Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of the Dominican dictator.
SANTO DOMINGO.- Eduardo Diaz and Luis Salvador Estrella, sons of two of the national héroes that killed the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo on 30 May 1961, confessed to Diario Libre that since their fathers were assassinated for taking part in the conspiracy, they have suffered nightmares in which they are being pursued.
"Until some time ago, I had nightmares and it was that I would shout like I felt lost, I did not know where I was and I would wake up nervous. It has been some time and I've gotten over this mostly, but I had it for a long time," Estrella said.
He was 14 when they killed his father, Luis Salvador Estrella Sadhala. Diaz was 12 when they killed his father, Modesto Diaz Quezada. Neither of them knew that their fathers were planning on killing Trujillo, in spite of the fact that their mothers and close friends did.
Diaz tells how he thought that Trujillo was "a god", and that he nearly fainted when he found out that his father had been assassinated on 18 November 1961 as a result of being one of the conspirators.
He says that he heard the shots that took his (father's) life. "I did not know who they were killing but the next day I found out because every day the newspapers published the photographs of the persons that were fugitives and if they removed a photograph from there that meant that the fugitive was dead or under arrest... when I went to get the newspaper, they snatched it away and then I began to suspect that my father was dead.", he remembered.
The upbringing of Diaz and his five brothers and sisters and that of Estrella and his three siblings was continued by their respective mothers, who they define and both "a mother and a father". "It was very hard, very hard," says Estrella. "It was traumatic for me not to have a father. It was very hard because to grow up without a father, above all with the dimensions of my father, and his conduct in life, you have to be worth to carry the last name of your father," commented Diaz.
"We did not have a normal upbringing like any child. Why? Because we were, besides being brought up with discipline, our mothers also continued that discipline and drilled into us that we could never forget of whom we were children," said Estrella.
They remember that they were envious of other children that could go out and play and walk around without the pressure of having their lives in danger. "We lives with our clothes on", says Estrella.
They answer those that say that the conspirators did not seek to put an end to the tyranny, but for their own personal profit, that in reality they did not want for anything since they were middle class and high middle class and "just makes them bigger heroes." "My father was at his best economic time," said Estrella.
Nonetheless, they are not bitter over the fact that the men who are now heroes, knowing that their lives were in danger, did not insure the economic future of their families, seeing their mothers overwhelmed with how to organize the assets they were left. "They exposed their families to the benefit of two million inhabitants", said Estrella.
Pain and blood
While they talked with Diario Libre, Diaz and Estrella interrupted each other, like any friendly conversation among friends, and began to remember the events that once again their minds have recreated over fifty years, and more so as members of the 30 of May Foundation.
They stress that the Diaz family were who took Trujillo to power, in the South, and the Estrellas were who kept him in power. "He (my father) told my mother: listen, we helped this man to get into power, now we have to get rid of this tyrant", says Diaz in reference to his father.
Estrellas tells how they arrested him twice with his mother, Urania Mueses. It was on 4 June, when she decided to turn herself in to the authorities. They took her to the offices of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM), located in back of the National Palace. He was sent home and Urania was taken to the torture chambers. He says that she was not physically harmed, but psychologically, since she heard the screams of those that were undergoing torture and she saw them in their cells, naked.
Diaz remembers that his mother, Leda Montaño, went to the morgue of the Dominican Air Force to the body of her husband. They showed her several bodies. She did not cry then but waited until she was home.
Estrella remembered that the last time he say his father, he felt that he was saying goodbye. "I remember like now, when he hugged me and I felt how when one hugs someone and does not close his face, and you feel, like how he is emotional because he tensed his jaw...He hugged me strong and when I saw his face his eyes were moist", he says.
The families of De la Maza, of the conspirator Antonio de la Maza, and the Diaz were the ones that most suffered the consequences after the assassination, have a large part of the families killed, including the servants, as revenge.
It was worth the effort
"Was it worth the effort? Of course it was, because today we enjoy all of our rights thanks to these persons. We have the freedom to say what we want to you (Miguel Adriano Tejada, director of Diario Libre) as a person who represents the communication media, and our rights, which are established in the Constitution, are respected," said Diaz.
They both say that they feel proud and are at peace, confident that the Dominican Republic will continue to be fine, based on the sacrifice of their fathers. They reminded everyone that today at 5:30 in the afternoon, there will be a special commemorative activity at the monument to the Heroes of 30th of May.
The reiterated their criticism of Trujillo's daughter, Angelita, who says that her father was not the bloody tyrant that they remember. "This woman, the damsel as I call her, is a person that has tried to detour the historical truth and has done this through a series of libelous statements regarding the families related to the 30th of May that are complete lies and that are an attack upon the integrity, the morals of the Heroes of 30th of May and even upon the Dominican people, because, who is going to believe Angelita that her father committed just some excesses? No, the excesses were permanent and on-going," says Diaz.
He concludes with an thought for those that continue to defend Trujillo: "Please remember that you are talking about freedom, in Trujillo's time you could not talk with freedom".
Regarding Modesto Diaz
Modesto Diaz Quezada began his conspiracy inbited by his brother Juan Tomas. Their houses became the operations center of the conspirators. Modesto took part in all of the preparations. He brought into the movement his close friend Luis Amiama Tió, and Huascar Tejeda and Roberto Pastoriza.
After 30 May he was captured and jailed at the Kilometer 9 torture center. In spite of the treatment he received, history shows that he never revealed any names. He was assassinated in the Hacienda Maria on 18 November, 1961. It is thought that his body was thrown into the sea.
"Until some time ago, I had nightmares and it was that I would shout like I felt lost, I did not know where I was and I would wake up nervous. It has been some time and I've gotten over this mostly, but I had it for a long time," Estrella said.
He was 14 when they killed his father, Luis Salvador Estrella Sadhala. Diaz was 12 when they killed his father, Modesto Diaz Quezada. Neither of them knew that their fathers were planning on killing Trujillo, in spite of the fact that their mothers and close friends did.
Diaz tells how he thought that Trujillo was "a god", and that he nearly fainted when he found out that his father had been assassinated on 18 November 1961 as a result of being one of the conspirators.
He says that he heard the shots that took his (father's) life. "I did not know who they were killing but the next day I found out because every day the newspapers published the photographs of the persons that were fugitives and if they removed a photograph from there that meant that the fugitive was dead or under arrest... when I went to get the newspaper, they snatched it away and then I began to suspect that my father was dead.", he remembered.
The upbringing of Diaz and his five brothers and sisters and that of Estrella and his three siblings was continued by their respective mothers, who they define and both "a mother and a father". "It was very hard, very hard," says Estrella. "It was traumatic for me not to have a father. It was very hard because to grow up without a father, above all with the dimensions of my father, and his conduct in life, you have to be worth to carry the last name of your father," commented Diaz.
"We did not have a normal upbringing like any child. Why? Because we were, besides being brought up with discipline, our mothers also continued that discipline and drilled into us that we could never forget of whom we were children," said Estrella.
They remember that they were envious of other children that could go out and play and walk around without the pressure of having their lives in danger. "We lives with our clothes on", says Estrella.
They answer those that say that the conspirators did not seek to put an end to the tyranny, but for their own personal profit, that in reality they did not want for anything since they were middle class and high middle class and "just makes them bigger heroes." "My father was at his best economic time," said Estrella.
Nonetheless, they are not bitter over the fact that the men who are now heroes, knowing that their lives were in danger, did not insure the economic future of their families, seeing their mothers overwhelmed with how to organize the assets they were left. "They exposed their families to the benefit of two million inhabitants", said Estrella.
Pain and blood
While they talked with Diario Libre, Diaz and Estrella interrupted each other, like any friendly conversation among friends, and began to remember the events that once again their minds have recreated over fifty years, and more so as members of the 30 of May Foundation.
They stress that the Diaz family were who took Trujillo to power, in the South, and the Estrellas were who kept him in power. "He (my father) told my mother: listen, we helped this man to get into power, now we have to get rid of this tyrant", says Diaz in reference to his father.
Estrellas tells how they arrested him twice with his mother, Urania Mueses. It was on 4 June, when she decided to turn herself in to the authorities. They took her to the offices of the Military Intelligence Service (SIM), located in back of the National Palace. He was sent home and Urania was taken to the torture chambers. He says that she was not physically harmed, but psychologically, since she heard the screams of those that were undergoing torture and she saw them in their cells, naked.
Diaz remembers that his mother, Leda Montaño, went to the morgue of the Dominican Air Force to the body of her husband. They showed her several bodies. She did not cry then but waited until she was home.
Estrella remembered that the last time he say his father, he felt that he was saying goodbye. "I remember like now, when he hugged me and I felt how when one hugs someone and does not close his face, and you feel, like how he is emotional because he tensed his jaw...He hugged me strong and when I saw his face his eyes were moist", he says.
The families of De la Maza, of the conspirator Antonio de la Maza, and the Diaz were the ones that most suffered the consequences after the assassination, have a large part of the families killed, including the servants, as revenge.
It was worth the effort
"Was it worth the effort? Of course it was, because today we enjoy all of our rights thanks to these persons. We have the freedom to say what we want to you (Miguel Adriano Tejada, director of Diario Libre) as a person who represents the communication media, and our rights, which are established in the Constitution, are respected," said Diaz.
They both say that they feel proud and are at peace, confident that the Dominican Republic will continue to be fine, based on the sacrifice of their fathers. They reminded everyone that today at 5:30 in the afternoon, there will be a special commemorative activity at the monument to the Heroes of 30th of May.
The reiterated their criticism of Trujillo's daughter, Angelita, who says that her father was not the bloody tyrant that they remember. "This woman, the damsel as I call her, is a person that has tried to detour the historical truth and has done this through a series of libelous statements regarding the families related to the 30th of May that are complete lies and that are an attack upon the integrity, the morals of the Heroes of 30th of May and even upon the Dominican people, because, who is going to believe Angelita that her father committed just some excesses? No, the excesses were permanent and on-going," says Diaz.
He concludes with an thought for those that continue to defend Trujillo: "Please remember that you are talking about freedom, in Trujillo's time you could not talk with freedom".
Regarding Modesto Diaz
Modesto Diaz Quezada began his conspiracy inbited by his brother Juan Tomas. Their houses became the operations center of the conspirators. Modesto took part in all of the preparations. He brought into the movement his close friend Luis Amiama Tió, and Huascar Tejeda and Roberto Pastoriza.
After 30 May he was captured and jailed at the Kilometer 9 torture center. In spite of the treatment he received, history shows that he never revealed any names. He was assassinated in the Hacienda Maria on 18 November, 1961. It is thought that his body was thrown into the sea.
En portadaVer todos