Joaquin Balaguer

He was born into a large family where he was the only son among many daughters. He was very close to all of his sisters. Unfortunately, several of them predeceased him. He never married.

He was a very ambitious person, and had been politically active till the very end of his long life. He died in 2002 at the age of 95.

He was born as Joaquin Antonio Balaguer Ricardo in Santiago Province of the Dominican Republic to Joaquin Balaguer Lespier and Carmen Celia Ricardo. He was the only brother among several sisters. He was of mixed ancestry.

He was attracted towards literature from a young age and even composed verses - some of his poems were published in local magazines.

Politics was another one of his early interests. His involvement in politics began at the time of the American Military occupation.

He studied law at the University of Santo Domingo and also attended the University of Paris for a short while. As a young man he was highly impressed by the Puerto Rican leader, Pedro Albizu.

After becoming a lawyer he was appointed as ‘Attorney in the Court of Properties’ in 1930. In 1932 he became the Secretary of the Dominican Legation in Madrid, a position he served for the next three years.

Over the next two decades he held numerous diplomatic and executive posts under the regime of the dictator, Trujillo. Some of his posts included Undersecretary of the Presidency (1936), Ambassador to Mexico (1947-49) and Secretary of Education (1949-55). He also served as the vice-president under President Hector Trujillo.

Hector Trujillo, the president resigned in 1960. Hector had in effect, been a “puppet” president, as the true power lay in the hands of his brother, the dictator General Rafael Trujillo.

Balaguer, being the vice-president was made the president upon Hector’s resignation. But he too did not have any real powers as he had to operate under the orders of Rafael Trujillo.

In 1961 Rafael Trujillo was assassinated and his son took over the reins of dictatorship. Balaguer tried to bring about reforms in the country through liberalization and relaxing control over the press.

Joaquin Balaguer served three non-consecutive terms as the president of the Dominican Republic and had been in several diplomatic posts prior to it. He was a politician who truly loved his country and cared for the people. He played a pivotal role in leading the country—previously run by dictators—to a path of true democracy.