José Francisco Peña Gómez

José Francisco Antonio Peña Gómez-Salcedo (March 6, 1937 - May 10, 1998) was a Dominican lawyer and politician of Haitian origin. He was the leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party after Juan Bosch's coup d'état in 1963. Candidate three times for the presidency of the Dominican Republic (1990, 1994, 1996) and former mayor of Santo Domingo (1982-1986).

He is considered, along with Joaquín Balaguer and Juan Bosch, as one of the most prominent figures in Dominican politics of the 20th century< /span>.

Early years and academic training

Peña was born on March 6, 1937 in La Loma del Flaco, Valverde, Dominican Republic. His biological parents were Vicente Oguís and María Marcelino . Peña was adopted when his parents were forced to flee to Haiti, due to the massacre carried out against Haitians in 1937 by the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo.

The family raised and educated Peña as their own son, giving him his last name, an action that was later reflected in his interest in the poor. One of the ironies that marked his public life was realizing that his running mate in 1994 turned out to be none other than Fernando Álvarez Bogaert, son of the family that owned the farm where he grew up.

As a result of his upbringing, Peña Gómez relied on his voracious intellectual appetite to complement an early education. At 8 years old, he worked in a grocery store and in a bar; during his teenage years, he had taken jobs as a shoemaker and apprentice barber.

In 1952, at age 15 he became an instructor in a literacy program for poor children in his native province and later worked as a teacher in rural schools. In 1959, he moved to Santo Domingo, where he enrolled in a radio broadcasting course and demonstrated such a natural talent that a radio station quickly hired him to announce baseball games and other sporting events.

In 1961 he took a Political Science course in San José, Costa Rica; participating that same year in a Political Education course in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 1962 he continued his training in Political Science, this time at Harvard and Michigan Universities, in the United States.

In 1970 he graduated with a Doctor of Legal Sciences from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. And in that same year he obtained a Doctorate in Constitutional Law and Political Science at the Sorbonne in Paris.

April War and exile

Since 1961, Peña Gómez became an ally of Juan Bosch, the then leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party. Bosch won the 1962 presidential election, the first democratic president in 32 years, but his government was overthrown in a military coup on September 25, 1963. In 1965, Peña rebelled and through the radio station where he worked as a presenter called the popular insurrection against the military coup calling for the return of Bosch. US President Lyndon Johnson ordered a military invasion to prevent what he feared was a possible communist movement in the country. However, Peña Gómez used his oratorical skills in opposition to that intervention. In the end, a forced negotiation led Joaquín Balaguer to the presidency and the PRD to a long opposition for the next 12 years. Balaguer's repression was intense throughout that period.

Refugee in France, Peña Gómez studied political science and constitutional law and labor law for two years at the University of Paris. In exile, he was also involved in efforts to obtain international condemnation of human rights violations in the Dominican Republic, and where he established relationships with international groups that would be important for the rest of his life.

Leadership within the PRD

Before 1973, Juan Bosch and Peña Gómez had a confrontation that resulted in Bosch breaking with the party he had founded and creating a new one. In November, Bosch resigned to form the Dominican Liberation Party. Under Peña's leadership, the PRD won the presidential elections in 1978 with Antonio Guzmán and in 1982 with Salvador Jorge Blanco, and he himself was trustee of Santo Domingo from 1982 to 1986. This position automatically made him a strong contender for the presidency.. But his party pushed him aside in 1986, with some of its leaders arguing that it would be impossible for a black man, especially one of Haitian descent, to become president. Peña lost the primary to Jacobo Majluta, after a violent riot occurred at the Dominican Concorde hotel, the place where the meeting took place. That episode is recorded in history as "the concordazo" and in order for a candidate to be presented in the elections of May 16, 1986, the then president Salvador Jorge Blanco had to promote what was called "Union Pact". With the PRD marked by infighting and widespread discontent over corruption, under the presidency of Jorge Blanco, Balaguer was re-elected again.

In 1990, Peña won the candidacy. With a weakened party, Peña ran for president, placing third behind Balaguer of the Christian Social Reformist Party and Bosch of the Dominican Liberation Party.

In 1994 the PRD was strengthened and consolidated. The presidential campaign was violent and dirty, and Peña lost to Balaguer in a very close election, marked by strong irregularities and fraud. Peña called a general strike that was widely supported by his followers.

The post-electoral crisis and international pressures forced the negotiation of a political solution, with the participation of the country's main Parties, the Catholic Church and other representative sectors of society. Overwhelmed by pressure, Balaguer proposed the signing of a pact which would become the Pact for Democracy in which the reduction of his mandate to two years was proposed and then handed over to his closest challenger. That proposal was rejected by Peña Gómez, faced with this situation, Balaguer agreed to reduce his term to 18 months and gave in to holding presidential elections on November 16, 1995.

The agreement finally signed in the National Palace, on August 10, 1994, established the convocation of the National Assembly in order to reform the Constitution to establish a new date for presidential elections, May 16, 1996, and not in November 1995 as had been agreed, which separated them from the municipal and congressional elections, which would be in May 1998; prohibit re-election in two consecutive periods, and establish a double round if no candidate obtained 50 percent plus one of the votes.

In the 1996 elections, the PRD took Peña Gómez as its candidate, the PRSC took Jacinto Peynado and the PLD took Leonel Fernández.

The campaign was fierce against the leader of the PRD. They questioned his nationality, accused him of having Haitian origin and of being linked to drug trafficking. That campaign was described by Peña Gómez himself as dirty and racist.

The PRD and allies obtained 1,270,000 47%, the PLD and allies reached 1,076,872 votes for 38% and the PRSC and allies 420,560 votes for 14.9%. Abstention in the first round reached 20.16 percent. In the first round, none of the candidates reached 50 plus one of the votes, with the PRD and the PLD being the parties with the majority of votes.

For the second round, the PRSC and PLD were tactically allies with the signing of the Patriotic Front, which was carried out in a public event at the Sports Palace; against the PRD and Peña Gómez. The PLD won the Presidency by obtaining 1,466,382 votes, against 1,394,641 votes for the PRD. There were 1,045 observed votes and 18,829 null votes.

Achievements Obtained

• As a locutor and presenter of some of the most popular radio programs of the time made a call to Dominican society in April 1965 to launch to the streets to demand a return to constitutionality, in hours the capital city was crowded with people on the streets.

• After the Dr. Balaguer robbed him of elections (1994) was the proponent of an agreement among the leading political leaders of the time, this agreement was called the Pact for Democracy in which the non-reelection, the reduction of the Balaguer government, the holding of elections in May 1996, among other things.

• It promoted the inclusion of dual nationality in the constitution of the Dominican Republic, making Dominicans enjoy two nationalities without losing Dominican nationality.

• He was vice president of the Socialist International, Syndic of Santo Domingo, president of the PRD and presidential candidate of the same.

• In the April 1984 population he played an important role in avoiding a possible coup to the government of his party. That populated plain was a spontaneous movement that resulted from the economic measures of the Salvadoran government Jorge Blanco who was preparing to sign a stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) just a April 24, when the Revolution of April 24, 1965 was commemorated and José Francisco Peña Gomez made a radio speech to the Dominican Armed Forces to repress the protests of the entire population by killing 158 people.

• Creation of the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) of the Dominican Republic.

Last years and death

Shortly after 1994 the first symptoms of the pancreatic cancer that afflicted Peña Gómez began. The disease subsided after treatment in the United States. Later, the cancer recurred, and Peña Gómez spent most of the rest of his life shuttling between Santo Domingo and New York, where he underwent medical treatment. He finally died of pulmonary edema on May 10, 1998 in his house in Cambita Garabito, San Cristóbal, 6 days before the congressional and municipal elections where he was running as trustee of Santo Domingo. His death caused widespread shock in the country and heartfelt displays of pain on the part of his supporters and townspeople were evident at his wake and funeral, making it the most attended in recent political history. Following his death, the Dominican government decreed three days of national mourning in recognition of his "personal merits and indisputable contributions to democracy." as President Leonel Fernández said when announcing the measure. After his death, the PRD achieved a majority in that year's elections in both the national congress and local councils.

Personal life

Peña Gómez was married three times, the first time to Julia Idalia Guaba Martínez with whom he had four children: Lourdes Fátima, Luz del Alba (Luchy)†, José Francisco (José Frank) and Francisco Antonio (Tony).

During his second marriage, with Ana Rosa Meléndez (who was Director of the Museum of Modern Dominican Art), they adopted María Rosa, the daughter of a domestic worker, who at birth had been abandoned in the public maternity hospital in Santo Domingo.

His last marriage was to Alba María "Peggy" Cabral Cornero, daughter of the Dominican writer Manuel del Cabral, and with whom he had no children. Peña had 9 children in total.

Legacy

Peña Gómez was one of the most popular leaders in recent political history in the Dominican Republic, especially among the poor masses. At the time of his death, with his admirers converging on Santo Domingo from all areas of the country, the Dominican government had to accept that his body would be displayed at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium, of the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center to accommodate the crowd that was waiting for him.

Peña Gómez in the Dominican Republic is synonymous with democracy, due to his populist speeches. His great drawing power and his great oratory made him fill bridges and avenues during times of electoral campaign. Perhaps his greatest flaw lay in his effusive and vehement character; his temperamental personality sometimes led him to make mistakes, which were then used in his rival Doctor Joaquín Balaguer's campaigns. Once in one of the very crowded speeches he said & # 34; Pooooorque if they touch me... the Dominican Republic will catch fire for the & # 39; four' corner' companion & # 34; , a phrase that was widely used against him. Due to his skin color, he was the victim of a lot of racism, even by members of his political party. His true origin has always been a topic of discussion in the Dominican Republic. Although the most accepted version is the one that exists in his current biography, Peña never officially denied or confirmed his true origin.

As an intellectual, Peña Gómez had 4 academic titles and mastered 7 languages, among which were Spanish apart from his native language; English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German and Russian.

He was Vice President of the Socialist International and President of the SI Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, SICLAC. After his death his wife Peggy Cabral took his place.

He is also known for being the implicit creator of Two plus Two, a political formula created to allow two candidates to take possession of a seat in the Senate, consecutively, during an electoral period. It was created to please dissatisfied members of the PRD who would not concede victory to another member if they won for the same place. Although it is a clearly undemocratic measure, there is a loophole in the Dominican Constitution, which allows an elected official to negotiate or change his seat in favor of members of his own party with all the privileges of a senator.

He used to call his party members by the nickname comrade.

In his honor, the most important airport in the Dominican Republic was renamed from Las Américas International Airport (AILA) to Las Américas International Airport - Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez - JFPG including the acronym of your name.

A film by Agliberto Meléndez, released on November 30, 2015, Del Color de la Noche, traces the life of José Francisco Peña Gómez, from the perspective of the difficulty of access for a black man to the place it deserves and of its own fight for equality.

Works

• Official anthem of the Dominican Revolutionary Party.
• II-Towards democracy: 16 August 1978-15 August 1982.
• III-For the conquest of democracy: 1974-15 August 1978.
• IV-Construction of democracy: 16 August 1978 - 15 August 1982.
• V-Participation in Democracy: 16 August 1982-15 August 1986.
• Hostos, Betances and Luperón (Discourse).
• Failure to represent democracy in the light of Constitutional Law (Doctoral Thesis)
• Municipal Management, 1982-1986.

Family tree

Putative ancestors of José Francisco Peña Gómez: