#mirabalsisters

MIRABAL SISTERS

Three sisters who were assassinated by their president

d. 1960

            The Mirabal sisters were four sisters from the Dominican Republic - Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Adela. They were born into a middle-class upbringing and attended university.

            Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa opposed the leadership of Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo ruled between 1930-1961, and became the commander-in-chief of the Dominican army and eventually president. The US initially supported Trujillo when he became president in 1930, as he wasn’t a communist and believed he was a stable choice. Trujillo was corrupt and was involved in kidnappings, disappearances, murder and the rape. During his reign, he would have women attend his parties, when the sisters attended his party he propositioned Minerva, she refused. He didn’t like being told ‘no’, so she slapped him and she and her sisters left. To punish Minerva, he had her father imprisoned and tortured - the sisters wanted revenge. When Minerva and her mother were staying at a hotel, they were locked in the room until Minerva gave in and had sex with him. Instead of giving in, mother and daughter fled.

            Minerva founded the June 14 Revolutionary Movement with her husband Manolo Tavarez Justo, where her sister Maria also became involved. Patria didn’t have as much interest in political activity as her sisters but supported them and let them use her house to store weapons. They plotted to have Trujillo assassinated with bombs at a cattle fair he was to attend. Trujillo discovered the plot and the sisters were arrested and imprisoned. He released the sisters but kept their husbands in a remote prison.

            The sisters and their driver, Rufino de la Cruz were on their way to visit their husbands on 25 November 1960. On the way the women were beaten to death by those who worked for Trujillo, their bodies were left inside the vehicle and their car was pushed off a cliff to make it appear like an accident.

            The public turned on Trujillo for all the crimes he had committed, including this one and the US no longer supported him. In 1961, Trujillo was assassinated in his car by a group of seven Dominican men. Adela survived and looked after her sisters children and died in 2014.

            The women’s remains rest in a mausoleum that was declared an extension of the National Pantheon, in the Hermanas Mirabal House-Museum, where the sisters last lived.

Friday Feature is all about the enduring legacy of the Mirabal Sisters—Las Mariposas. Read about their courageous fight against a tyrant and how they used literacy to fight back. #dominicanheroes #legacy #courageouswomen #rebelswithbooks

This Friday, we’re unfurling the banner of courage with “Las Mariposas”—The Mirabal Sisters. While many remember them as the fearless butterflies who dared to challenge Rafael Trujillo’s tyranny in the Dominican Republic, there’s an untold narrative ripe for the telling. It’s a tale woven with threads of education, culture, and unwavering resilience. Intellectuals of the Revolution Patria,…

The Mirabal Sisters are some of the bravest women you'll ever hear about and everything they did was worth it. They were active and very dedicated members of an underground resistance movement against Rafael Trujillo, one of the most brutal dictators to ever rule. The girls grew up in the Dominican Republic where the family owned and operated a successful farm, along with a coffee mill and general store. As they grew older they became more aware of the injustices that were happening while Trujillo was in power. Instead of staying quiet and living with it they wanted to see change and be the cause of it.

Trujillo’s tactics of intimidation, imprisonment, torture, kidnapping and rape of women, and murder never scared these sisters. According to Time, one sister, Minerva, once dismissed her followers' fears for her life regarding the death threats Trujillo was sending, saying, “If they kill me, I’ll reach my arms out from the tomb and I’ll be stronger.” She fulfilled the promise. The murder of the sisters outraged the public and was a key trigger for Trujillo’s own assassination by a group of former allies six months later. 

After his death there was a transition to democracy. The "Butterflies", as Dominicans call the sisters, became symbols of both democratic and feminist resistance. The fourth Mirabal sister, Dede, who was less actively involved in the resistance, survived and helped continue her sisters’ legacy, setting up a foundation and a museum in their name. The U.N. even made the date of their death the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Everything the brave sisters did lead to a better Dominican Republic. 

Works Cited

The Mirabal Sisters