (born 1967).

War of 1965

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 military ''coup d'état'' in September, 1963. This faction of loyalists 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 , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

over the initial days of the uprising, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson ordered an invasion by the U.S. military, dubbed as

Operation Power Pack The Dominican Civil War (), also known as the April Revolution (), took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of the overthrown democratica ...

, stating 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'' were an undemocratic movement that would bring about a communist regime in the country, and this risk of "another

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

" was something that would not be allowed.

Presidency

During this period, Caamaño was de facto and, arguably, de jure, President of the

. After a few months of fighting by the ''Constitucionalistas'', who were outnumbered and outgunned by the combined forces, Caamaño and his men consented to a reconciliation agreement and thus ended the ''Constitucionalista'' government. Facing ongoing threats and attacks during the following months, including a particularly violent attack at the Hotel Matum in

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of Santiago Prov ...

, Camaaño accepted an agreement brokered by the United States government. Both constitucionalista President Caamaño and his rival, loyalist President

Antonio Imbert Barrera Major General Antonio Cosme Imbert Barrera (December 3, 1920 – 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 d ...

, resigned from office on August 30, 1965. The were succeeded by one provisional president, Héctor García-Godoy. The Dominican Provisional President, Héctor García-Godoy, sent Colonel Caamaño as the Military Attache to the Dominican Embassy to the United Kingdom. While there, he was contacted by Cuban officials and he fled to Cuba to start a guerrilla group. He had a support group led by Amaury German Aristy that was expected to create the conditions for a victorious landing of Caamaño's commands in the Dominican Republic.

Death

During late 1973, after several 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 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 196 ...

. Balaguer's government was repressive and highly centralized during this period, reminding many of the Rafael Trujillo regime in which Balaguer had been one of the dictator's puppet presidents and close advisers.¡Necesitamos una nueva restauración!
" ''Dominicano Libre'' Agosto / Septiembre 2006. Retrieved on August 9, 2007. After a few weeks of guerrilla war against Balaguer's regular army and not having received much interest from the peasants, this group was outmaneuvered by the Dominican Army and wiped out during a fight that included heavy artillery and even airplanes. Caamaño was wounded and captured by Dominican government forces, and then

summarily executed A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

. 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

that bears the name ''Presidente Caamaño'' (the avenue borders the western bank of the

Ozama River The Ozama River () is a river in the Dominican Republic. It rises in the Loma Siete Cabezas mountain in the Sierra de Yamasá mountain range, close to the town of Villa Altagracia. History In 1498, Bartolome Colon had a fort built on the Ozama ...

harbor, near its outlet to the Caribbean sea). There is also a

metro station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...

in Santo Domingo named after him.

Early life

War of 1965

Presidency

Death

See also

References

Further reading