Elías Wessin y Wessin (July 22, 1924 – April 18, 2009) was a Dominican

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

. Wessin led the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

which ousted the government of Dominican President Juan Bosch in 1963, replacing it with a

triumvirate A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...

. He was also a key figure in the ensuing

Dominican Civil War 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 democraticall ...

, which led to a United States military intervention into and occupation of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

in 1965.

Early life

Wessin was born in

Bayaguana Bayaguana is a Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipality (''municipio'') of the Monte Plata Province, Monte Plata Provinces of the Dominican Republic, province in the Dominican Republic. As of the Dominican Republic's 2002 census, th ...

Monte Plata Province Monte Plata () is an eastern Provinces of the Dominican Republic, province of the Dominican Republic, and also the name of its capital city. It was split from San Cristóbal (province), San Cristóbal in 1992. The province is bordered to the nor ...

, on July 22, 1924. His parents were immigrants from the coastal town of

Dekwaneh Dekwaneh (or Dekweneh; ) is a suburb north of Beirut in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. The population is predominantly Maronite Christian. Tel al-Zaatar, an UNRWA administered Palestinian refugee camp housing approx ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. The family name in Lebanon as it is used today is spelt ''Wazen'', a phonetic variant of the name in

Lebanese Arabic Lebanese Arabic ( ; autonym: ), or simply Lebanese ( ; autonym: ), is a Varieties of Arabic, variety of Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and primarily Languages of Lebanon, spoken in Lebanon, with significant linguistic influences borrowed from ...

. Wessin's career in the

Dominican Air Force The Air Force of the Dominican Republic (), is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Army and the Navy. History At the end of the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic, whic ...

began as a

military pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...

Career

Wessin's first intervention in Dominican politics as an air force officer began in 1961, following the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of President

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( ; ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (; "the boss"), was a Dominican military officer and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until Rafael Trujillo#Assassination, ...

, a

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

. Wessin, who commanded an

infantry battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several companies, each typically commanded by a major or a captain. The typical battal ...

at the time of Trujillo's assassination, helped Trujillo's wife and family to flee the country. During the Revolution, Wessin refused to abandon his post because he did not want the rebels, whom he accused of being pro-communist, to take over the country. This was partly why the U.S tended towards the loyalist (Wessin's forces), and not towards

Francisco Caamaño 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 during the Civil War of 1965. During the war, which began ...

, who was acting in the behalf of Juan Bosch. He later ran as a candidate in the 1970 presidential election. Wessin was allowed to return from exile in 1978 after the government issued a

general amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

. He reconciled with his former political rival, President

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer who was the 41st, 45th and 49th president of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms from 1960 t ...

, and actively campaigned for Balaguer during the 1986 presidential election. Due to his support for Balaguer, Wessin served as the country's

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

and, later, as Secretary of the Armed Forces during Balaguer's administrations. Wessin was featured on the cover of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine on May 7, 1965.

Death

Elías Wessin y Wessin died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on April 18, 2009, in Santo Dominigo, Dominican Republic, at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife, Livia Chávez, and their two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessin Y Wessin, Elias 1924 births 2009 deaths People from Monte Plata Province Dominican Republic anti-communists People of the Dominican Civil War (1965) Dominican Republic people of Lebanese descent Dominican Republic military personnel 20th-century Dominican Republic people Candidates for President of the Dominican Republic