The Tancredo Martínez Assassination Attempt: Frances Grant and Communistic Discourses

The Trujillato (1930-1961) spanned almost four decades, in part, due to a series of tools and mechanisms centered around Trujillo’s influences and networks outside of the Dominican Republic. Trujillo’s international network of spies made it possible for the Trujillato to identify and keep tabs on anyone who threatened Trujillo’s reign. Thus, Trujillo’s tentacles extended beyond the Dominican Republic and into nations and territories such as Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. In order to combat Trujillo’s network, Dominican exiles embraced non-Dominican allies to combat Trujillo’s tentacles. This essay is part of a larger project that aims to bring attention to the complex networks established predominantly by Dominican exiles as a means to combat Trujillo’s forces on a geopolitical level. More specifically, this essay examines the assassination attempt made on the life of Tancredo Martínez, a lawyer and former diplomat who fell out of favor with the Trujillato for bringing to light some of the abuses that took place during Trujillo’s government. Although the assassination attempt on Martínez is merely one of many assassinations carried out by Trujillo’s forces and can be lumped with all others, studying this particular case will lead historians and social scientists to ask further questions