My Family in a Forgotten War
A brief look into the life of my great-great grandfather, Fabio Fiallo.
My great-great grandfather (pictured right) Fabio Federico Fiallo Cabral was born in the city of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, the national capital city of the Dominican Republic (República Dominicana). He was born to Ramón Rodríguez Fiallo and Ana María Cabral in 1866.
He was born into a deeply political involved family. His father was a politician in the Chamber of the Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) in the lower house of the national Congress.
While one of his mother's uncles was José María Cabral y Luna. A Dominican General, Cabral was one of the Dominican military commanders in the Battle of Santomé whose leadership was key in securing Dominican victory over the Haitian forces of the Empire of Haiti in 1855. Later Cabral would hold office as the president of the Dominican Republic for two short nonconsecutive terms.
At a young age, Fabio Fiallo began writing in the poetic form. Poetry was a major passion of his writing. Although he had matriculated into the Professional Institute (shown on the right in the map). He would ultimately leave his schooling to pursue his political and writing ambitions.
Fiallo became prominent writer and poet, publishing several poems such as "En el atrio" and "Gólgota Rosa" the former of which became widely circulated in Latin America. He would go on to publish several short stories, books, and established numerous news papers.
Two elements were central to his writings: nationalism, Fiallo was highly patriotic, and passion, a tone of love that edged on the line of eroticism.
Arguably the nationalist element in his writings was likely due to his upbringing into a political centered family, but also the fact that he lived during one of the most volatile time in Latin America.
The 19th century witness a fundamental change in the power structure of Latin American as many countries in the Central and South American regions gained independence, often through long and bloody revolutions against the European powers that had dominated the Americas for over three centuries.
In the early 20th century the U.S. began to take significant steps towards expanding its sphere of control and influence in Latin America. Spurred by armed conflicts in Latin America, desire to curtail the threat of European incursions, and the success of the U.S. military in the Spanish-American War, the U.S. began a series of occupations and military expeditions into several Latin American countries.
The map on the left briefly introduces U.S. occupation in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic as some of the ongoing events at the time. It should be noted that other areas and nations were occupied or experience invasition by U.S. forces during the Banana Wars such as Honduras and Nicaragua.
Fabio Fiallo was decidedly against U.S. intervention in Dominincan affairs. He was critical of the occupation and the governments established and supported by the U.S. military. Utilizing his knowledge and abilities as a writer, he resisted the U.S. presence in his country.
He published several editorials through perodicals and his newspapers that critized the U.S. military and the political action of the U.S. government. Examples of this were the publication of La Bandera Libre and Las Noticias which promoted a nationalist spirit and Dominican sovereignty.
The publication of these did not go unnoticed. Fabio as well as other dissident Dominican writers and journalist would be imprisoned for speaking out against the U.S. forces which was against the censorship laws of the occupying forces. Publishing offices deemed contrary to U.S. intervention were ransacked, and homes searched without reasonable cause.
Fiallo would eventually be detained by the U.S. Navy at Fort Ozama (La Fortaleza Ozama) and imprisoned in its famous El Torre del Homenaje (Pictured on the right). This was not the first time he had been arrested and imprisoned for challenging an unfair government. Under the Dominican President Juan Isidro Jimenes, he was arrested in 1900 for his criticism of the many repressive aspects of the regime.
In 1916 Fiallo was arrested and p on trial in 1920.His trail created an international response that criticized the U.S. occupying forces. He was convicted and ultimately sentenced to 3 years hard labor as well as given a substantial 5,000$ fine. The image of Fiallo in prison attire (pictured right) became a focal point in the international criticism and employed in propaganda by nationalist factions.
The foreign affairs office of the U.S. government attempted to secure Fiallo's full release. He remained imprisoned for a few months before his sentence was reduced and he released under surveillance. After his release he continued to promote an sovereignty D.R. through a tour in Cuba where he work to gain support for total independence of his nation.
After the U.S. ended its occupation, the national government experience a coup d'état that saw the rise of Rafael Trujillo. Once again, Fiallo's outspoken attitude towards government led to a third arrest and imprisonment in 1930. After his release in 1932, he went into exile in Cuba where he died in 1942.
Thank you for exploring the story of my great-great grandfather. Ancestry and kinship are more than a bloodline, every individual’s lineage is a part of who they as an individual and where they are. These story about relatives and kin are about the paths that people took in their life. Learning about these paths can teach us lessons about the world as we choose our own paths.
Bibliography:
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