By Stephanie Perez, Advertising Manager, & Staff Writer
In a time when Rafael Trujillo resigned as president in the Dominican Republic, anyone who opposed him would be imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. He is considered one of Latin America’s worst dictators and ruled for almost 30 years. Three young women were brave enough to stand up against his brutal rule. Ultimately costing them their lives, Patria, Maria Argentina Maverna, and Antonia Maria Teresa fought back for democracy in their country and became symbols of courage and feminism.
The three sisters helped form a resistance group called the Movement of the Fourteenth of June. Becoming resistance leaders with their husbands, they started fighting back against Trujillo’s ruling. Distributing pamphlets about Trujillo’s abuses and planning revolts, they gathered a large group of young middle-class Dominicans to oppose the leader. Hundreds of members were arrested including two of the sisters.
Later freed from jail, the sisters were coming back from visiting their husbands who were still imprisoned, and that was when Trujillo’s henchmen murdered the sisters when they stopped their car on the road. Their bodies were placed in a car that was then thrown over a cliff to make it seem like an accident. The country knew better though; they knew that their deaths were not an accident.
The country’s reaction to the murders of the sisters sparked a bigger spark against Trujillo. Trujillo was later assassinated and his rule came to an end. The Mirabal sister’s legacy lives on as they showed courage in a time of fear in their country. The sisters didn’t seem like your regular revolutionaries but sparked such a powerful movement despite their circumstances.
Although their younger sister wasn’t as involved as her older sisters with the revolution, she kept the legacy of her sisters alive in their family and country after their death. Managing a museum out of their childhood home called: The Casa Museo Hermanas Mirabal, the sisters will forever be remembered for their fearless actions and courageous determination to stand up for their country.