Santo Domingo.- The Permanent Commission of National Ephemerides paid solemn tribute to Colonel Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó, a towering figure of Dominican resistance, during a ceremony held Saturday at Santo Domingo’s Independence Park. The event, part of the 2025 “Month of the Homeland” observances, marked 52 years since the assassination of the revolutionary leader, who spearheaded the 1965 constitutionalist revolt against foreign military intervention.
A morning of remembrance
At 8:00 a.m. the ceremony began with the Dominican national anthem echoing across the park, where Caamaño’s bronze statue stands as a sentinel of sovereignty. Floral wreaths were laid at the monument by dignitaries, family members, and representatives of patriotic foundations, their vibrant colors contrasting with the weight of history.
Alberto Caamaño Acevedo, the late colonel’s eldest son, addressed the crowd, his voice steady with pride. “My father’s legacy lives because he chose country over comfort,” he declared, recalling his father’s unwavering commitment during one of the nation’s most turbulent eras. “His patriotism was not born of ambition, but of love for a people yearning for justice.”
Reclaiming a hero’s story
Juan Pablo Uribe, president of the Permanent Commission, delivered the keynote address, framing Caamaño’s sacrifice as a beacon for modern Dominicans. “Today, we reaffirm Colonel Caamaño’s heroic stature—a man who abandoned privilege to fight for freedom, social equity, and national dignity,” Uribe stated. “His epic brilliance defied personal gain, etching his name into the soul of our dominicaniadad.”
Uribe also honored Caamaño’s nine guerrilla comrades, executed alongside him in 1973 after a failed insurgency against the U.S.-backed Joaquín Balaguer regime. “Heberto Lalane José, Alfredo Pérez Vargas, Claudio Caamaño… these valiant souls deserve more than footnotes,” he asserted. “They are pillars of the stability and progress we now build upon.”
The final battle
Caamaño, a constitutional president during the 1965 civil war, met his end on February 16, 1973. After years in exile, he clandestinely returned to the Dominican Republic via a Cuban-flagged yacht, leading a small band of rebels ashore at Azua’s Playa Caracoles. Their dream—to overthrow Balaguer’s authoritarian rule—ended in betrayal. Ambushed and captured, Caamaño was executed by Dominican forces, his death sending shockwaves through a nation wearied by 12 years of Balaguer’s “Los Doce Años” regime.
Yet, as Uribe noted, “His physical life was taken, but not his ideals. Today’s Dominican Republic, marching toward development and equity, is his vindication.”
A family’s quiet resolve
Among the attendees were other Caamaño’s relatives, including daughters Fellita and Paola Caamaño, their presence a silent testament to a lineage steeped in struggle. “We gather not to reopen wounds, but to ensure memory outlives oblivion,” remarked a family spokesperson.
As the ceremony closed, the park’s rustling palms seemed to whisper a promise: that heroes like Caamaño—men who traded safety for sacrifice—remain immortal in the land they loved too fiercely to abandon.