Dominican Interlude

Trujillo is dead, but a legacy of a political system without politics lingers on to thwart the efforts of those who seek to establish representative government in the Dominican Republic. At present, the unexpected seems to have happened: a coalition government has been agreed upon, and for the first time in three decades Dominicans may have a government composed of several political forces.

In the six months since the assassination of Trujillo, groups of varying position have emerged from the shadows in which they were forced to remain under the regime of the Generalissimo. The largest of these are moderates, though of course some are more moderate than others. The Communists have been exiled, Trujillo supporters have been silenced by the wave of popular demonstrations against them, and the moderate groups who seek free elections and a representative government to replace the system of despotism-cum-plunder of the Trujillo era appear to have reached agreement.

The surprising (for a country in which compromise politics has been absent for a generation) settlement vindicates the United States' decision to send its fleet into extra-territorial waters near the Dominican Republic at the moment when the Generalissimo's brothers appeared to be attempting a coup. One cannot be sure what Balaguer had in mind when he asked for U.S. support (other than the desire to stay in power); his recent action indicated a preference for the company of military leaders that might bring military dictatorship to the country. Certainly, one can doubt the sincerity of Balaguer's promises of democracy and free elections, but the fact of this week's compromise demonstrates that he is at least willing to put the government into the hands of men other than himself.

The question of U.S. intervention, which Fidel Castro has of course seized upon, is not really very significant. The fact is that the legal government of the Dominican Republic requested a U.S. show of support, and to have refused, particularly after our declaration opposing the re-establishment of the Trujillo dynasty, would have opened the door to even more violence and bloodshed than was in evidence in the Dominicans' joyful, if tumultuous, farewell to the Trujillos.

Now that the general strike has been called off, and a political settlement reached, the U.S. government can breathe a little easier. Certainly the Administration must give every possible aid to any regime which is truly representative. The U.S. cannot relax, however, for it will be many months, and probably years, before a stable, progressive regime can be established--if ever. In time, with a spirit of compromise among Dominican politicians, and a tolerance in the U.S. of a government which may not always be to its liking, real representative democracy may come to the Dominicans, and the stain of Trujillo removed from politics--as his name has been removed from their capital city.