739.00/12–2850

The Ambassador in Cuba (Butler) to the Department of State

restricted

No. 1360

Dr. José Horacio Rodriguez, son of General Juan Rodriguez,1 called at the Embassy December 27, 1950, stating that he had withdrawn from all Dominican revolutionary activity and that he planned to proceed to Venezuela during the first days of January 1951. He said he had been promised an initial visa valid for six months and had been given to understand his permission to reside and earn a living in Venezuela could be extended indefinitely. (A subsequent conversation between Dr. Burelli, the Venezuelan Chargé d’Affaires, and the undersigned revealed that the visa for Rodriguez had been authorized and would be granted.)

Rodriguez spoke very disparagingly of Juan Bosch2 whom he described as “a man who changed his ideas from day to day and who could convince himself of his own lies.” Referring to the Dominican revolutionary movement, Rodriguez stated that, in his opinion, all the hopes and plans of the Dominican exiles were dashed, indicating that was the reason he had decided to give up all his political activities. He guardedly criticized his father who, he stated, tended to lose his head under stress, thereby ruining carefully laid plans. He stated this did not mean he had reached an open break with his father but repeated he was definitely through with all revolutionary activity, barring the extremely unlikely chance, in his opinion, that the entire situation of the revolutionaries should change drastically at some unforseen time in the future.

Rodriguez mentioned the case of Mauricio Baez (Habana’s 1271, December 14, 1950),3 Dominican labor leader, recently disappeared, and gave as his opinion that some Cuban gangster group “such as the A.R.G. or a similar organization” had assassinated Baez for a fee which he thought would probably range from $40,000 to $50,000. He said the Dominican exiles believe that Baez has been assassinated on orders of President Trujillo issued through the Dominican Charge d’Affaires, Felix W. Bernardino, prior to the latter’s departure to take up his duties as Consul General in New York. Referring to Bernardino’s new appointment, Rodriguez remarked that Trujillo was obviously pleased with Bernardino’s work here inasmuch as Bernardino had always aspired to the post of Dominican Consul General [Page 669] in New York which, at the same time, constituted a definite promotion in the Dominican Foreign Service.

Prior to his departure Rodriguez stated that one of the principal purposes of his call was to thank the Embassy for its assistance in getting his wife out of the Dominican Republic.

Comment:

Rodriguez’ attitude towards his father and his views on what he apparently considers the wrecked hopes of the Dominican revolutionaries, now scattered throughout the Caribbean area, tend to confirm the Embassy’s impression that these Dominican exiles appear to be disorganized and no longer to constitute an effectively organized group. There remains the possibility, however, that in event of general war certain of the more extremist elements among the Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, et cetera, might see in it an opportunity to collaborate with Communist subversive groups for what they might conceivably consider common ends.

For the Ambassador:
Earl T. Crain

First Secretary of Embassy
  1. For information on previous Embassy contact with “General” Rodriguez and his son, see despatch No. 811 from Habana, October 19, 1949, Foreign Relations, 1949, vol. ii, p. 462. Additional pertinent documentation is in files 637.39, 638.39, and 739.00 for 1950.
  2. Exiled Dominican political leader.
  3. Not printed.