Speaking on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the coup against the Juan Bosch government on 25 September 1963, former President Leonel Fernandez described the event as a stain and shame on contemporary Dominican history.
Fernandez said that after more than 30 years of tyranny and oppression under Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican people had voted to build democracy in the country, but the coup put an end to it.
He said that once he took power, Bosch was subject to pressure from a range of quarters, including some members of the military, the Catholic Church, smaller political parties and the press, leading to the downfall of the country’s first democratically elected government only seven months later. He said that Bosch was never given time to breathe, and even before taking power there was a plot to stop him being sworn in as President.
Fernandez said that the coup had led to Dominican bloodshed and great pain, which as well as being avoidable, also delayed the country’s economic and social progress.
www.elnacional.com.do/nacional/2013/9/24/173680/Leonel-afirma-golpe-de-Estado-contra-Juan-Bosch-es-una-verguenza-en-la