Next on our "MUJERES BACANAS" series son Las Hermanas Mirabal.
Otherwise known as, "Las Mariposas".
2. Las Hermanas Mirabal
Las Hermanas Mirabal were four sisters, Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dedé Mirabal who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. The sisters grew up in the town of Ojo de Agua, in the providence of Salcedo, Dominican Republic. Except for Dedé, all the sisters would continue their education and attain a college degree. Maria Teresa studied mathematics, while Minerva studied law in hopes of one day becoming a lawyer. However, she was denied a license to practice because of her rejection towards Trujillo’s sexual advances. When President Trujillo asked Minerva, “What if I send my subjects to conquer you?”, she responded, “And what if I conquer your subjects?”
Minerva was the most radical and most active amongst all the sisters. She was the first one to oppose Trujillo’s regime, followed by her sisters Maria Teresa and then Patria. Patria, Maria Teresa and Minerva all married young with men equally involved in the Dominican Republic’s political scene at the time. Dedé was the only Mirabal sister who did not join the political movement, she remained at home taking care of the household.
The three sisters ended up establishing a group known as the “Movement of the Fourteenth of June”. The group was named after the date of a massacre witnessed by Patria. The primary goal of the group was to unite the people and
take down the Trujillo government. “The Movement of the Fourteenth of June” distributed pamphlets about the massacres taking place under Trujillo, in hopes of spreading awareness to those who had been deprived of the truth. They also helped obtain materials for constructing guns and bombs (amongst other weapons), to use during political revolts.
The sisters eventually adopted the name “Las Mariposas” (The Butterflies), which was Minerva’s underground name. “Las Mariposas” is what they became known as amongst themselves and other political activists during that time. The sisters are still recognized as “Las Mariposas” to this day.
Despite being arrested, Maria Teresa and Minerva were not tortured, thanks to the growing opposition to Trujillo’s government. When the dictator’s actions were condemned by the Organization of American States in 1960, Maria Teresa and Minerva were freed, but their husbands remained in jail.
On November 25th 1960, the three sisters went to visit their husbands in La Victoria Penitentiary in Santo Domingo, along with their driver Rufino de la Cruz. On their way back home, they were intercepted by the police. The four of them were separated, strangled and clubbed to death. Their automobile was run off a cliff in an attempt to make their deaths look like an accident. The murder of “Las Hermanas Mirabal” is considered by many one of the biggest influences that brought Trujillos regime to an end. The following year after their death, Rafael Trujillo was assassinated. Only after Trujillo’s assassination was it later on discovered that the sisters were in fact murdered by members of Trujillo’s secret police force. The remaining sister Dedé, continued her family’s legacy until her death in 2014.
November 25th is now recognized as The International Day Against Violence Towards Women. “Las Mariposas” became a symbol of the crisis of violence against women in Latin America. The Mirabal Sisters are recognized today as feminist icons and a grand symbol of the Dominican Republic. November 25th was chosen to pay tribute to their lives and all their sacrifices, as well as to promote global recognition of gender violence in Latin America.
"SI ME MATAN, SACARÉ LOS BRAZOS DE LA TUMBA Y SERÉ MÁS FUERTE."