The Mirabal sisters, also known as Las Mirabal or Mariposas, were three Dominican sisters who firmly opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo.Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal were assassinated on November 25, 1960.
They grew up in a wealthy rural home and were educated by Spanish nuns of the Tertiary Franciscan Order of Jesus and Mary.
When Trujillo came to power, his family lost almost all of their fortune .The Mirabals believed that Trujillo would lead the country to chaos and therefore became part of a group opposed to the regime, known as the June 14 political group.
Within this group they were known as Las Mariposas, they were known that way, because that was the name with which Minerva identified herself in political relations.On May 18, 1960, the sisters Minerva and María Teresa had been tried in Santo Domingo, like their husbands, for attempting against the security of the Dominican state.
They were found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.
Immediately everyone began to purge their sentences, but they would not last long in jail.In a strange gesture, on August 9 and by express order of Trujillo, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal were released.
Their husbands, however, remained in prison.
These provisions of Trujillo had a double purpose: on the one hand, they tried to demonstrate their "generosity"; on the other hand, he gave freedom to those people whom he wanted to continue harassing.
The latter was the case of the Mirabal.As soon as a couple of weeks had passed from their freedom and there were already reports of secret meetings against the regime headed again by the Sisters when Trujillo ordered a plan to permanently disappear the Mirabal Sisters:"I come on behalf of the Minister of the Armed Forces, General Román, so that you arrange the transfer to Puerto Plata of the spouses of the Mirabal Sisters, the justification for the transfer will be the discovery of clandestine weapons directed at the movement they lead, the idea is That they help us to determine if the people arrested can identify them as members of the movement, once this is finished you can tell them that they will be returned to Salcedo again.
Once transferred, you will prepare an ambush on the road to the Mirabal Sisters, they must die and a car accident will be simulated, that's the boss's wish.
"In honor of these brave women, every November 25 is commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, established at the First Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter held in Bogotá, Colombia in 1981, and approved by the Official UN resolution of its assembly on February 7, 2000.Win Totana
