National Freedom Day: Luis Abinader: Trujillo’s dictatorship was “the ultimate expression of state terrorism…”

May 30th, 2026, marked 65 years since the assassination of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, a dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic with an iron fist for 30 years, ensuring total control over the population and its institutions.

President Luis Abinader issued a moving message this past Friday on the occasion of National Freedom Day, honoring the men and women who confronted the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo Molina and helped restore democracy in the Dominican Republic.

In his speech, the president described the Trujillo dictatorship as » the ultimate expression of state terrorism perpetrated ruthlessly against his own country.»

Abinader recalled that on the night of May 30, 1961, after more than three decades of repression, a group of patriots put an end to the regime.

«On the night of May 30, 1961, after more than 30 years of resistance against the excesses of the most bloodthirsty political regime we have ever known in our history, a group of patriots took up the weapons of justice and fired on the embodiment of terror and tyranny that had subjected an entire people to the heavy yoke of dictatorship,» he said.

He also used the date to pay tribute to those who resisted the regime, including those who were persecuted, stripped of their property, or deprived of their rights.

«That is why I want to remember and pay tribute to all the men and women of the national resistance, anonymous heroes and heroines, whose individual rights were curtailed and whose property was seized,» he said.

The head of state concluded by highlighting the importance of keeping historical memory alive.

«Only a people who know where they come from and where they are going can walk safely towards peace, equality, solidarity, social justice and respect for citizens’ rights,» he said.