Juan Emilio Bosch y Gaviño (30 June 1909, La Vega – 1 November 2001, Santo Domingo) was the first democratically elected president of the Dominican Republic after the end of the Trujillo dictatorship in 1961. He founded the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) in 1939 and the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in 1973. He was also a well-known writer, mostly producing short stories and tales.
Bosch was opposed to the Rafael Trujillo dictatorial government, and had to leave the country in exile in 1937. Bosch returned following the assassination of dictator General Rafael Trujillo in 1961, and was elected president in December 1962 under the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), but he was deposed in a U.S.-backed military coup seven months later for its progressive socialist reforms. In 1965 military officers revolted against the junta to try to restore Bosch, whereupon U.S. President Lyndon Johnson sent 20,000 U.S. troops to defeat the revolt so to avoid "another Cuba".
As a rival of Joaquín Balaguer, Bosch remained an important figure in Dominican politics and ran unsuccessfully for president under the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994.
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Last updated: 10-20-2005 22:30:49
