caribbean

The eastern half of the island of Hispaniola, now known as the Dominican Republic, is the earliest of all the European colonies in the western hemisphere. The settlement of Santo Domingo is established on the south coast in 1496 by Diego Columbus, younger brother of the explorer. It becomes the main base for Spanish activities until the conquest of Mexico.

Before Christopher Columbus arrived, the indigenous Taínos (meaning ‘Friendly People’) lived on the island now known as Hispaniola. Taínos gave the world sweet potatoes, peanuts, guava, pineapple, and tobacco – even the word ‘tobacco’ is Taíno in origin. Yet the Taínos themselves

were wiped out by Spanish diseases and slavery. Of the 400, 000 Taínos that lived on Hispaniola at the time of European arrival, fewer than 1000 were still alive 30 years later. None exist today.

Around 1930, the Dominican Republic found itself under the control of the ruthless dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, who ruled the country until 1961. The civil war of 1965, the country’s last significant period of strife, was ended by a United States-led intervention and was

followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer, the leader from 1966–1978. Since that time, the Dominican Republic has moved steadily toward representative democracy and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time after 1996.