Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-06-01
TrujilloGrip
IsUnshaken
Fourth. T erm Sweep
Is Proof of Power
in Tiny Republic
By REGINALD L. Wood

Hepupfc.-HA1aet L. ITut1no, %
who named this capital city after
himself, who erected his own monu-
ment and who Is addressed as "Hii
Excellency, Mr.. President, Benefac-
tor Of the Nation" will begin his
fourth term as ruler Of this tiny
Caribbean republic August 16.
Trujillo was reelected May IL
by a landslide plurality over two
token presidential opponents. nomi.
mated by parties he permitted Il
exist after he said in 1s45 the
country was ready for . two OF
three party system.
Trujillo's control is as absolute
as that of any ward boss. The
newspapers La Opinion and La
Nacion, which support the govern
ment, said Of his recent tour Of the
country that he was received with
"delirious acclaim"
He Is Personable Man.
Contrary to the impression that
dictators have horns, Trujillo is a
personable man. Wearing close
cropped steel gray mustache, he
looks and acts like q corporation
executive who likes to work in his
shirt sleeves but his collars appear
to be choking him.
The II years he has ruled this
country have given him regal
bearing. He walks precisely and
talks in clipped sentences, but his
eyes twinkle and he Is quick at
repartee.
Trujillo's legal opposition, the Ma
tional Democratic Party headed by
Rafael Espaillat, cabinet member
in former administrations, and the
National Laborite Party which sup
ported Francisco Prats- Ramirez
produced only a token vote and did
not constitute a genuine movement
against the Dominican Parry Gre
ated by Trujillo when he gained the
presidency in 1880.
The real opposition to Trujillo's
government apparently centers
around the Partido Socialista Popu-
lar, patterned after the Cuban
party of the same name. The Domin-
lean DsP is headed by Felix Servio
Docoudray and Ercilio B. Garcia.
servio Ducoudray claims only 200
party members, but Dominican Re-
public government officials place the
total membership between 1000 and
5000, tiny percentage of the ma
tons 100000 population.
servio Ducoudray directs publ
cation Of a clandestine mimeo-
graphed newspaper, Ell Popular,
which has q restricted circulation.
He said police interfered with dis
tribution.
Peaceful Resistance.
The PSP head said his party
stood for peaceful resistance to the
Trujillo government. Our party
repudiates all acts of violence and
disorder, which only serve as
pretext for the enemies of democ-
racy to deprive the people Of their
rights and liberties" he said.
Two members of the legal op-
position parties won seats in the
new Congress, one from the Prov
ince of Santiago and the other
from the Duarte district. The vote
polled by the Democratic Party in
Santiago, some $4,000. was sig
nifcant because it was there that
the last uprising against the Tru-
tillo administration occurred.
1t will be the first time since Tru-
tillo's rise to power that minority
parties have been represented in
the National House of Representa-
tives. Separate parties did not
legally exist prior to 1945.
There was no reason to believe
that the ballot count after the
election was not accurate. There
was no reason for election officials
to pad the count because the Domin-
lean Party controls upward of 30
per cent Of the vote.
Only. those who hold cedulas "a
form of registration carrying finger
prints ard pictures are entitled to
vote. PSP charged that the cedu-
las were issued under government
party control and that those who
honestly opposed the government
were unable to register, the cedulas
were distributed free to the poor
and at prices ranging from 81 to
$500 to workers and professional
men.
The constitution provides for list
ing Of all parties on one ballot with
the right of each voter to mark the
ballot IN secret. Ballots could not
be split, however.
Typical Election Scene.
At one polling precinct about Is
miles from Ciudad Trujillo where
helpful government officials were
showing correspondents how the
vote was cast. l saw this scene:
Election officials at Villa Mella
had placed bar across the door of
Q barn used as the voting precinct.
Voters stepped up to the bar, passed
In their cedulaS which were
stamped to prevent double voting.
Then, without any request from the
voter, q precinct official marked the
ballots for Trujillo and dropped
them in the box.
The chairman of the precinct
board explained that the system
saves a lot of confusion" men and
women Of Is years or over can vote
whether they can read or not. An
estimated 80 per cent Of the voters