The four major political organizations in the Dominican Republic are the Partido Reformista (pr), the us financed and directed organization which backed Balaguer; Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (prd), the liberal opposition directed by Bosch; Partido Revolucionario Social Cristiano (prsc), the somewhat more reformist, Christian Democrat group; and the national-popular June 14th movement.

The Partido Reformista is not so much a party as an organization mounted by us policy makers and whose leadership personnel was largely recruited from the former Trujillo machine; Balaguer himself once being the hand picked ‘President’ of the Great Benefactor in his last years. The ‘activists’ were largely recruited from lumpen elements, the older unemployed or semi-employed ‘service’ sectors who saw a chance to earn fast money and possible employment opportunities. The rural clergy, mostly Cuban exiles and exports from Franco Spain, and the military provided informal ‘electoral organizations’ along with the us directed ‘Community Development’ organizations.footnote16 The social forces of this organization were clearly the ruling class—us and national. The party had one aim: to legitimate their de facto return to power via us bayonets through ‘free elections’. The ‘Balaguer mass’ never was, nor is today, represented in a party either formally or informally. The Partido Reformista was a one-shot deal, constructed for a single purpose and has never developed either a structure, programme or political purpose. The only contact today between the ‘activists’ and the Partido Reformista is the line of job-hunters in front of the ‘party’ office. In light of this lack of firm political organization it is understandable why the police, army and restrictive legislation are playing such a decisive role. The other side of the coin is Balaguer’s attempts to demobilize and atomize the politicized urban populace (ban on public meetings—Tregua Politica) through restrictions on the parties and a prohibition of strikes and union activity (wage freeze). In addition, of course, these policies directly benefit the social classes which direct Balaguer’s policies, strengthening their control and increasing their economic benefits. Together with this policy Balaguer has utilized the plums of patronage to ‘co-opt’ elements from the rightwing of the prd—two entering the Cabinet.footnote17 Thus there is a combined use of repression and co-option to destroy political opposition.footnote18

The Partido Revolucionario Dominicano is a personalistic party, almost totally dominated by Juan Bosch and primarily geared to electoral activity. Though its leaders are mainly middle-class professionals, they are generally oriented by ‘modern neo-capitalist’ ideas.footnote19 The electoral base of the prd is largely composed of the urban poor, the industrial workers, public employees, professional groups, shopkeepers, small and a few larger manufacturers. It lacks a clear ideology, being vaguely for a welfare state, mildly anti-imperialist but with strong links with the strongly pro-imperialist Figueres, Munoz Marin, Leoni groups in Latin America (the self-styled ‘democratic left’ —neither democratic nor left). The more conservative Party leadership’s political position usually predominates in periods of parliamentary activity. And the result is that the class conflicts in society re-emerge in the conflicts between the militant prd masses and the Party. In 1963 after Bosch was elected, the sugar workers demanded that he live up to his election pledges and deal with their economic needs. Bosch refused even to negotiate until the workers threatened to close down sugar production. Likewise, one factor why the rural peasantry did not run the risk of voting for Bosch was that he never made any gesture to relieve their rural misery as he had promised to do in 1962–63. The Bosch Congressmen are continuing this pattern. Deputy Ambriorex Diaz (prd-Santiago) recently introduced an amendment to a proposed rural minimum wage law of DR 2 pesos a day giving Balaguer power to lower the minimum wage below 2 pesos in areas where owners couldn’t afford to pay it because of low productive land.footnote20 The prd leadership defended the profit interests of the small and medium businessmen against the hungry rural workers.