The four Mirabal sisters were civil rights activists in the Dominican Republic. Three of them were assassinated on orders from dictator Rafael Trujillo, and they quickly became heroes in the fight against his strict and oppressive regime.
The Mirabal sisters, Minerva, Maria, Patria and Dedé, all lived in the Dominican Republic in the 1950s, during the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship.
The oldest Mirabal sister was Patria Mercedes Mirabal Reyes. Patria loved painting and art and at the age of fourteen she was sent to the Colegio Inmaculada Concepcion in La Vega, a Catholic Boarding School. When she was seventeen Patria married a farmer named Pedro Gonzalez and had three children, Nelson Enrique, Noris Mercedes, and Raul Ernesto. Patria supported
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She and Trujillo met once, in 1949 at the San Cristobal celebration. The rumor is that the dictator tried to flirt with Minerva, but she rejected him. Trujillo never forgot or forgave her.
Minerva’s sisters, Maria and Patria, soon joined her in the political action against Rafael Trujillo. Dedé joined later, even as her husband, Jaimito, tried to hold her back from doing so. Finally, the four sisters formed a group called the Movement of the Fourteenth of June. However, the sisters called themselves Las Mariposas (the Butterflies) after Minerva´s underground name, Mariposa.
The Butterflies were not part of a violent group; they shared information with people about Trujillo’s victims of his torture, assassination, and corruption . As a result, Minerva and Maria and all the sisters’ husbands, except Jaimito, were arrested multiple times. Even after being imprisoned, they never gave up the fight to put an end to Rafael Trujillo’s leadership. They refused to give up on their mission to restore democracy and civil liberties to their
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They became symbols of resistance and democracy. It was the beginning of the end of Rafael Trujillo’s regime, as the Dominicans wouldn’t stand for this crime or his bloody and torturous regime. Rafael Trujillo was assassinated six months later by one of his own associates.
The Butterflies, Minerva, Maria, and Patria, have become symbols of both popular and feminist resistance throughout Latin America. Every November 25, the anniversary of the death of The Butterflies, women’s rights activists have honored a day against violence. In 1999, they inspired the creation of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by the UN General Assembly, in honor of the sisters.
Since their deaths, the Mirabal sisters have been commemorated in poems, songs and books.
The Mirabals are also given recognition in textbooks as national martyrs in the Dominican Republic. The first time mentioning the sisters in the curriculum, however, was a decade ago, but was canceled after the family objected to having the assassination presented more as a result of Minerva's having refused Trujillo's advances than as a consequence of the sisters'
Minerva is able to show her courage at a dinner party thrown by Trujillo, the dictator at the time. At the party she went to reluctantly, Trujillo asks Minerva to dance. Knowing of Trujillo’s offensive past with females, she is hesitant to accept, but says
In 1938, Minerva’s father permitted her to go away to boarding school along with her two older sisters, Patria and Dedé. Alvarez’s writing on behalf of Minerva speaks volumes as to the point of view Minerva had growing up. “And that’s how I got free. I don’t mean just going to sleepaway school on a train with a trunkful of new things. I mean in my head after I got to Inmaculada and met Sinita and saw what happened to Lina and realized that I’d left a small cage to go into a bigger one, the size of our whole country,” (Alvarez 13). Minerva’s father, said that out of all his daughters, Minerva should have been born a boy. The other Mirabal sisters said that she was their father’s favorite daughter because Minerva acted the most like a son to him. She almost became the son he had always wanted, but never had. Due to her father’s influence, as Minerva grew up, she aspired to being a lawyer. Something which was unheard of for a woman in the ‘40s.
Minerva and Maria Teresa are two characters in Julia Alvarez’s In Time of the Butterflies. Minerva is one of the four main characters of the novel, as well as Maria Teresa. Minerva is the second youngest of the family and is very caring and kind. She was talking to her friend Sinita, who was one of the girls she met at school, and told her, “Tell me Sinita, maybe it’ll help” (Alvarez 16). Her friend Sinita told her the story about her brother’s death and Minerva felt sympathetic for her lost. Maria Teresa is the youngest of the Mirabal sisters and the ...
Throughout the novel, all of the sisters viewed points at a different perspective. Each sister had courageous, fearful, and sacrificial moments, though some of them displayed one of them more than another. In the end, many of these moments allowed the sisters to gain power to overcome obstacles. Even though all of the sisters, except Dede, did not make it to live out their whole lives, they did the most they could to stand up for what they each believed in. It takes guts to follow your heart, but when you do, you gain courage and strength to do so. The Mirabal sisters might have not been the cliché super heroes in a book, but they showed what true humans would and would not do, which makes them a whole lot more respectful.
The Mirabal Sisters, otherwise known as Las Mariposas, made their mark in history due to their efforts in the revolution against the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic. Julia Alvarez, a native Dominican herself, wrote In the Time of the Butterflies due to an account told by Dede Mirabal about the lives and tragic fate of her sisters Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa. Dede’s three sisters were murdered due to their involvement in the revolution; Dede did not join the revolution, and thus survived to help recount their story. Since the novel’s publication in 1994, In the Time of the Butterflies has impacted various aspects of life, and contemporary culture frequently alludes to facets of the novel. One critic commented that "In the Time of the Butterflies suggests that the Mirabal sisters not only fought against the Trujillo regime, but also against the Dominican Republic’s patriarchal culture and gender roles. They were very
Belonging to the Dominican Republic, Salcedo is one of the smallest provinces in all of its country. It is also the province that has been recently dedicated to the Mirabal sisters. Four Dominican women who fought for the freedom of the Dominican republic from the Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Patia Mercedes, born on February 27, 1924, was the eldest sister. Bélgica Adela Mirabal, the second sister, was born on February 29, 1925. Minerva Argentina, the third sister, was born on March 12, 1926. And lastly, Maria Teresa, the youngest sister was born on October 15, 1936. The four sisters were daughters of Enrique Mirabal Fernández and Mercedes "Chea" Reyes Camilo. The Mirabal family lived in a part of Salcedo named “Ojo De Agua” (Eye Of Water). They were
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina is without a doubt one of the most known figures within the Dominican history. The “Era de Trujillo” (The Trujillo Era) occupied the Dominican Republic for the long period of thirty-one years. His dictatorship started in 1930 and ended with his assassination on May 30, 1961. Trujillo’s Career began with the occupation of the United States in 1916. During this time he was trained in a military school, and became part of the National Police, a military group made by the Unites States to maintain order in the Dominican Republic . Trujillo stood out during his military career and rapidly ascended within the military ranges. Under the government of Horatio Vasquez Trujillo received the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was put in charge of chiefs and assistant commanders of the National Police . This new position gave him the opportunity to be part of the overthrowing of Horatio Vasquez. Trujillo was sworn into presidency on August 16, 1930. Marking the beginning of what is known as the cruel, violent and controversial part of history in the Dominican Republic.
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina reigned over the Dominican Republic in a dictatorship, extending over thirty years. He is known as having been the “most ruthless dictator in Latin America.” However, there is another side to the story. Trujillo was the third son of a humble sheep herder and worked as a sugar plantation guard in his adolescent years. He enlisted in the United States Marines Corp during the U.S.’s occupation in the Dominican Republic. He built himself up to National Commander and claimed presidency in 1930. He was a man known to be surrounded by “a surfeit of booze, women, wealth, power, and enemies.” Until his final years, he was admired by the Dominican people and seen as a demi-god and savior. During his first prosperous years
“Jaimito think its suicide. He told me that he will leave me if I get mixed up in those things”. Here is where Dede confesses the truth about her participation with the Mariposas. Although later on she claims to be leaving Jaimito. Dede knew that she needed to join her sisters this was the only way she was going to show her loyalty to the “Mariposas”. Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa husbands were all involved with the “Mariposas” movement. Could this be the reason why they were so committed and involved with the “Mariposas” movement? The support that all their husbands gave them through the journey guided them to influent the change, and to them it was very important. We all ask ourselves could this be another reason why Dede felt so strong about getting people to hear he story, to find the interest in it. Dede made her family home into a museum, this way people can see how they lived when it all began. There is also a monument that tourist or native Dominican that would like to know the story of the Mirabal Sisters. Why is this so important? Its known that a lot of Dominican or people all around the world do not know the story of the Mirabal sisters and what they died for; the truth behind the lies and the unrealistic story telling. Dede’s accomplishment was to let everyone now what happened to her sisters to her father and how Trujillo dictated
This is evident in two key moments in the story, both of which involve Minerva’s sisters. In the first, the manifestation of her inspiring Maria Teresa comes when Maria Teresa stands up to her. Behind the virgin mary, maria teresa is infuriated that Minerva won't tell her what they’re talking about so she confronts her about their conversation. This is very similar to the attitude that Minerva would have had in this situation, further illustrating Minerva’s inspiration of Maria Teresa. A second demonstration of Minerva’s inspiring courage in others, once again, comes through Maria Teresa joining of the revolution. While some will say that Maria Teresa’s real reason for joining the revolution came in the form of the man delivering guns, it’s clearly evident that without her sister's involvement in the rebellion, she would not have joined. This shows Minerva true inspirational impact. Even without being the principal reason for her sister’s decision to join the rebellion, the fact that she was a major part of the rebellion, a leader of the rebellion even, was enough for Maria
de Besault, Lawrence. President Trujillo: His work and the Dominican Republic. Santiago: Editorial El Diario, 1941.
Minerva’s rebellion was caused by both Sinita and Trujillo. Sinita’s role was opening Minerva’s eyes to the real Trujillo. For example, Sinita told her about how “Three of her uncles were even friends of Trujillo. But they turned
Selena, “Le Reina de Tejano”, was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson. She was the youngest of three children of Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and Marcela, his wife. At a young age, Abraham had a strong passion for music that he still has. During the 1950s and 1960s, him and his friends made a group called “Los Dinos” and played at nightclubs and restaurants. Even though his passion for music, he gave it up when he got married and earned a job at Dow Chemical as a shipping clerk.
Maria Luna - Antonio’s mother. A kind woman who’s one dream is to see her youngest son become a priest. She is obsessed with his education and pushes him to learn about the culture of her family, the Lunas.
Diaz describes Trujillo by writing, “You might roll your eyes at the comparison, but, friends: it would be hard to exaggerate the shadow of fear he cast over the Dominican people and the shadow of fear he cast throughout the region” (224). Trujillo put so much fear into the people of the Dominican Republic that Beli did not know it would ever affect her. In a world where no one gives her such feelings, the Gangster makes Beli feel beautiful. But, the Gangster is a pimp and exploits women, which shows the degradation of women such as Beli.