José Francisco Peña Gómez
Encyclopedia
José Francisco Peña Gómez (March 6, 1937 – May 10, 1998) was a politician from the Dominican Republic
. He was the leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party
(PRD), a three-time candidate for president of the Dominican Republic and former Mayor of Santo Domingo
. He is considered, along with Joaquín Balaguer
and Juan Bosch
, as one of the most prominent Dominican political figures of the 20th century. He married when he was 23 and his wife could not bear children.
, Peña Gómez was adopted as an infant by a Dominican peasant family when his parents were forced to flee back to Haiti as the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo
enacted the Parsley Massacre
against Haitians that same year.
The family raised Peña Gómez as their own child, and gave him their name. In one of the ironies that marked his public life and illustrated his appeal to the poor, Peña Gomez's running mate in 1994 turned out to be none other than Fernando Alvarez Bogaert, son of the family that owned the ranch where he was raised.
As a result of his upbringing, Peña Gomez relied on his voracious intellectual appetite to supplement a tenuous early education. At 8, he worked in a grocery store and at a bar, and by the time he was a teenager, he had taken jobs as a shoemaker's and a barber's apprentice.
At 15, he became an instructor in a literacy program for poor children in his native province and later worked as a teacher in rural and night schools. By 1960, he had moved to Santo Domingo, where he enrolled in a broadcasting course and proved so natural a talent that a radio station quickly hired him to announce baseball games and other sports events.
Peña Gómez received a BA-equivalent degree from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) in 1966 before going on to higher studies at the Sorbonne
in Paris.
, then leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Bosch won the presidential elections of 1962, the first democratic president in 32 years, but his government was ousted in a military coup on September 25, 1963. In 1965, Peña rose to political prominence as he went on Radio Santo Domingo and called for a popular insurrection against the military coup and a return of Bosch. U. S. President Lyndon Johnson ordered a military invasion to prevent what he feared was a possible communist movement within the country.
However, Peña Gómez used his oratorical skills to the streets and the airwaves to head the opposition to that intervention. At the end, a forced negotiation led to Joaquín Balaguer's becoming president and the PRD's being cast into the political wilderness for the next 12 years. Repression was intense throughout that period.
Taking refuge in France, Peña Gómez studied political science and constitutional and labor law for two years at the University of Paris. Earlier, he had studied political science in courses at Harvard University and Michigan State University.
In exile, he also was involved in efforts to obtain international condemnation of human rights violations in the Dominican Republic, forging relationships with groups that were important for the rest of his life.
(P.L.D.). Under Peña's leadership, the P.R.D. won the presidential election in 1978 (Antonio Guzmán
) and 1982 (Salvador Jorge Blanco
), and he himself was Mayor of Santo Domingo from 1982 to 1986.
This position automatically made him a strong contender for the presidency. But his party passed him by in 1986, with some of its leaders arguing that it would be impossible for a black man, especially one of Haitian descent, to become president. Peña lost the primary convention to Jacobo Majluta, after which a violent riot ensued at the Dominican Concorde hotel, the venue at which the primary had taken place. With the PRD marred by infighting and widespread discontent for blatant corruption under the Blanco presidency, Joaquín Balaguer
was again re-elected.
In 1990, Peña won the nomination. With a severely weakened party, Peña ran for the presidency, coming in third behind Balaguer of the Social Christian Reformist Party
(PRSC) and Bosch of the PLD.
By 1994, the PRD was solidified and motivated. The presidential campaign was violent and dirty, and Peña lost to Balaguer in an extremely tight election marred by strong irregularities and fraud. Peña called a general strike which was widely supported by his followers and after international protest and intense negotiations, Balaguer announced that he would leave office prematurely in 1996 after serving seven terms in power.
In the 1996 poll, Peña won the first round of voting but fell short of the majority needed. In the second round of voting, Leonel Fernández
, a lawyer representing the PLD, won a narrow victory due to an alliance between the PLD and the PRSC.
, San Cristóbal, 6 days before the mayoral elections of Santo Domingo, in which he was running.
Surviving are his wife, Peggy Cabral, and eight children and stepchildren.
Peña Gómez was one of the most popular leaders in recent political history in Dominican Republic, especially among the poor masses. At the time of his death, with his admirers converging on Santo Domingo from all areas of the country, the Dominican government had to agree that his body would be displayed at the national baseball stadium to accommodate the huge crowds that were expected.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. He was the leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party
Dominican Revolutionary Party
The Dominican Revolutionary Party is one of the main political parties of the Dominican Republic. It has a moderate centrist position, social democratic in name. The party's distinctive color is white....
(PRD), a three-time candidate for president of the Dominican Republic and former Mayor of Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
. He is considered, along with Joaquín Balaguer
Joaquín Balaguer
Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo was the President of the Dominican Republic from 1960 to 1962, from 1966 to 1978, and again from 1986 to 1996.-Early life and introduction to politics:...
and Juan Bosch
Juan Bosch
Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was a politician, historian, short story writer, essayist, educator, and the first cleanly elected president of the Dominican Republic for a brief time in 1963. Previously, he had been the leader of the Dominican opposition in exile to the dictatorial regime of Rafael...
, as one of the most prominent Dominican political figures of the 20th century. He married when he was 23 and his wife could not bear children.
Early life
Reportedly born to Haitian immigrants Oguís Vincent and María Marcelino (No clear proof has been provided for either location nor date of birth), on March 6, 1937 in Mao, Valverde, Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Peña Gómez was adopted as an infant by a Dominican peasant family when his parents were forced to flee back to Haiti as the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina , nicknamed El Jefe , ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. He officially served as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952, otherwise ruling as an unelected military strongman...
enacted the Parsley Massacre
Parsley Massacre
In October 1937, Dominican President Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of the Haitian population living in the borderlands with Haiti. The violence resulted in the killing of 20,000On October 2, 1937, Trujillo had ordered 20,000 Haitian cane workers executed because they could not roll the "R"...
against Haitians that same year.
The family raised Peña Gómez as their own child, and gave him their name. In one of the ironies that marked his public life and illustrated his appeal to the poor, Peña Gomez's running mate in 1994 turned out to be none other than Fernando Alvarez Bogaert, son of the family that owned the ranch where he was raised.
As a result of his upbringing, Peña Gomez relied on his voracious intellectual appetite to supplement a tenuous early education. At 8, he worked in a grocery store and at a bar, and by the time he was a teenager, he had taken jobs as a shoemaker's and a barber's apprentice.
At 15, he became an instructor in a literacy program for poor children in his native province and later worked as a teacher in rural and night schools. By 1960, he had moved to Santo Domingo, where he enrolled in a broadcasting course and proved so natural a talent that a radio station quickly hired him to announce baseball games and other sports events.
Peña Gómez received a BA-equivalent degree from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) in 1966 before going on to higher studies at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
in Paris.
The April Civil War and Exile
Since 1961, Peña Gómez became a supporter of Juan BoschJuan Bosch
Juan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was a politician, historian, short story writer, essayist, educator, and the first cleanly elected president of the Dominican Republic for a brief time in 1963. Previously, he had been the leader of the Dominican opposition in exile to the dictatorial regime of Rafael...
, then leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Bosch won the presidential elections of 1962, the first democratic president in 32 years, but his government was ousted in a military coup on September 25, 1963. In 1965, Peña rose to political prominence as he went on Radio Santo Domingo and called for a popular insurrection against the military coup and a return of Bosch. U. S. President Lyndon Johnson ordered a military invasion to prevent what he feared was a possible communist movement within the country.
However, Peña Gómez used his oratorical skills to the streets and the airwaves to head the opposition to that intervention. At the end, a forced negotiation led to Joaquín Balaguer's becoming president and the PRD's being cast into the political wilderness for the next 12 years. Repression was intense throughout that period.
Taking refuge in France, Peña Gómez studied political science and constitutional and labor law for two years at the University of Paris. Earlier, he had studied political science in courses at Harvard University and Michigan State University.
In exile, he also was involved in efforts to obtain international condemnation of human rights violations in the Dominican Republic, forging relationships with groups that were important for the rest of his life.
Leadership of the P.R.D.
Prior to 1973, Juan Bosch and Peña Gómez had a falling out that resulted in Bosch's breaking with the party that he had founded and setting up a new one. In December, Bosch left to form the Dominican Liberation PartyDominican Liberation Party
The Dominican Liberation Party is one of the main political parties of the Dominican Republic, and has a centrist position.The party has been elected into office thrice now with Leonel Fernández as President of the Dominican Republic in the 1996, 2004 and 2008 elections, though losing in 2000...
(P.L.D.). Under Peña's leadership, the P.R.D. won the presidential election in 1978 (Antonio Guzmán
Antonio Guzmán Fernández
Silvestre Antonio Guzmán Fernández was a Dominican businessman and a politician. He was the 46th President of the Dominican Republic, from 1978 to 1982.- Early life :Antonio Guzmán was born in the town of La Vega...
) and 1982 (Salvador Jorge Blanco
Salvador Jorge Blanco
José Salvador Omar Jorge Blanco was a politician, lawyer and a writer. He was the 48th President of the Dominican Republic, from 1982 –1986. He was a Senator running for the PRD party...
), and he himself was Mayor of Santo Domingo from 1982 to 1986.
This position automatically made him a strong contender for the presidency. But his party passed him by in 1986, with some of its leaders arguing that it would be impossible for a black man, especially one of Haitian descent, to become president. Peña lost the primary convention to Jacobo Majluta, after which a violent riot ensued at the Dominican Concorde hotel, the venue at which the primary had taken place. With the PRD marred by infighting and widespread discontent for blatant corruption under the Blanco presidency, Joaquín Balaguer
Joaquín Balaguer
Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo was the President of the Dominican Republic from 1960 to 1962, from 1966 to 1978, and again from 1986 to 1996.-Early life and introduction to politics:...
was again re-elected.
In 1990, Peña won the nomination. With a severely weakened party, Peña ran for the presidency, coming in third behind Balaguer of the Social Christian Reformist Party
Social Christian Reformist Party
The Social Christian Reformist Party is a conservative, christian democratic, economic liberal and a populist party in the Dominican Republic formed by the union of the Partido Reformista and the Partido Revolucionario Social Cristiano...
(PRSC) and Bosch of the PLD.
By 1994, the PRD was solidified and motivated. The presidential campaign was violent and dirty, and Peña lost to Balaguer in an extremely tight election marred by strong irregularities and fraud. Peña called a general strike which was widely supported by his followers and after international protest and intense negotiations, Balaguer announced that he would leave office prematurely in 1996 after serving seven terms in power.
In the 1996 poll, Peña won the first round of voting but fell short of the majority needed. In the second round of voting, Leonel Fernández
Leonel Fernández
Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna is a Dominican lawyer, academic, and the current President of the Dominican Republic since 2004. He held the same office from 1996 to 2000...
, a lawyer representing the PLD, won a narrow victory due to an alliance between the PLD and the PRSC.
Final years
Peña first bout with pancreatic cancer followed soon after 1994. But the disease went into remission after treatment in the United States. Shortly thereafter, the cancer reappeared, and Peña Gómez spent most of the rest of his life shuttling back and forth between Santo Domingo and New York, where he underwent medical treatment. He died on May 10, 1998 in Cambita GarabitosCambita Garabitos
Cambita Garabitos is a municipality of the San Cristóbal province in the Dominican Republic.As of the 2002 census the municipality had 29,496 inhabitants, 12,519 living in the city itself and 16,977 in its rural districts ....
, San Cristóbal, 6 days before the mayoral elections of Santo Domingo, in which he was running.
Surviving are his wife, Peggy Cabral, and eight children and stepchildren.
Peña Gómez was one of the most popular leaders in recent political history in Dominican Republic, especially among the poor masses. At the time of his death, with his admirers converging on Santo Domingo from all areas of the country, the Dominican government had to agree that his body would be displayed at the national baseball stadium to accommodate the huge crowds that were expected.
Legacy
- One of the last Dominican "old school" political leaders, along with lifelong rivals Joaquín BalaguerJoaquín BalaguerJoaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo was the President of the Dominican Republic from 1960 to 1962, from 1966 to 1978, and again from 1986 to 1996.-Early life and introduction to politics:...
and Juan BoschJuan BoschJuan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was a politician, historian, short story writer, essayist, educator, and the first cleanly elected president of the Dominican Republic for a brief time in 1963. Previously, he had been the leader of the Dominican opposition in exile to the dictatorial regime of Rafael...
). - Was mayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Santo DomingoSanto DomingoSanto Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
from 1982 to 1986. His period is mostly remembered for the creation of the Plaza Güibia (Güibia Plaza), on the seaside boulevard and plantation of ornamental trees in mayor Santo Domingo citySanto DomingoSanto Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
avenues. - Was constantly targeted because of his Haitian ancestry, a fact that his followers vehemently denied at each electoral campaign, albeit Peña Gómez himself never denied nor confirmed his true origins.
- He encouraged the violently infamous incident called the Concordazohttp://ahora.com.do/Edicion1335/SECCIONES/politica.html during a bout in 1985 against candidate Jacobo MajlutaJacobo Majluta AzarJacobo Majluta Azar was born in Santo Domingo, on 9 October 1934 and died on 2 March 1996. A politician from Dominican Republic of Lebanese descent, he was vice president in the government of President Antonio Guzmán and became president, for 43 days, with the suicide of President Guzmán.He joined...
on who was going to run for the country's presidency on behalf of the PRD. - He is also credited as being the implicit creator of the infamous "Dos mas DosDos mas DosDos más Dos is the informal term applied to a demagogic formula, fashioned by the Dominican Revolutionary Party political party in Dominican Republic...
" (two plus two) a political formula created to permit two candidates take office of a single senate seat, consecutively, during a single electoral period. - Being a key political figure until his death, the main Dominican Republic international airport was renamed from "Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas" to "Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas José Francisco Peña Gómez". Honoring his memory was not the motivation, but mainly a political retaliatoryRevengeRevenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
action excised by the PRD congressional members against the executive branch's naming the newly founded Puente Presidente Bosch (President Bosch Bridge) after the winning party's late founder, Juan BoschJuan BoschJuan Emilio Bosch Gaviño was a politician, historian, short story writer, essayist, educator, and the first cleanly elected president of the Dominican Republic for a brief time in 1963. Previously, he had been the leader of the Dominican opposition in exile to the dictatorial regime of Rafael...
.
See also
- List of political parties in the Dominican Republic
- Politics of the Dominican RepublicPolitics of the Dominican RepublicGovernment of the Dominican Republic takes place in a framework of a representative democracy, whereby the President of the Dominican Republic is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in...