Ramón Tapia Espinal (March 29, 1926 – March 24, 2002) was a lawyer and political figure from the Dominican Republic. He served as Secretary of Industry and Commerce and Secretary of State, for President, Rafael Bonnelly, during the Council of State (1961-1963) which succeeded the overthrow of the dictator

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 ...

in 1961. Espinal was born in

La Vega Province La Vega () is a province of the Dominican Republic. Until 1992 it included what is now Monseñor Nouel province. History The first settlement made by Christopher Columbus in the area was on December 8, 1494. Its initial economic development wa ...

. After his time in Bonnelly's government, he served as a member of the triumvirate, a three-man civilian executive committee, established by the military after the overthrow of President Juan Bosch in 1963; originally with Emilio de los Santos and Manuel Enrique Tavares Espaillat, and later with

Donald Reid Cabral Joseph Donald Reid Cabral (June 9, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was a Dominican politician and lawyer. Reid became president during the "triumvirate" from December 28, 1963 to April 25, 1965. Biography Donald Reid Cabral was born in Santiago de ...

and Espaillat. He resigned from the triumvirate in 1964 and was succeeded by Ramón Cáceres Troncoso. In 1987 he was selected by 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 ...

, to represent the Dominican government in prosecuting ex-President,

Salvador Jorge Blanco José Salvador Omar Jorge Blanco (July 5, 1926 – December 26, 2010) was a politician, lawyer and a writer. He was President of the Dominican Republic, from 1982 to 1986. He was a Senator running for the PRD party. He started his political care ...

, on corruption charges. In 1988,

was found guilty, in absentia, of corruption, sentenced to a 20 year prison sentence, and ordered, along with his associates, to pay fines totaling up to $17.3 million. The verdict marked the first time a Dominican head of state had been convicted of corruption. In 1997 he was selected by Rumbo magazine as one of the 25 most powerful and influential people in the Dominican Republic. He died in

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 ...

and was buried on March 26, 2002, at Christ the Redeemer cemetery, where his eulogy was read by the Dominican lawyer, Marino Vinicio "Vincho" Castillo Rodríguez.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinal, Ramon Tapia Dominican Republic politicians 1926 births 2002 deaths