Juan Bosch

Juan Emilio Bosch Gavino (* June 30, 1909 in La Vega, † 1 November 2001 in Santo Domingo ) was a politician, writer and leader of the Dominican Republic.

Life

After the seizure of the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo ( August 1930 ), Bosch went into exile in Puerto Rico and Cuba. During this time he traveled to many countries in Latin America and Europe, where he courted support for the realization of democratic states in his homeland. In Chile, he won the friendship of the links politician Salvador Allende and the writer Pablo Neruda.

After the assassination of Trujillo on May 30, 1961 Bosch returned to the Dominican Republic and turned the end of 1962 as the candidate of the " Partido Revolucionario Dominicano " ( PRD) the first free presidential election since 1930, which he won with 60 % of votes. On 27 February 1963 he took office. In his government work, he drew attention to a democratization of the country, on the implementation of social reforms and an independent policy of the United States. Thus he fell into disrepute by the Dominican oligarchy, the Catholic Church and the United States, which accused him of "communism" and allied themselves against him. In a CIA-backed military coup Bosch was overthrown after a period of only seven months, on 25 September 1963, forced again to go into exile. As a result, a three- junta ( triumvirate ) took over the power that could only be maintained by military despotism and political terror in power.

Meanwhile formed in the Dominican Republic a movement for the restoration of constitutional conditions and the return of deposed President Juan Bosch. Your oppression and persecution by the military and the police conducted in mid-April 1965 a nationwide uprising ( April Revolution). The partisan Bosch quickly gained the upper hand, ousted the military junta, and set up a provisional government. Then asked the military the United States to send troops. This corresponded to the " cry for help " and sent 42,000 Marines to the Dominican Republic to avert the "left" popular uprising and " communist threat ." In the ensuing battles over 5,000 Dominicans lost their lives.

The Americans remained in the country until the arrived from the USA Joaquín Balaguer (* 1906, † 2002) in allegedly rigged " elections " the highest public office was able to erstreiten within the meaning of the Bosch opponents. In 1990, Juan Bosch applied again for the presidency, but was defeated by Balaguer with a wafer- thin majority. In 1994 he lost his now traditional adversaries.

In addition to his political activities Juan Bosch was also known, and especially as one of the great contemporary writer and narrator of the Spanish culture. In his works he often sat apart with the social problems of his country and of Latin American politics. In his early stories, which were translated into many languages ​​and he also used for aesthetic and genre theory aspects in the Latin American literary history, Bosch focuses on the national identity of the Dominican Republic. The later works tend to have urban issues and evidence of a continental and universal themes.

Works

Literary works

• Three collections of short stories: Cuentos Escritos antes del exilio, Escritos Cuentos en el exilio, Más Escritos Cuentos en el exilio.
• The girl from La Guaira. Caribbean stories. Frankfurt / Main 1990, ISBN 3-7638-0140-5

Political works

• Bolívar y la guerra social
• De Cristóbal Colón a Fidel Castro
• El Caribe, frontera imperial
• Composición Social Dominicana
• El Pentagonismo, Sustituto del Imperialismo - " The Pentagonismus or the detachment of imperialism " in German language. Reinbek 1969
• Poker de Espanto en el Caribe
• Dictaduras Dominicanas
• Clases Sociales en la República Dominicana
• Crisis de la Democracia de America en la República Dominicana
• Breve historia de la oligarquia
• Trujillo - Causas de una tiranía sin ejemplo
• La Guerra of Restoration
• Escritos Cuentos en el exilio