July 16, 2019 • 20 mins
The Mirabal Sisters – Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dedé – were known as las Mariposas (the Butterflies) in the anti-Rafael Trujillo underground. The Trujillo regime openly persecuted and even killed dissidents and opponents. Still, the sisters organized a resistance against the dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and put their lives on the line in doing so. They raised awareness about the brutality of the regime and prepared for an armed uprising.
Until their assassination, they fought for freedom from fear and state oppression and terrorism. For that they remained a threat in the eyes of Trujillo. But that same activism and dedication to creating a better future for the Dominican people inspired in others the will to protest and the ability to envision progress.
Follow Unpopular on social media!
Twitter: @_unpopularshow
Instagram: @unpopularshow
Facebook: @ThisIsUnpopular
Email us at unpopular@iheartmedia.com.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Just a quick content warning before we start the show.
There is talk of sexual abuse, gender based violence, and
massacre in this episode, So if there are young ones around,
or if that's something that you don't want to hear,
please be aware of that. Something I think about, probably
entirely too often, is the role that faith plays in
(00:23):
my daily life. If you just rolled your eyes, know
that I don't mean this sentimentally. I mean a more
practical faith, you know, the kind that gives me confidence
to walk out into this world full of natural disaster
and human apathy, The one that keeps me from refusing
to ever take risks, and that doesn't let my anxiety
(00:43):
take over every time it wants to the trust that
I have every time I hop behind the will of
my car or in the passenger seat of someone else's.
Maybe that word doesn't seem like it fits into a
conversation about people who challenge norms thought unconventionally, analyze problems
and found solutions, or lead revolutions with strategy and common sense.
(01:05):
The word faith is bedfellows with terms like optimism, faith, surrender, belief,
so on and so forth, Basically words that, when used together,
can make me seem like I'm trying to sell some
sort of snake oil ones that can make it seem
like logic and planning have no place here and all
we need to get things done is the one and
only the reliable faith. But I don't think the people
(01:28):
we talk about here on Unpopular would have the same
stories if some degree of faith wasn't part of their story,
if they didn't believe that what they were doing would
make some sort of meaningful difference, or they didn't trust
that their movements had a chance of succeeding. For folks
betting on a revolution or a complete reversal in society's
way of being, or thinking, there may be no one
(01:51):
to one precedent for the changes they're trying to make.
That means that they may have to believe in an
outcome for which there is no proof. There may be
doubts or adjustments along the way, but challenging a status
quo requires a person to envision a different future and
to have conviction that the charge they're leading will help
steer society in that direction. I'd say that pursuing a
(02:16):
goal or publicly supporting an idea so radical or exceptional
that people may shun you or view you as a
threat takes a leap of faith. I'm Eves Jeff Cote
and This is Unpopular a podcast about people in history
who didn't let the threat of persecution keep them from
(02:37):
speaking truth to power. Today we turn our attention to
the Meta Ball Sisters, Patria, Minerva, Maria and are collectively
known as the meat of Ball Sisters. They were born
in the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties in the Dominican Republic,
a Caribbean country that borders Haiti on the island of Hispaniola.
(02:58):
The United States pie the Dominican Republic from nineteen sixteen
until nineteen twenty four, the year that the oldest meat
of all Sister Patria was born. That same year, the
US began withdrawing from the country, and Harasio Vasquez was
elected President of the Dominican Republic with the backing of
the United States. I'm leaving out a lot of history here,
(03:20):
but over the years, Hispaniola was the object of imperial lust,
a place of strategic and economic importance, a site of
racist violence, a breeding ground for rebellion and revolution, and
an island where political and economic instability were normal. So
we arrived at Vasquez presidency. He took office in October
(03:41):
of nineteen twenty four and held onto it until nineteen thirty,
after having extended the presidential term to six years rather
than four. His administration was corrupt and ineffective, and people
began to call for his outst As the nineteen thirty
elections approached, Raphael Estrea Na took power as provisional president
(04:01):
and Vasquez went into exile. General Raphael Leonita Trujillo Molina
then won the presidential election as the only candidate, as
he had forced the other candidates out of the election
through intimidation and harassment. Estrea was named vice president. Truilla
ruled the Dominican Republic as a dictator until nineteen sixty one.
(04:23):
Under his regime, the press was censored and dissenters were
tortured and killed. He appointed family members to important offices.
He controlled pretty much every part of society, including entertainment
and education. He even renamed the capital and landmarks after himself,
and he accumulated wealth by securing commissions on public works
(04:44):
projects and taking ownership of land, airlines, and manufacturers. He
even called for the massacre of thousands of Haitians and
Dominicans of Haitian dissent along the Dominican Haitian border. Despite
thruos oppressive, totalitarian, and brutal regime, he built an image
as a nationalist, upholder of Dominican values and a messiah
(05:06):
who people feared yet admired. He did bring a modicum
of political and economic stability to the country, though I'm
saying this with the huge asterisk that in no way
canceled out all the abuse, poverty, human rights violations, violence
and corruption rampant in the administration. It was under this
(05:27):
regime that the meta Ball sisters lived. They were born
in ojode Agua, a town in Salcedo and the Dominican Republic.
Their parents were Enrique and Mercedes Mirabal, and they were
part of a relatively well to do, middle class family.
The four sisters attended the Coleo Immaculata Concepcion, a Catholic
boarding school in La Vega. They all married and had children.
(05:50):
Maria Teresa studied math at the University of Santo Domingo
and Minerva studied law at the same university. In October
of nineteen four nine, thru Hio held a party at
his mansion in San Crustobal, the mayor of their town,
personally delivered the Meat of Ball Sister's invitation to the
party to them, so they felt obliged to go. Mineeva
(06:12):
had caught Thruhio's attention and he approached her, but she
rejected his advances. Through Rio's sexual abuse of women was
well known. He married three times and had mistresses. He
had people go out and find young women and bringing
them back to him to stay a night or longer
so he could rape them. Dominican families would make their
(06:33):
daughters hide when he was in town, so, needless to say,
her rejections did not go over well with thru Hio.
The Meat of Ball sisters father was soon imprisoned, and
he died. Soon after he was released, Mineeva and her
mother were held hostage in a hotel in Santo Domingo,
only to be released if Mineeva slept with thru Hillo,
(06:56):
though she refused. They eventually escaped, but through Yo's quest
for vengeance did not in there. Minativa's rejections led through
Hio to wage a vendetta against the Meat of Balls.
The family was put under surveillance by the government and
dinged for even the tiniest reported slights against thru Hio,
(07:17):
people in contact with them were locked up or brutalized.
Me Natava was not allowed to go back to school
and put under arrest in her parents house for three years,
during which time she wrote poetry about social issues in
the Dominican Republic. In nineteen fifty seven, she was allowed
to return to law school if she praised through Hio
(07:38):
and his leadership. She did so and ended up graduating
summa cum laude. Still, she was refused a license to
practice law. Between the abuse they had suffered personally at
the hands of thru Hio, the atrocities they saw him
commit against other people, and the inspiration they received from
the Cuban Revolution, the Meat of All Sisters were moved
(07:59):
to join the move it against the dictator. When a
group of Dominican exiles who trained in Cuba with Fidel
Castro support, returned to the Dominican Republic in nineteen fifty
nine to topple through Hero's dictatorship, the activism of the
Meat of Ball Sisters, along with many other Dominican people,
was kicked into high gear. We'll be back after this
(08:19):
quick break. History repeats itself. We hear this phrase a lot,
(08:40):
a statement repeated as a hard fact, undeniable. It's clear
in war and fashion, But there are a lot of
things in history. We can largely agree that we don't
want to repeat the Black Death, for instance, Yet things
that happen are often things we don't want to happen.
When someone to sense and attempts to incite drastic or
(09:02):
at least meaningful change, they can work super hard to
reach that goal and still not attain the success they'd
hoped for. Hope, desire, and belief don't get the job
done alone. But sometimes it can feel like we're in
a hamster will, like we're stuck in a vicious cycle
of oppression. Like even when we take two steps forward,
(09:23):
we're taking more backward. How hard is it to maintain
any sort of sense of things being better or even
different when things have been bad for a long time,
Or what is the point in imagining a future at all? Hopelessness,
cynicism about the future, and settling for less can set
in easily, but hope could be a starting point. By that,
(09:47):
I mean the ability to see beyond the current state
of things and belief in the simple possibility for change.
At some point comes before action that drives change. Rather
than thinking of hope as a crutch of the naive
allible are innocent, maybe it's better to think about it
as a necessary part of empowering people to think differently
(10:07):
and consider political or cultural shifts they couldn't have bad
them before. By the end of the nineteen fifties, resentment
of thru Hio had reached a peak and people were
planning attempts to overthrow the regime. Minerovamabal was the first
of the Sisters to become active in the fight against
the dictatorship, even though it was dangerous business. She befriended
(10:29):
Peticleistroco Orniss, who founded the Popular Socialist Party and had
been imprisoned for his opposition to thru Hillo. She was
also drawn to leftist literature and intercepted radio stations out
of Cuba and Venezuela that discussed politics in the Dominican Republic.
Fidel Castro's leadership and the Cuban Revolution, which ended on
January first, nineteen fifty nine, with Cuban dictator full Hintsil
(10:53):
Bautista fleeing to the Dominican Republic, helped inspire hope in
Dominican people who wished to fight through Hio's oppressed of rule. Minaova,
Maria Teresa and their husbands spoke of launching a national
resistance movement against Trillo. Dominican exiles in Cuba had organized
in Cuba and trained in military guerrilla tactics with the
(11:14):
intent of overthrowing through Villo. On June fourteenth, nineteen fifty nine,
a Dominican named Enrique Humenes Moya led a group of
insurrectionists who landed in several Dominican cities. Besides Dominicans, Cubans, Spaniards,
Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans and Americans also took part in the insurrection,
(11:35):
but the Dominican Republic had been given a heads up
for the attack and the army and air force shut
it down. Most of the people who participated in the
uprising were killed and many were tortured in prison. This
uprising was the namesake for the Cotors de Junio movement
or fourteenth of June movement, also known as one j
(11:56):
four or one four j. Though the attempts to overthrow
Trullo had been unsuccessful, people in the Dominican Republic were
stirring up rebellion. The Meat of All Sisters and their
husbands helped form the fourteenth of June movement a year
after the revolutionaries victory in the Cuban Revolution. Manola travadez Usto,
(12:16):
a lawyer and Minerva's husband, was the president of the group.
Leandro Gusman, Maria Theres's husband was named treasurer. Many of
the people involved in the movement, including peasants, factory workers,
the wealthy, and intellectuals, were from Puerto Plata, an industrial
northern city. Trullo flexed his muscle against the city by
cutting off rail services to the area and isolating his
(12:39):
shipping ports. Many of the people in the movement were
also members of prominent families and relatives of Thruvio himself.
Despite Throo's attempts to suppress his opposition, criticism and defiance
of the dictator and his policies only grew. We're going
to take a quick break. The meet of Ball sisters
(13:10):
and their husbands began organizing the resistance. They got hundreds
of people to pass out pamphlets detailing the crimes the
regime had committed. They began gathering guns and bombs, and
through their work in the resistance, they were incarcerated several times.
The sisters were given the underground name Las Mariposas or
in English, the Butterflies. The movement planned to assassinate thru
(13:35):
Heio using a bomb at a cattle fair on January one,
nineteen sixty, but the plan was foiled when the Servicita,
or military intelligence service, rounded up supporters of the movement
the day before the assassination was supposed to happen. Trhio's
regime arrested and tortured people, brutality that many people rejected.
(13:59):
Me Not and Maria Teresa, their husbands, and Patria's husband
named Pedro Gonzalez, were jailed. The Catholic Church protested the
witchhood and denounced the dictatorship. But despite all the atrocities
through Hio had already been complicit in, it took Trujillo
attempting to assassinate Venezuelan President Romolo Betancourt before other nations
(14:24):
decided to draw the line. Beaton Court was vehemently anti Trujillo,
and Trullillo had tried to have him overthrown many times before. Regardless,
when through Hio's people put a bunch of dynamite in
a car that exploded and injured beaton court, and killed
a person. The Organization of American States condemned his regime's actions,
(14:45):
imposed sanctions, and sent representatives to Dominican jails on a
fact finding mission. Because of this investigation, many women prisoners
were freed, including the Meta Balls. Their husbands were sent
to a prison in Puerto Blata. Trujillo responded to his
growing opposition and his sworn enemies, the Meata Balls, with vengeance.
(15:06):
He made it clear that the Catholic Church and the
Meat of Ball Sisters were his main foes, problems that
he needed to get rid of. When it came to
the Meat of Ball sisters, that meant death. Friends of
the sisters warnant them not to visit their husbands in prison,
but even though they knew the visits were dangerous, they
(15:29):
had already made the trip to the north coast without
any problems. They had even decided that they were going
to rent a house in Puerto Plata so they could
be closer to their husbands. November nine sixty, Patria Maria
were leaving Plata after visiting their husbands in prison. As
(15:49):
they drove down a desolate road, some of Trujillo's agents
ordered their driver to stop. Patria was able to get
out of their jeep and tell a passing truck driver
that the agents were about to murder them, and told
him to send word to the meat of all family
in their hometown. But the agents beat the sisters and
their driver, strangled them and put them back in the jeep,
(16:13):
pushing it over a cliff to make it look like
an accident. Dede, who was the least politically engaged of
the four sisters and who had not been in the
car at the time of the assassination, was the only
surviving sister. It didn't take long for news of the
assassinations to spread. It was pretty obvious that the deaths
(16:35):
were not an accident but murder ordered by Trujillo. There
were reportedly still fingerprints on their necks where they had
been strangled when they were brought into a hospital for autopsy.
The assassinations intensified resistance in the Dominican Republic even more,
not the effect that Trujillo had intended. On May thirtieth nine,
(16:58):
Trujillo was ambushed as he was heading home and killed
some of the people who murdered him were part of
his armed forces. The assassins who killed the Meat of
All Sisters went to trial in nineteen sixty two. They
were sentenced to twenty to thirty years of heart labor,
but they did not serve out their sentences as they
had escaped from prison during the Dominican Civil War of
(17:20):
nineteen sixty five. Dada ensured the persistence of her sister's
legacy and helped raise their children. Minatava, Maria, Teresa, and
Patria died tragically under the thumb of a cruel dictatorship
that they risked their lives to subvert. They mobilized women
to join the resistance movement. They injected a sense of
hope for social and political progress into the Dominican people,
(17:44):
though the rule that followed their deaths was nowhere near revolutionary.
But the Meat of Ball Sisters stand as a model
for middle and upper class young folks who wished to
reject silence and complacency in favor of action and optimistic
resistance when rebellion is necessary. The Meat Up Ball Sisters
(18:04):
weren't the only people who took part in the fourteenth
of June movement or the resistance against through Heeo's dictatorship.
Though they played a major role in the road towards
through Heeo's downfall, it wasn't their actions alone that put
an end to the oppressive regime. I don't say that
to diminish the importance of their leadership and movement work.
I just like to acknowledge the huge amount of work
(18:26):
and people it takes to transform our tear down massive establishments.
But one person's actions can have a rebel effect. It
is definitely easy to just accept things as they are
a lot of the time. That's the case when issues
don't directly affect us, or when they do directly benefit us.
(18:47):
When we don't have enough knowledge of an issue or
have not taken the time to research it and are
not emotionally affected by it. When the prospect of harsh
punishment seems too scary, when we don't know what the
outcome of a challenge would be so we don't want
to risk putting in the work. When something seems so
impossible to change that it doesn't seem worth putting any
effort into it. The meat of All Sisters and all
(19:09):
the other Dominicans who resisted the regime were up against
a dictatorship that stripped away civil liberties and killed people ruthlessly,
and that did so while exalting itself. They could not
and did not accept the way things were, even though
the terrorism that surrounded them was a constant reminder of
the horrible consequences their actions could have. Tria was in
(19:35):
power for thirty one years, and those years were characterized
by a lot of violence and death. The Meat of
All Sisters activism not only ignited and effective movement, but
also showed that a life without violence was within the
realm of possibility and influenced later activists to strive for liberation.
They helped make the other side conceivable. Thanks again for listening.
(20:00):
We'll see you next week with another episode of Unpopular.
Our producer is Andrew Howard. Holly Fry and Christopher Hasiotis
are our executive producers, and you can subscribe to the
show on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, or
wherever you get your podcast. I'd also like to give
(20:20):
a shout out to Tracy and Holly of Stuff you
missed in History Class, who have a great episode on
the Meat of Ball Sisters. So take a listen, and
if you are so inclined, You can send us an
email at unpopular at i heart media dot com.
Just a quick content warning before we start the show.
There is talk of sexual abuse, gender based violence, and
massacre in this episode, So if there are young ones around,
or if that's something that you don't want to hear,
please be aware of that. Something I think about, probably
entirely too often, is the role that faith plays in
(00:23):
my daily life. If you just rolled your eyes, know
that I don't mean this sentimentally. I mean a more
practical faith, you know, the kind that gives me confidence
to walk out into this world full of natural disaster
and human apathy, The one that keeps me from refusing
to ever take risks, and that doesn't let my anxiety
(00:43):
take over every time it wants to the trust that
I have every time I hop behind the will of
my car or in the passenger seat of someone else's.
Maybe that word doesn't seem like it fits into a
conversation about people who challenge norms thought unconventionally, analyze problems
and found solutions, or lead revolutions with strategy and common sense.
(01:05):
The word faith is bedfellows with terms like optimism, faith, surrender, belief,
so on and so forth, Basically words that, when used together,
can make me seem like I'm trying to sell some
sort of snake oil ones that can make it seem
like logic and planning have no place here and all
we need to get things done is the one and
only the reliable faith. But I don't think the people
(01:28):
we talk about here on Unpopular would have the same
stories if some degree of faith wasn't part of their story,
if they didn't believe that what they were doing would
make some sort of meaningful difference, or they didn't trust
that their movements had a chance of succeeding. For folks
betting on a revolution or a complete reversal in society's
way of being, or thinking, there may be no one
(01:51):
to one precedent for the changes they're trying to make.
That means that they may have to believe in an
outcome for which there is no proof. There may be
doubts or adjustments along the way, but challenging a status
quo requires a person to envision a different future and
to have conviction that the charge they're leading will help
steer society in that direction. I'd say that pursuing a
(02:16):
goal or publicly supporting an idea so radical or exceptional
that people may shun you or view you as a
threat takes a leap of faith. I'm Eves Jeff Cote
and This is Unpopular a podcast about people in history
who didn't let the threat of persecution keep them from
(02:37):
speaking truth to power. Today we turn our attention to
the Meta Ball Sisters, Patria, Minerva, Maria and are collectively
known as the meat of Ball Sisters. They were born
in the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties in the Dominican Republic,
a Caribbean country that borders Haiti on the island of Hispaniola.
(02:58):
The United States pie the Dominican Republic from nineteen sixteen
until nineteen twenty four, the year that the oldest meat
of all Sister Patria was born. That same year, the
US began withdrawing from the country, and Harasio Vasquez was
elected President of the Dominican Republic with the backing of
the United States. I'm leaving out a lot of history here,
(03:20):
but over the years, Hispaniola was the object of imperial lust,
a place of strategic and economic importance, a site of
racist violence, a breeding ground for rebellion and revolution, and
an island where political and economic instability were normal. So
we arrived at Vasquez presidency. He took office in October
(03:41):
of nineteen twenty four and held onto it until nineteen thirty,
after having extended the presidential term to six years rather
than four. His administration was corrupt and ineffective, and people
began to call for his outst As the nineteen thirty
elections approached, Raphael Estrea Na took power as provisional president
(04:01):
and Vasquez went into exile. General Raphael Leonita Trujillo Molina
then won the presidential election as the only candidate, as
he had forced the other candidates out of the election
through intimidation and harassment. Estrea was named vice president. Truilla
ruled the Dominican Republic as a dictator until nineteen sixty one.
(04:23):
Under his regime, the press was censored and dissenters were
tortured and killed. He appointed family members to important offices.
He controlled pretty much every part of society, including entertainment
and education. He even renamed the capital and landmarks after himself,
and he accumulated wealth by securing commissions on public works
(04:44):
projects and taking ownership of land, airlines, and manufacturers. He
even called for the massacre of thousands of Haitians and
Dominicans of Haitian dissent along the Dominican Haitian border. Despite
thruos oppressive, totalitarian, and brutal regime, he built an image
as a nationalist, upholder of Dominican values and a messiah
(05:06):
who people feared yet admired. He did bring a modicum
of political and economic stability to the country, though I'm
saying this with the huge asterisk that in no way
canceled out all the abuse, poverty, human rights violations, violence
and corruption rampant in the administration. It was under this
(05:27):
regime that the meta Ball sisters lived. They were born
in ojode Agua, a town in Salcedo and the Dominican Republic.
Their parents were Enrique and Mercedes Mirabal, and they were
part of a relatively well to do, middle class family.
The four sisters attended the Coleo Immaculata Concepcion, a Catholic
boarding school in La Vega. They all married and had children.
(05:50):
Maria Teresa studied math at the University of Santo Domingo
and Minerva studied law at the same university. In October
of nineteen four nine, thru Hio held a party at
his mansion in San Crustobal, the mayor of their town,
personally delivered the Meat of Ball Sister's invitation to the
party to them, so they felt obliged to go. Mineeva
(06:12):
had caught Thruhio's attention and he approached her, but she
rejected his advances. Through Rio's sexual abuse of women was
well known. He married three times and had mistresses. He
had people go out and find young women and bringing
them back to him to stay a night or longer
so he could rape them. Dominican families would make their
(06:33):
daughters hide when he was in town, so, needless to say,
her rejections did not go over well with thru Hio.
The Meat of Ball sisters father was soon imprisoned, and
he died. Soon after he was released, Mineeva and her
mother were held hostage in a hotel in Santo Domingo,
only to be released if Mineeva slept with thru Hillo,
(06:56):
though she refused. They eventually escaped, but through Yo's quest
for vengeance did not in there. Minativa's rejections led through
Hio to wage a vendetta against the Meat of Balls.
The family was put under surveillance by the government and
dinged for even the tiniest reported slights against thru Hio,
(07:17):
people in contact with them were locked up or brutalized.
Me Natava was not allowed to go back to school
and put under arrest in her parents house for three years,
during which time she wrote poetry about social issues in
the Dominican Republic. In nineteen fifty seven, she was allowed
to return to law school if she praised through Hio
(07:38):
and his leadership. She did so and ended up graduating
summa cum laude. Still, she was refused a license to
practice law. Between the abuse they had suffered personally at
the hands of thru Hio, the atrocities they saw him
commit against other people, and the inspiration they received from
the Cuban Revolution, the Meat of All Sisters were moved
(07:59):
to join the move it against the dictator. When a
group of Dominican exiles who trained in Cuba with Fidel
Castro support, returned to the Dominican Republic in nineteen fifty
nine to topple through Hero's dictatorship, the activism of the
Meat of Ball Sisters, along with many other Dominican people,
was kicked into high gear. We'll be back after this
(08:19):
quick break. History repeats itself. We hear this phrase a lot,
(08:40):
a statement repeated as a hard fact, undeniable. It's clear
in war and fashion, But there are a lot of
things in history. We can largely agree that we don't
want to repeat the Black Death, for instance, Yet things
that happen are often things we don't want to happen.
When someone to sense and attempts to incite drastic or
(09:02):
at least meaningful change, they can work super hard to
reach that goal and still not attain the success they'd
hoped for. Hope, desire, and belief don't get the job
done alone. But sometimes it can feel like we're in
a hamster will, like we're stuck in a vicious cycle
of oppression. Like even when we take two steps forward,
(09:23):
we're taking more backward. How hard is it to maintain
any sort of sense of things being better or even
different when things have been bad for a long time,
Or what is the point in imagining a future at all? Hopelessness,
cynicism about the future, and settling for less can set
in easily, but hope could be a starting point. By that,
(09:47):
I mean the ability to see beyond the current state
of things and belief in the simple possibility for change.
At some point comes before action that drives change. Rather
than thinking of hope as a crutch of the naive
allible are innocent, maybe it's better to think about it
as a necessary part of empowering people to think differently
(10:07):
and consider political or cultural shifts they couldn't have bad
them before. By the end of the nineteen fifties, resentment
of thru Hio had reached a peak and people were
planning attempts to overthrow the regime. Minerovamabal was the first
of the Sisters to become active in the fight against
the dictatorship, even though it was dangerous business. She befriended
(10:29):
Peticleistroco Orniss, who founded the Popular Socialist Party and had
been imprisoned for his opposition to thru Hillo. She was
also drawn to leftist literature and intercepted radio stations out
of Cuba and Venezuela that discussed politics in the Dominican Republic.
Fidel Castro's leadership and the Cuban Revolution, which ended on
January first, nineteen fifty nine, with Cuban dictator full Hintsil
(10:53):
Bautista fleeing to the Dominican Republic, helped inspire hope in
Dominican people who wished to fight through Hio's oppressed of rule. Minaova,
Maria Teresa and their husbands spoke of launching a national
resistance movement against Trillo. Dominican exiles in Cuba had organized
in Cuba and trained in military guerrilla tactics with the
(11:14):
intent of overthrowing through Villo. On June fourteenth, nineteen fifty nine,
a Dominican named Enrique Humenes Moya led a group of
insurrectionists who landed in several Dominican cities. Besides Dominicans, Cubans, Spaniards,
Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans and Americans also took part in the insurrection,
(11:35):
but the Dominican Republic had been given a heads up
for the attack and the army and air force shut
it down. Most of the people who participated in the
uprising were killed and many were tortured in prison. This
uprising was the namesake for the Cotors de Junio movement
or fourteenth of June movement, also known as one j
(11:56):
four or one four j. Though the attempts to overthrow
Trullo had been unsuccessful, people in the Dominican Republic were
stirring up rebellion. The Meat of All Sisters and their
husbands helped form the fourteenth of June movement a year
after the revolutionaries victory in the Cuban Revolution. Manola travadez Usto,
(12:16):
a lawyer and Minerva's husband, was the president of the group.
Leandro Gusman, Maria Theres's husband was named treasurer. Many of
the people involved in the movement, including peasants, factory workers,
the wealthy, and intellectuals, were from Puerto Plata, an industrial
northern city. Trullo flexed his muscle against the city by
cutting off rail services to the area and isolating his
(12:39):
shipping ports. Many of the people in the movement were
also members of prominent families and relatives of Thruvio himself.
Despite Throo's attempts to suppress his opposition, criticism and defiance
of the dictator and his policies only grew. We're going
to take a quick break. The meet of Ball sisters
(13:10):
and their husbands began organizing the resistance. They got hundreds
of people to pass out pamphlets detailing the crimes the
regime had committed. They began gathering guns and bombs, and
through their work in the resistance, they were incarcerated several times.
The sisters were given the underground name Las Mariposas or
in English, the Butterflies. The movement planned to assassinate thru
(13:35):
Heio using a bomb at a cattle fair on January one,
nineteen sixty, but the plan was foiled when the Servicita,
or military intelligence service, rounded up supporters of the movement
the day before the assassination was supposed to happen. Trhio's
regime arrested and tortured people, brutality that many people rejected.
(13:59):
Me Not and Maria Teresa, their husbands, and Patria's husband
named Pedro Gonzalez, were jailed. The Catholic Church protested the
witchhood and denounced the dictatorship. But despite all the atrocities
through Hio had already been complicit in, it took Trujillo
attempting to assassinate Venezuelan President Romolo Betancourt before other nations
(14:24):
decided to draw the line. Beaton Court was vehemently anti Trujillo,
and Trullillo had tried to have him overthrown many times before. Regardless,
when through Hio's people put a bunch of dynamite in
a car that exploded and injured beaton court, and killed
a person. The Organization of American States condemned his regime's actions,
(14:45):
imposed sanctions, and sent representatives to Dominican jails on a
fact finding mission. Because of this investigation, many women prisoners
were freed, including the Meta Balls. Their husbands were sent
to a prison in Puerto Blata. Trujillo responded to his
growing opposition and his sworn enemies, the Meata Balls, with vengeance.
(15:06):
He made it clear that the Catholic Church and the
Meat of Ball Sisters were his main foes, problems that
he needed to get rid of. When it came to
the Meat of Ball sisters, that meant death. Friends of
the sisters warnant them not to visit their husbands in prison,
but even though they knew the visits were dangerous, they
(15:29):
had already made the trip to the north coast without
any problems. They had even decided that they were going
to rent a house in Puerto Plata so they could
be closer to their husbands. November nine sixty, Patria Maria
were leaving Plata after visiting their husbands in prison. As
(15:49):
they drove down a desolate road, some of Trujillo's agents
ordered their driver to stop. Patria was able to get
out of their jeep and tell a passing truck driver
that the agents were about to murder them, and told
him to send word to the meat of all family
in their hometown. But the agents beat the sisters and
their driver, strangled them and put them back in the jeep,
(16:13):
pushing it over a cliff to make it look like
an accident. Dede, who was the least politically engaged of
the four sisters and who had not been in the
car at the time of the assassination, was the only
surviving sister. It didn't take long for news of the
assassinations to spread. It was pretty obvious that the deaths
(16:35):
were not an accident but murder ordered by Trujillo. There
were reportedly still fingerprints on their necks where they had
been strangled when they were brought into a hospital for autopsy.
The assassinations intensified resistance in the Dominican Republic even more,
not the effect that Trujillo had intended. On May thirtieth nine,
(16:58):
Trujillo was ambushed as he was heading home and killed
some of the people who murdered him were part of
his armed forces. The assassins who killed the Meat of
All Sisters went to trial in nineteen sixty two. They
were sentenced to twenty to thirty years of heart labor,
but they did not serve out their sentences as they
had escaped from prison during the Dominican Civil War of
(17:20):
nineteen sixty five. Dada ensured the persistence of her sister's
legacy and helped raise their children. Minatava, Maria, Teresa, and
Patria died tragically under the thumb of a cruel dictatorship
that they risked their lives to subvert. They mobilized women
to join the resistance movement. They injected a sense of
hope for social and political progress into the Dominican people,
(17:44):
though the rule that followed their deaths was nowhere near revolutionary.
But the Meat of Ball Sisters stand as a model
for middle and upper class young folks who wished to
reject silence and complacency in favor of action and optimistic
resistance when rebellion is necessary. The Meat Up Ball Sisters
(18:04):
weren't the only people who took part in the fourteenth
of June movement or the resistance against through Heeo's dictatorship.
Though they played a major role in the road towards
through Heeo's downfall, it wasn't their actions alone that put
an end to the oppressive regime. I don't say that
to diminish the importance of their leadership and movement work.
I just like to acknowledge the huge amount of work
(18:26):
and people it takes to transform our tear down massive establishments.
But one person's actions can have a rebel effect. It
is definitely easy to just accept things as they are
a lot of the time. That's the case when issues
don't directly affect us, or when they do directly benefit us.
(18:47):
When we don't have enough knowledge of an issue or
have not taken the time to research it and are
not emotionally affected by it. When the prospect of harsh
punishment seems too scary, when we don't know what the
outcome of a challenge would be so we don't want
to risk putting in the work. When something seems so
impossible to change that it doesn't seem worth putting any
effort into it. The meat of All Sisters and all
(19:09):
the other Dominicans who resisted the regime were up against
a dictatorship that stripped away civil liberties and killed people ruthlessly,
and that did so while exalting itself. They could not
and did not accept the way things were, even though
the terrorism that surrounded them was a constant reminder of
the horrible consequences their actions could have. Tria was in
(19:35):
power for thirty one years, and those years were characterized
by a lot of violence and death. The Meat of
All Sisters activism not only ignited and effective movement, but
also showed that a life without violence was within the
realm of possibility and influenced later activists to strive for liberation.
They helped make the other side conceivable. Thanks again for listening.
(20:00):
We'll see you next week with another episode of Unpopular.
Our producer is Andrew Howard. Holly Fry and Christopher Hasiotis
are our executive producers, and you can subscribe to the
show on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, or
wherever you get your podcast. I'd also like to give
(20:20):
a shout out to Tracy and Holly of Stuff you
missed in History Class, who have a great episode on
the Meat of Ball Sisters. So take a listen, and
if you are so inclined, You can send us an
email at unpopular at i heart media dot com.
Unpopular News
Host
Yves Jeffcoat
Show Links
AboutPopular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.