Santo Domingo.- OnFriday November 25, 1960 – 55 years ago today was the last time the sisters Patria,Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal were seen alive before the tyrant Rafael Trujilloordered five gunmen to kill them and family friend Rufino Cruz, who drove them fromSalcedo to Puerto Plata where they visited their husbands, imprisoned by thedictatorship.
Dede Mirabal, thefourth sister and who survived the tyranny, always tells of the dramatic momentwhen she had to identify their bodies in a Santiago hospital morgue.
"Two were on a bedand one was on the floor," said Dede, who raised her sisters´ six childrenleft orphaned by the atrocity.
This vile murder of theMirabal sisters now known as The Butterflies was the spark which ignited thepopulation´s ire heralding that Trujillo´s days were numbered.
The crime prompted theUnited Nations to declare Nov. 25 International Day for the Elimination ofViolence against Women.