Antonio Guzmán Fernández

Antonio Guzmán, President of the Dominican Republic

Silvestre Antonio Guzmán Fernández (born February 12, 1911 in La Vega , † July 4, 1982 in Santo Domingo ) was a Dominican businessman and politician. From 1978 to 1982 he was the 46th President of the Dominican Republic.

Early life

Antonio Guzmán attended school in his native La Vega. He worked in fruit export and soon became a successful farmer.

As an early member of Juan Bosch's Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), he was Secretary for Agriculture Affairs during Bosch's brief tenure in 1963. In May 1966 he was his party's candidate for the vice-presidency, but the election was won by the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC) by Joaquín Balaguer .

In 1974 he ran as a candidate for the presidential election for a united opposition alliance led by the PRD. After Balaguer changed the electoral code in a way that, in their opinion, unfairly disadvantaged the opposition, he withdrew from the candidacy.

Presidency

In 1978 Guzmán ran again as a presidential candidate for the PRD, his opponent was Joaquín Balaguer. When the election evaluation showed a clear trend for Guzmán, the military stopped the count. Evaluation of the election was only continued after massive protests at home and abroad. When the final result was determined, it turned out that Guzmán Balaguer had brought the first defeat of his life. With the change of the presidency from Balaguer to Guzmán, a Dominican president was peacefully replaced for the first time.

Guzmán's political plans envisaged gradual reform of the social and economic conditions in the Dominican Republic, while, because of its powerful power and importance in political life, he sought direct contacts with the army. In order to address this problem as directly as possible, he launched military reforms that removed officers who were skeptical of him and replaced them with younger officers who stood behind his policy. There was also an intensified training program for the armed forces. This program proved to be a great success for the country, with positive effects well beyond Guzmán's tenure.

Politically, however, Guzmán had major problems in enforcing his intentions, as the majority of the Congress, which consisted of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate ( upper house ), belonged to Balaguer's party, which bribed other MPs on its side and largely prevented votes in favor of Guzmán. Since Guzmán was a wealthy cattle farmer, he knew how to successfully implement economic reforms. He improved the public transport network and raised the minimum wage . But despite his reforms that advanced the country, he was continually criticized for doing too little to combat poverty in the country. This was exacerbated by Hurricane David, which hit the country in 1979 .

End of the presidency and suicide

On July 4, 1982 Guzmán committed with a headshot suicide . The circumstances of his death are still a matter of debate; many Dominicans to this day believe that he was murdered. It is widely believed that he committed suicide on allegations of corruption against his leadership apparatus (but not against Guzmán himself) that affected his tenure. Vice President Jacobo Majluta Azar took over the government as acting president for the remaining 42 days of Guzmán's term of office.

Guzmán's term in office meant a transition period for the Dominican Republic from the Trujillo dictatorship to a more liberal style of government. Paradoxically, with his suicide, which sparked much debate, Guzmán prevented the peaceful transition of government between two successive elected presidents, which he described as extremely important during his presidency.

literature

• Antonio Guzmán Fernandez , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 38/1982 of September 13, 1982, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely available).

Web links

• Dominican Leader Dies of a Gunshot; Suicide Is Reported. In: The New York Times . 5th July 1982.

predecessor	Office	successor
Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo	President of the Dominican Republic 1978–1982	Jacobo Majluta Azar