OPERATION POWER PACK VOL.1

La guerra civile in Repubblica Dominicana nel 1965, con un focus sull'intervento militare degli Stati Uniti, il testo viene arricchito con 261 foto, 7 cartine e 22 profili a colori dei mezzi terresti e aerei impiegati.

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In the 1950s and 1960s, during the rule of Rafael Trujillo over the Dominican Republic, the armed forces of the Dominican Republic experienced a major military build-up. Especially the Dominican Air Force (FAD) grew in strength. The pattern was followed by short-lived governments of Rafael’s brother Héctor, then Joaquin Balaguer, and Rafael Bonnelly. On 27 February 1963, Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño, the first democratically elected president of the Dominican Republic, was sworn into office. He attempted to implement a number of social reforms, but promptly caused anger of the business magnates and top brass of the armed forces, who began spreading rumours that Bosch is a ‘communist’.

On 25 September 1963, the President was toppled in a coup by a group of 25 military officers led by General Elias Wessin y Wessin, who installed Donald Reid Cabral as the new president. Rather unsurprisingly, Reid failed to attract popular support and several factions became involved in a power-struggle. The so-called Lealistas (Loyalistas), headed by Generals Pedro Benoit and Antonio Imbert, were aiming to uphold a military dictatorship. The Constitutionalistas (Constitutionalists), headed by General Francisco Caamaño, and allied with the Dominical Revolutionary Party, were supporting Bosch.

On 24 April 1965, three junior o icers demanded a meeting with President Reid. When he refused, and sent Chief of Staff Riviera Cuesta instead, the latter was arrested. A group of military constitutionalists then seized the Radio Santo Domingo and issued calls of sedition, while other off icers began distributing arms to their civilian sympathisers. The radio calls prompted several units to defect and abandon their position. Appointing General Wessin y Wessin the new Chief of Staff, Reid attempted to rally remaining armed forces around himself and suppress the rebellion. However, at Constitutionalistas then stormed the presidential palace in Santo Domingo and arrested him. The Lealistas reacted with air strikes on numerous Constitutionalista positions, and deploying a warship to bombard the National Palace. Fearing that the mob gathering outside the palace might lynch Reid, and knowing Bosch was already lost the support of the Loyalists, the rebel commander Francisco Caamaño – who meanwhile had over 6,500 under arms – released the president.

At that point in time, the United States of America became involved. Initially, the US diplomats planned an evacuation of about 3,500 US citizens, and early on 27 April, over 1,100 of expatriates were airlifted out of the country. However, when Lealista troops marched on the capital, while rebels secured additional positions, executed a number of police officers, and a soldier of the US Marine Corps was killed by a rebel sniper, the US Ambassador declared the insurgents ‘Communists’ and demanded the US President Lyndon B Johnson to act immediately. Contrary to recommendations from his advisors, Johnson ordered a transformation of evacuation into an all-out military intervention: Operation Power Pack.

The first overt US military intervention in Latin America in more than 30 years was initiated early on 30 April 1965, and saw the involvement of 22,500 troops, two aircraft carriers and over 200 aircraft and helicopters. Following weeks of often chaotic fighting, and two failed cease-fires, a truce was secured through mediation by the Organisation of American States (OAS). Replaced by 1,500 OAS troops, the US forces began a gradual withdrawal in late May 1965, but the civil war formally ended only on 31 August with a ceasefire agreement.

Richly illustrated by authentic photography and customdrawn colour profiles, Operation Power Pack is the first military history of the civil war, and the US- and OAS-interventions in the Dominican Republic of 1965.