Dominican Republic Mug

A Spanish speaking country bordering next to Haiti. The Dominican Republic, La Republica Dominicana, was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The natives already living there then mixed in with the African American slaves, and European people who came from countries like: Italy, Portugal, Spain etc. And Arabs also migrated to the Dominican Republic. Unlike the stereotype that claims that the Dominican Republic is full of dark colored people, with coarse hair, the Dominican Republic is filled with variety in its people and appearance due to its rich past. Yes, there are blonds, brunettes, and red haired(I swear there are) people that are Dominican. I, myself am a white colored Dominican, some say whiter than some Irish people. Some people from the Dominican Republic have African ancestry, Portuguese, or Spaniard, like me. The Dominican Republic gained its independence in 1844. Baseball is to the Dominican Republic like what public transportation is to New York City. Yeah, I know. Dominican Republic lives, eat and breathes baseball whether you like it or not. Famous Dominican baseball players out there right now are: Albert Pujols, Miguel Tejada, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, and Alex Rodriguez. Bachata and merengue originated in the Dominican Republic. Bachata and merengue now is pretty popular through out the Spanish community. The Dominican Republic, like any other Caribbean country/island is beautiful, and has the most gorgeous beaches and places. But like every other country, it has its poor and poverty-stricken cities and rural towns. Dominican Republic also was home to a brutal dictator: Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. Trujillo reigned 1930-1938, and yet again in the years 1942-1952. He massacred 20,000 Haitians. Haitian immigrants were also murdered if they could not pronounce the Spanish r in "perejil" (parsley). He also murdered the Mirabel sisters(who were political activists against Trujillo’s regime), having them beaten and strangled to death. He was similar to all the other infamous dictators of the world. He re-named the capital of the Dominican Republic after himself, and compared himself with Jesus Christ. He put monuments and statues of himself all over the country. But it got to the point that Fidel Castro, when he got into power, trained some rebel Dominican troops to invade but they were killed. Venezuela’s president at the time(who Trujillo tried to assassinate) also wanted the infamous dictator killed, so much that he delivered an ultimatum to the US/CIA. If the US wasn’t going to do anything, Venezuela was going to invade(the US didn’t want to do anything at first because Trujillo was favored and his torture/mass-murdering policy was ignored because he was anti-communism). Finally, the CIA supplied the rebels with weapons, and those rebels killed Trujillo in a deserted highway. Dominican Republic is home to the beautiful Punta Cana, La Romana, and Puerto Plata. Some famous Dominican people are(excluding baseball players): Amelia Vega, 2003 Miss Universe winner; Oscar de la Renta, famous fashion designer; Juan Luis Guerra, famous music artist. Some famous half Dominicans: Michelle Rodriguez, actress in Fast and the Furious; Fabolous, rapper; Juelz Santana, rapper. Dominican republic has a lively and rich culture, a country which has suffered its hardships and violence, buts it’s a beautiful country and I encourage you all to visit.