{"id":1580,"date":"2007-02-02T17:34:02","date_gmt":"2007-02-02T13:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dominicana-online.org\/?p=1580"},"modified":"2018-08-01T04:43:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T04:43:36","slug":"presencia-estados-unidos","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/historia\/presencia-estados-unidos\/","title":{"rendered":"United States Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local\u00a0<\/i><\/b>caciquismo<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 The Restoration\u00a0War\u00a0and its guerrilla war tactics left the country fragmented, with any number of local \u201cbosses\u201d that began to dispute power.\u00a0 The political instability was such that, in the period from August 1865 to September 1880, for 15 years, there were more than 50 uprisings and 19 different governments, lasting from 5 years and eight months for the government of Buenaventura\u00a0B\u00e1ez\u00a0(May 1868 to January 1874) to less than a month for Marcos A. Cabral (December 1876).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The conservative and liberal factions, whose geographical centers were located in the south and east for the former,\u00a0and in\u00a0Cibao\u00a0and Santo Domingo for the latter, faced the loggers and cattle ranchers, who continued to seek support from foreign influences, along with the tobacco farmers and intellectuals that fought for autonomy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The struggle between conservatives and liberals, each governing with their own constitution, birthed the creation of the Red and Blue Parties.\u00a0 The former claimed Buenaventura\u00a0B\u00e1ez\u00a0as its absolute leader, who was declared Field Marshal by the Spanish government during the\u00a0Restoration\u00a0War.\u00a0 The second, also known as the\u00a0Partido\u00a0Nacional\u00a0Liberal, was\u00a0a\u00a0less compact group in which the men of the Restoration and the Revolution of 1875 found allies in former Santana followers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The centralization of leadership around one figure,\u00a0B\u00e1ez, recognized throughout the country, lent strategic superiority to Reds over the Blues, who suffered of a\u00a0fragmented authority with many regional leaders that often clashed with each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

United States P<\/i><\/b>resence<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 Only two years after the Restoration, in 1867, secret machinations to rent or sell the Bah\u00eda de\u00a0Saman\u00e1\u00a0to the United States were underway.\u00a0 These plans cost General Jos\u00e9\u00a0Mar\u00eda\u00a0Cabral the presidency, but his successor, Buenaventura\u00a0B\u00e1ez, instead of amassing fortune and personal power, dedicated all of his attentions to annexing the country to the U.S.\u00a0 November 29, 1869, an annexation treaty was signed.\u00a0 The U.S. Senate never ratified the treaty, nullifying it, thanks to the opposition of exiled Dominicans and various U.S. senators (among them, Charles Sumner).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

B\u00e1ez\u00a0overcoming this failure,\u00a0agreed to the rental of the bay of\u00a0Saman\u00e1\u00a0to a U.S. company named\u00a0Saman\u00e1\u00a0Bay Company, led by adventurer investor Joseph Fabens.\u00a0 The company would enjoy all of the privileges that were conceded to the U.S. government in the treaty: power to name the executive, legislative and judicial authorities in the\u00a0Saman\u00e1\u00a0territory;\u00a0for each mile of railroad or canal constructed, the State would grant one square mile of the area surrounding those routes.\u00a0 Signed on December 28, 1872 and ratified February 19 of the following year by the Senate of the Republic, the agreement was rescinded a short time later (in 1874) by the Dominican government, under the Ignacio\u00a0Mar\u00eda\u00a0Gonz\u00e1lez presidency (who had defeated\u00a0B\u00e1ez), who took advantage of the company\u2019s late annual payment to end the treaty.<\/p>\n

Later, in the 1890s, the\u00a0Ulises\u00a0Heureaux\u00a0government would propose the rental of the bay and peninsula of\u00a0Saman\u00e1\u00a0to the United States in exchange for economic assistance and military protection\u00a0against external threats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hartmont<\/i><\/b>\u00a0Loan<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 While the annexation was negotiated with the U.S. in 1869,\u00a0B\u00e1ez\u00a0took out, in the name of the Dominican Republic, a loan of 420,000\u00a0British\u00a0pounds (around 2,000,000 dollars) at 6% interest for 25 years.\u00a0 This transaction\u00a0represented a mortgage in favor of\u00a0Edward\u00a0Hartmont\u00a0\u2013 the financier that facilitated the loan \u2013 on\u00a0customs income, national goods, coal mines, State forests and guano deposits on the Alta Vela\u00a0Island.\u00a0 In reality, the Dominican government only received a portion\u00a0of the agreed loan, and\u00a0Hartmont\u00a0authorized\u00a0an English bank to issue bonds on the debt valued more\u00a0than 337,700 pounds over the amount indicated in the contract.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Westendorp<\/i><\/b>\u00a0y\u00a0<\/i><\/b>C\u00eda<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Loan.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 In October 1888, late in General Ulysses\u00a0Heureaux\u2019s\u00a0second presidency, the Dominican government took out a loan of 770,000 pounds sterling at 6% annual interest for 30 years.\u00a0 The creditor,\u00a0Westendorp\u00a0y\u00a0C\u00eda., had the right to charge up to 30% of customs income and to that end named various fiscal agents in the country in charge of collecting said funds in customs and delivering the rest to the Dominican authorities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With this loan, the government paid 142,860 pounds sterling claimed by the\u00a0Hartmont\u00a0firm, settled part of the internal debt that it held with public servants and local loans,\u00a0and greased the political machinery that maintained Ulysses\u00a0Heureaux\u00a0in power with the purchase of loyalties, weapons, army uniforms and the acquisition and construction of war ships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A short time after that, in 1890,\u00a0Heureaux\u00a0obtained another loan from\u00a0Westerndorp\u00a0y\u00a0C\u00eda.\u00a0for\u00a0900,000 pounds sterling, at 6% annual interest for 50 years.\u00a0 He presented the construction of a railway between Santiago and Puerto Plata as the justification, though in reality, a significant portion of the money was destined for bribery and political payments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contraband, supported by the Government as a way to evade the payment of the\u00a0Westendorp\u00a0custom agents,\u00a0bankrupted the company in 1893, which then took advantage of\u00a0the\u00a0Saman\u00e1\u00a0bay and peninsula rental negotiations with the U.S. to sell its Dominican holdings to U.S. capitalists.\u00a0 These capitalists formed the Santo Doming Improvement Company, and among their principal investors\u00a0were\u00a0the U.S. Secretary of State and other U.S. government officials.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Santo Domingo Improvement Company.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 Once the company was created, the Dominican Government solicited two new loans of 1,250,000 dollars and 2,035,000 pounds sterling; in 1893, the amount of the Dominican Republic\u2019s debt rose to 17 million pesos.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Santo Domingo Improvement Company remained in complete control of national customs and catapulted the U.S. influence in the country to new levels.\u00a0 In addition, maritime transportation between Santo Domingo and New York was monopolized by the Clyde Steamer Line of the United States, and a large portion of foreign-held sugar industry, which had begun to grow during the 1874 Ignacio\u00a0Mar\u00eda\u00a0Gonz\u00e1lez government, again found itself in U.S. hands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The opposition to U.S. interests\u00a0\u2013organized by European powers and the presidential candidate opposing General\u00a0Heureaux,\u00a0Generoso\u00a0de\u00a0Marchena\u2013\u00a0ended with the imprisonment and execution of De\u00a0Marchena\u00a0and the departure of the\u00a0Banco\u00a0Nacional\u00a0de Santo Domingo from the country (1893), as it was the financial center that, since the days of\u00a0Westendorp, had supported European values.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other secret and fraudulent loans were taken out in conspiracy with the directors of the Santo Domingo Improvement Company.\u00a0 In 1898, one year before the execution of\u00a0Heureaux, more than 15,000,000 pesos were owed to the company, which maintained total control over the customs of the country.\u00a0 On the other hand, debts to public officials and national creditors were drowning the government.\u00a0 The distribution of un-backed currency (the so-called \u201cpapeletas\u00a0de\u00a0Lil\u00eds\u201d) and the creation of a new international loan, now with European financiers, aggravated the situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1900, the Dominican Republic \u201cowed\u201d the U.S.\u00a0company, and with it, bonds that the company had sold in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and England, the sum of 23,957,078 dollars, as the internal debt increased to 10,126,628 dollars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Towards the North American Intervention<\/b><\/h2>\n

Political Succession of\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Lil\u00eds<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(<\/i><\/b>Ulises<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Heureaux<\/i><\/b>).<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 Among the figures that participated in the overthrow of President\u00a0Heureaux, putting an end to his 15 years in power, were Juan Isidro\u00a0Jimenes\u00a0and\u00a0Horacio\u00a0V\u00e1squez.\u00a0 The first had organized an anti-Heureaux\u00a0expedition in a steamed named\u00a0Fanita\u00a0just before the assassination of the dictator.\u00a0 The second participated, together with Ram\u00f3n\u00a0C\u00e1ceres\u00a0and\u00a0Jacobino\u00a0de Lara, in the actual execution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both men were among the main leaders antagonizing the presidency in a period characterized by political upheaval and foreign pressure that would end in the U.S. invasion and occupation in 1916.\u00a0 Their opposing factions were named the\u00a0Jimenistas\u00a0or bolos and the\u00a0Horacistas\u00a0or\u00a0coludos.\u00a0 The\u00a0Jimenistas\u00a0were composed of former\u00a0Heureaux\u00a0supporters, while the\u00a0Horacistas\u00a0issued from the most liberal extreme of the former Blue Party.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coup\u00a0d\u2019\u00e9tats\u00a0against one group and another, armed uprisings and political persecution among parties were the distinguishing characteristic of internal politics, which increased the foreign pursuit of sovereignty over the Dominican Republic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

European and U.S. P<\/i>ressures<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0 Early in the 20th century, the European bond holders of the Dominican debt embarked on a campaign to their respective governments to force the Dominican government to pay its balance.\u00a0 The Santo Domingo Improvement Company brought its case before the U.S. State Department in order to have the\u00a0U.S. Government protecting the Company\u2019s interests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1903 Protocol<\/b><\/h2>\n

In 1903, when\u00a0Horacio\u00a0V\u00e1squez\u00a0was president, a protocol was signed by the Dominican Republic and the Improvement Company in which the country recognized its obligations to the company for more than 4.5 million dollars and promised to settle the debt in accordance with the form of payment established by an international arbitration.\u00a0 The arbitration\u00a0would be composed of an arbitrator\u00a0named by the\u00a0Dominican Republic, another by the United States,\u00a0and a third by agreement of both governments, that lacking an agreement would\u00a0be a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Arbitral Award<\/b>, 1904<\/b><\/h2>\n

The following arbitration decision of June 1904 arranged the specialization of the customs income of\u00a0Montecristi, Puerto Plata,\u00a0Saman\u00e1\u00a0and S\u00e1nchez toward the payment on the debts owed to the Improvement Company.\u00a0 This decision dispatched a financial agent from the Company to be responsible for the budgeting of the customs income and to authorize the Dominican State\u2019s expenditures.\u00a0 Due to the rejection of the clause by European bond holders and Dominican creditors, it was never applied.<\/p>\n

Modus Vivendi, 1905<\/b><\/h2>\n

After a series of negotiations held between the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt,\u00a0and the President of the Dominican Republic,\u00a0Carlos Morales\u00a0Languasco, and\u00a0an agreement never ratified by the U.S. Senate, due to its virtual establishment of a protectorate over the Dominican Republic, on March 31, 1905, the provisional arrangement \u201cModus Vivendi\u201d was created.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through this pact, the Dominican President authorized his U.S. counterpart to name a person in charge of collecting customs income to be distributed in the following manner: 45% of the total income delivered to the Dominican government to cover the national public administration\u2019s needs; the other 55% to be used by the U.S. government for the payment of the customs employees and to make a deposit in a New York bank \u201c\u2026to the benefit of all of the creditors of the Republic, Dominicans\u00a0as well as foreigners\u201d.\u00a0 The general head of customs designated by the U.S. Government was Colonel George R. Colton.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This plan contributed to reducing contraband, increased the quantity of income that the Dominican government received and calmed the European bond holders that now saw that the U.S. Government, and not a private company, was concerned with guaranteeing the payment of the credit balance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fifteen months after initiating the arrangement, some two million dollars had been deposited in the National Bank of New York.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adjustment P<\/b>lan<\/b><\/h2>\n

Later in 1905, President Roosevelt sent a financial expert to determine exactly how much the debt of the Dominican Republic had increased and what proportion was legitimate or fraudulent debt.\u00a0Jacobo\u00a0Hollander reported that, to the date, the amount of the debts claimed on national and international levels settled at around 40 million dollars.\u00a0 This sum could be reduced by half,\u00a0considering that\u00a0many of the claims lacked legitimacy.\u00a0 From then on, between March and September 1906, the two governments worked together to verify each record and obligated creditors to accept a reduction in their demands.\u00a0 The total debt of the Dominican Republic thus fell to 17 million dollars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Debt C<\/b>onsolidation and the American-Dominican Fiscal Convention of 1907<\/b><\/h2>\n

As one of the foreign policy objectives of the United States was to gain full control of the Antilles in order to strengthen its\u00a0position in the Panama Canal,\u00a0it was clear to President Roosevelt that the Dominican Republic should not have European creditors that could attract their governments\u2019 influence to the area.\u00a0 To this end, he orchestrated for the Kuhn, Loeb &\u00a0Company, a\u00a0New York\u00a0firm,\u00a0to lend 20 million dollars to the country, destined for the cancellation of all pending debts, while the remaining three million would be dedicated to carrying out public works and other investments.\u00a0 In reality, they were used discretionally by President Ram\u00f3n\u00a0C\u00e1ceres\u00a0to consolidate his power\u00a0during his first presidency\u00a0of the Republic.\u00a0 The technicians at the Bank of New York received a commission of 800,000 dollars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Accompanying this\u00a0loan, the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Congress approved the American-Dominican Fiscal Convention on May 3, 1907, a treaty in which the Dominican government turned over the administration and control of its customs to the government of the United States until completing the payment of the new debt and promising to not modify its customs tariff nor increase its public debt without the previous consent of the president of the United States.\u00a0 The customs income would be distributed in the manner established in the \u201cModus Vivendi\u201d: 45% for the Dominican government, 5% for the payment of customs administration\u00a0employees\u00a0and 50% for the payment of the loan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second article of the Convention stated that the head administrator of customs, named by the president of the United States, would have the protection of the U.S. government if the Dominican government was unable to provide it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This way, the U.S. secured its control over the Dominican Republic early in the 20th century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an argument against the approval of the Convention of 1907, Congressman Alfredo Morales stated (excerpt\u00a0from the\u00a0Enciclopedia\u00a0Ilustrada\u00a0de la\u00a0Rep\u00fablica\u00a0Dominicana, Vol. VII,\u00a0p.\u00a0201):\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTreaties of protectorate or subjection, which are always between powerful States and weak or unorganized States, have often had, as their\u00a0only goal, what is now called pacific conquest.\u00a0 A strong State lends help to a weak one only when it is guided by specific interests.\u00a0 The list of usurpations committed by the\u00a0great Republic of the United States of America\u00a0under the pretext of the Monroe doctrine is long (\u2026) if we approve the current negotiations, the Dominican Republic will not be able\u00a0to work as equals with another nation in the future; it will cease to be an Independent State,\u00a0and will no longer have an international role.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Collections<\/b><\/h2>\n

Through these \u201cagreements\u201d\u00a0customs collections experienced a constant increase as a result of the growth, increase and diversification of agricultural production,\u00a0the rise of its prices on the international market and, in 1910,\u00a0the 15% reduction in the customs tariff on importation rights and 50% reduction on exportation approved by\u00a0the president of the United States, William Howard Taft.<\/p>\n

In those years, the following customs income was recorded:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Year<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nUS\u00a0<\/b>dollars<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1904\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1,864,755\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1905\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n2,800,000\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1906\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n3,692,000\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1907\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n3,964,000\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1908\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n4,029,000\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1909\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n3,862,000\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1910\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n4,705,000\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1911\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n+ 5,000,00\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ram\u00f3n\u00a0<\/b>C\u00e1ceres<\/b>\u00a0Assassination<\/b><\/h2>\n

The assassination of President Ram\u00f3n\u00a0C\u00e1ceres\u00a0in November 1911, unleashed a civil war between the head of the Army, Alfredo Victoria, the\u00a0Horacistas, who had planned the fall of the\u00a0C\u00e1ceres\u00a0government, and the\u00a0Jimenista\u00a0rebels, led by\u00a0Desiderio\u00a0Arias, that momentarily gained control of border customs.\u00a0 The two latter factions, united by the fact that Haitians had taken advantage of the power vacuum to occupy Dominican territories, pushed the United States to exercise the American-Dominican Fiscal Convention of 1907 to intervene and mediate internal Dominican politics, which had again dissolved into instability and chaos.\u00a0 Between November 1911 and November 1916, eight different presidencies rose to power, of which only two\u00a0were constitutional:\u00a0Eladio\u00a0Victoria, beginning\u00a0in December 1911, and\u00a0Juan Isidro\u00a0Jimenes\u00a0in December 1914.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

U.S. A<\/b>dministration, 1914<\/b><\/h2>\n

In January 1914, the provisional government of Jos\u00e9\u00a0Bordas\u00a0accepted the\u00a0designation by the U.S. government of an administrator that would supervise\u00a0all of the expenditures of the Dominican government and the execution of the national budget.\u00a0 From this arrangement, 40,000 dollars of customs income was advanced to the Dominican government, which was permitted to use 1,200,000 dollars in unsold bonds from the 1907 loan.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wilson Plan, 1914<\/b><\/h2>\n

In the face of the confrontation of the\u00a0Horacista\u00a0and\u00a0Jimenista\u00a0forces and other political factions (Velazquistas\u00a0and\u00a0Vitalistas) that wanted to remove from power Jos\u00e9\u00a0Bordas, who had won through fraudulent elections,\u00a0the United States sent a mediating committee to the country in July 1914 that carried a proposal written by the president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson.\u00a0 Under threat of the invasion of U.S. infantry, the \u201cWilson Plan\u201d established:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • The laying down of arms by all revolutionaries.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Election of an interim\u00a0president by agreement between forces.\u00a0 Without an agreement, the U.S. government would choose and maintain the president and secure him with its own forces.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Organization\u00a0of elections by the interim\u00a0president, which would be supervised by the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Commitment of all factions to respect the new government, which in addition would enjoy the support the U.S. government, as it refused to tolerate more revolutions.<\/li>\n
  • Juan Isidro Jimenez was elected president in the elections held on December 1914.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    First U.S. invasion<\/b><\/h2>\n

    The events that gave the final push to the 1916 U.S. intervention were:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The impasse between the Juan Isidro\u00a0Jimenes\u00a0government and the United States, as it did not accept some of the measures that the United States wanted to impose (among them, express approval of the U.S. administrator).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Uprising of the\u00a0Horacista\u00a0generals in the north.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    • U.S. military occupation of Haiti in 1915.<\/li>\n
    • Increase in the\u00a0Desiderio\u00a0Arias’s\u00a0power, a secretary of War and Navy who\u00a0rebelled against\u00a0Jimenes\u00a0in April 1916.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      In May 1916, the U.S. Marine disembarkation\u00a0began. On May 16, they took Santo Domingo, and by the end of July, the principal military posts in the country were in their hands. On November 29, 1916, Captain H.S. Knapp published the official proclamation of the occupation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      U.S.\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Military Government M<\/i><\/b>easures in the Dominican Republic<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n

      Military and Police C<\/b>ontrol<\/b><\/h3>\n

      In order to replace the old armed forces in the Navy and the Republican Guard of the period of Ram\u00f3n\u00a0C\u00e1ceres, in 1917, the invaders created the National Guard, an organization of repression whose end was to efficiently combat any intent at sedition. The Dominicans that joined its ranks were almost all from a lower socio-economic status or unemployed and were trained according to the regulations of the Marine Infantry of the United States, making them into a sort of extension of the force. It is from this “body of order”, later named the National Police and even later converted into the National\u00a0Army, where\u00a0the dictator\u00a0Rafael Leonidas Trujillo emerged.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Internal Income, Accounting and Land R<\/b>egistration<\/b><\/h2>\n

      In 1918, the Directorate General of Internal Income was created with the purpose of regulating the application and payment of taxes on national manufacturing. A modern system of public accounting was also incorporated, as well as a new land registration system.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Public Works<\/b><\/h2>\n

      The need for greater military control over the country motivated the invading authorities\u00a0developed a construction\u00a0plan for highways\u00a0that reached the various regions and that facilitated a real political unification of the country. In 1922, the Duarte highway was inaugurated between the cities of Santo\u00a0Domingo and Santiago. The highway to the east traveled from Santo Domingo to San Pedro de\u00a0Macor\u00eds, while the highway to the south stretched from the capital to\u00a0Azua. This network was completed a short time after the occupation\u00a0ended, after being planned and initiated during the Ram\u00f3n\u00a0C\u00e1ceres\u00a0presidency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Other works consisted of\u00a0repairing\u00a0docks and customs buildings, the\u00a0creation\u00a0a telecommunications system and\u00a0construction of\u00a0educational and sanitary buildings.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Education<\/b><\/h2>\n

      It is estimated that in 1916, more than 90% of the Dominican population was illiterate.\u00a0One of the first initiatives of the occupation government was the promotion of a law that established\u00a0obligatory, free,\u00a0primary education\u00a0for children\u00a0between 7 and 14 years of age,\u00a0and the creation of the National Council of\u00a0Education, charged with the general supervision of public education. Numerous primary school\u00a0establishments were built in\u00a0rural areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      On the other hand, little attention was paid to secondary education, the Universidad de Santiago was closed and the Universidad de Santo Domingo was given the category of institution.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Public Health and S<\/b>anitation<\/b><\/h2>\n
        \n
      • Clean\u00a0up\u00a0of cities and towns, markets and slaughterhouses, installation of latrines.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Establishment\u00a0of the\u00a0State Secretariat for\u00a0Health and Wellness.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Creation of a National Laboratory.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Regulation of the medical and pharmaceutical practice and related fields.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Execution of vaccination programs.<\/li>\n
      • Control of the preparation and sale of foods.<\/li>\n
      • Prohibition of prostitution.<\/li>\n
      • Arrival of health professionals from the United States and Puerto Rico. According to the occupation authorities, in 1917, less than 95 doctors and licensed medical care personnel worked in the Dominican Republic, many of which were poorly educated.<\/li>\n
      • Construction of three hospitals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        “Dance of the Millions”.\u00a0World War I caused an increase in the demand for Dominican sugar, tobacco, coffee and cocoa, raising the price of these products on the international market. The resulting greater buying capacity of Dominicans produced a rise in the demand for imported manufactured articles and contributed to the incipient urbanization and modernization process in towns such as Santiago, La Vega, San Pedro de\u00a0Macor\u00eds\u00a0and Puerto Plata, along with Santo Domingo. This economic effervescence was especially present between 1918 and 1921, when it was known as the “Dance of the Millions”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        It ended in 1921 with the sharp plunge of the Dominican product prices on the international market, pushing the country into a new crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        New L<\/i><\/b>oans<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0It is important to note that the investments made by the occupation government were sustained, in part, by customs funding that belonged to the Dominican government and had been retained by the U.S. authorities as a pressure mechanism since the impasse with President\u00a0Jimenes. The measures were also supported by loans authorized by the State Department under the Convention of 1907. Thanks to the new loans, the debt of the Dominican Republic climbed to almost 15,000,000 dollars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        Dominican political leaders and businessmen manifested their disagreement, alleging that the foreign government did not have the right to place the country in debt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        Resistance<\/b><\/h2>\n

        Gavilleros.\u00a0In spite of censorship and disarmament, a group of rebels continued to struggle against the foreign authority. The\u00a0gavilleros<\/i>\u00a0<\/i>operated in the eastern part of the country and were, for the most part, composed of peasants dispossessed of their land during the apogee of the foreign investment sugar industry, beginning in the late 19th century and growing in the first 15 years of the 20th. They hid in the\u00a0mountains\u00a0and attacked using guerilla war tactics, relying on the collaboration of the population and even the administrators of the sugar refineries that, in order to avoid the burning or assault of their fields and storage facilities, gave them food and money.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        They could only be pushed back when operations against them received the help of the Dominican National Guard soldiers. In 1922, they accepted a general amnesty offered by the occupation government with the understanding that a Dominican provisional government would be installed that year under the Hughes-Peynado\u00a0Plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        The\u00a0g<\/i>avilleros<\/i>‘ most important leaders were Vicente Evangelista, Ram\u00f3n\u00a0Natera, Mart\u00edn\u00a0Peguero, Jos\u00e9 Pi\u00f1a, Luciano Reyes, Pedro\u00a0Tolete,\u00a0Marcial\u00a0Guerrero and F\u00e9lix\u00a0Laureano.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

        Public Resista<\/b>nce<\/b><\/h2>\n

        The\u00a0public\u00a0resistance was based in urban areas and was structured on the various initiatives of the Dominican intellectual class that expressed a preference for a free country with revolutions rather than an occupied country with an imposed peace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n