The DR1 Daily News will not be updated on Monday, 16 August. Monday is a holiday in the DR. Headline news will be compiled and published in the Tuesday, 17 August edition. The holiday commemorates the 136th anniversary of the restoring of national sovereignty. In 1861, then President Pedro Santana convinced the Queen of Spain to send troops to the DR. He urged the establishment of a political and military protectorate under Spanish domination. The DR had suffered under the domination by Haiti which ended in 1844 when independence was proclaimed. General Santana publicly justified the move by warning of a possible new Haitian invasion. He told Spain that the US wanted to takeover the DR. Historians, nevertheless, say that one of the motives of Santana’s request for a military takeover of the island by Spain, was to impede a coup d’etat by adverse political forces. Eventually, in 1865, a group of Dominicans that sought to restore the nation’s independence, secured the support of Haitian President Fabre Geffrard who saw the Spanish troops as a threat to Haitian security. 16 August marks the date in 1863 when 14 Dominicans led by Santiago Rodriguez crossed the border from Haiti into Dominican territory and raised the Dominican flag, at Capotillo, signaling the beginning of a new war for independence. This bloody two-year guerrilla war took place in the provinces and resulted in 10,000 casualties for Spain and hundreds of dead Dominicans. The war devastated the economy. Spain abandoned the war when it became apparent that the population wanted independence. All Spanish troops had left by July 25, 1865. Puerto Plata’s international airport bears the name of General Gregorio Luperón, regarded as one of the heroes of the restoration war.
