Francisco Caamaño
Col. Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó [Cah-MAH-nyoh Deh-NYOH] (born 11 June 1932 – died 16 February 1973) was a Dominican soldier and politician.
His entry into history books came during the civil uprising that took place in the Dominican Republic 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 CIA sponsored military coup d'état in September, 1963. This faction 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.
Just a few days after the uprising took place, Lyndon Johnson ordered an invasion by the United States Marine Corps 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.
After a few months of brave fighting by the rebels, which were outnumbered and outgunned by the Marines and their protégés, Caamaño and his men capitulated, and thus ended the opposition government. Not long after that, he went into exile.
During the Winter of 1973, after many years staying low-profile, Caamaño led a small group of rebels in the mountains of the Cordillera Central, with the purpose of starting a peasant revolution to overthrow Joaquín Balaguer, whose repressive and highly centralized government reminded many of the Rafael Trujillo regime, in which he'd been one of the dictator's puppet presidents and close advisors. After a few weeks of guerrilla-fighting Balaguer's regular army, having his men being killed off one by one, and not receiving the much hoped-for peasant support, he was wounded and captured, only to be executed later, much like the way Che Guevara met his demise almost six years before in Bolivia.
Some twenty years passed before Caamaño was officially honored by the Dominican government as a hero for his attempts to restore rightfulness to the country. Today, there is an avenue in Santo Domingo that bears the name Presidente Caamaño.