This Thursday marks the 51st anniversary of the assassination of the leftist leaders known as Los Palmeros, described as one of the bloodiest events of the governments of former President Joaquín Balaguer.
Amaury Germán Aristy, Virgilio Perdomo Pérez, Ulises Cerón and Bienvenido Leal Prandy died in a confrontation with a contingent of 2,500 members of the Armed Forces and the Police, on January 12, 1972.
The results of the unequal confrontation, staged in a cave at kilometer 14 of the Las Américas highway, shocked Dominican society, which followed the event through the constant transmissions of radio stations.
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The young revolutionaries fought for more than 10 hours with the armed contingent that attacked them by land and air with rifles, bazookas and mortars.
The official forces were led by Balaguerista generals Neit Nivar Seijas and Ramón Emilio Jiménez Jr., chiefs of the Police and the Armed Forces at the time.
The news of that day indicates that an American-flagged plane participated in the combat.
Who were Los Palmeros?
Los Palmeros was a group of young revolutionaries formed in Cuba with the mission of fighting and overthrowing the Balaguerista regime, which came to power in 1966 and, since then, unleashed a wave of repression, exiles, imprisonment, persecution and assassinations against political leaders. , students, workers and professionals.
They wanted to return to the country the democracy lost with the overthrow of the constitutional government of Professor Juan Bosch, in 1963.
The group was led by Amaurys Germán Aristy, a young university student barely 24 years old who had led a command in the April 1965 war seven years earlier.
Los Palmeros aspired to a more supportive country where the population could enjoy their rights to health, education, well-being, they always remained firm despite the challenges.
The Dominican government promulgated a Law 1-13, which declares January 12 of each year as “Heroic Resistance Day”. The Law honors the men and women who fought for a more just society.
