predecessor successor death_date birth_place imagesize nationality birth_date order term_start image article_title term_end name
triumvirate joaquín balaguer february 16 , 1973 -lrb- aged 40 -rrb- san juan de la maguana 200px dominican june 11 , 1932 member dominican republic of revolutionary committee of april 1965 in the may 4 , 1965 mural caamaño.jpg francisco caamaño
 august 30 , 1965 francisco caamaño
francisco caamaño

col. francisco alberto caamaño deñó deh-nyoh -lrb- 11 june 1932 in santo domingo -- 16 february 1973 -rrb- was a dominican soldier and hero .
his entry into history books came during the dominican republic civil war that began on april 24 , 1965 .
he was one of the leaders in the movement to restore the democratically elected president dr. juan bosch , who had been overthrown in a military `` coup d'état '' in september , 1963 .
this faction of loyalists came to be known as the `` constitucionalistas '' , for their desire to return to a rightful and constitutional form of government , as opposed to the military `` junta '' that was in place .
as the `` constitucionalistas '' successfully seized and held santo domingo over the initial days of the uprising , u.s. president lyndon johnson ordered an invasion by the u.s. military , dubbed as operation power pack , with the pretext that the lives of american citizens there needed to be protected .
a factor that was arguably more involved in the decision was the fear that the `` constitucionalistas '' would bring about a communist regime in the country , and this risk of `` another cuba '' was something that would not be allowed .
during this period , caamaño was de facto and , arguably , de jure , president of the dominican republic .
after a few months of fighting by the `` constitucionalistas '' , who were outnumbered and outgunned by the foreign forces , caamaño and his men consented to a reconciliation agreement and thus ended the `` constitucionalista '' government .
facing ongoing threats and attacks during the following months , including a particularly violent attack at the hotel matum in santiago de los caballeros , camaaño accepted an agreement imposed by the usa government .
the dominican provisional president , héctor garcía-godoy , sent colonel caamaño as the military attache to the dominican embassy to the uk .
while there , he was contacted by cuban officials and he fled to cuba to start a guerrilla group .
he had a support group led by amaury german aristy that was expected to create the conditions for a victorious landing of caamaño 's commands in the dominican republic .
this group was ambushed by the dominican army and killed during a fierce fight that included heavy artillery and even airplanes .
during the winter of 1973 , after several years staying low-profile , caamaño led the landing of a small group of rebels at playa caracoles , near azua and then into the mountains of the cordillera central , with the purpose of starting a peasant revolution to overthrow dominican president joaquín balaguer .
balaguer 's government was repressive and highly centralized during this period , reminding many of the rafael trujillo regime in which balaguer been one of the dictator 's puppet presidents and close advisers .
after a few weeks of guerrilla war against balaguer 's regular army and not having received the much hoped-for peasant support , he was wounded and captured by dominican government forces , and then summarilly executed .
some twenty years passed before caamaño was officially honored by the dominican government as a hero for his attempts to restore rightful government to his country .
today , there is an avenue in santo domingo that bears the name `` presidente caamaño '' -lrb- the avenue borders the western bank of the ozama river harbor , near its outlet to the caribbean sea -rrb- .
