Juan Bosch When Juan Bosch

Juan Bosch

When Juan Bosch died on November 1, 2001, Monegro wrote, "Juan Bosch, a former president whose influence in Dominican politics stretched across half a century despite his only seven months in office, died yesterday. He was 92." Monegro's observation is an intriguing one since it is seemingly a contradiction in terms. for, how can a person who effectively led a nation for only seven months have succeeded in wielding political influence for over half a century? One answer lies in Monegro's own subsequent explanation that Juan Bosch was a leader who played a central role in shaping the modern Dominican Republic, a teacher of politics to generations, and a prolific writer of works of fiction, history, and politics. There is, however, one other perspective that may better explain Juan Bosch's much acknowledged stature in Dominican Republic history. And that is, Juan Bosch was first and foremost a humanist who ardently believed in human dignity and welfare. In fact, Juan Bosch's humanism not only explains his interest in politics, education, and writing, it also explains his ardent belief in democratic principles. Thus, it is the objective of this paper to demonstrate that it was Juan Bosch's humanism, which led to his achieving greatness as a politician, writer, teacher, and an advocate of democracy.

Childhood Influences

Juan Bosch was born on 30 June 1909 to a Puerto Rican mother and a Catalan father in the town of La Vega in the Dominican Republic. La Vega was an agricultural town, but Juan Bosch's father was a Spanish entrepreneur. Thus, the young Juan was exposed at an early age to both agricultural and working class life. Although Juan Bosch received formal education first in Rio Verde and later at the Colegio San Sebastian de la Vega, he was mainly self-educated. In fact, it is interesting to note that he only finished high school, which makes his achievements in the literary and political sphere rather remarkable.

Juan Bosch may have later proved to be a significant political figure in the Dominican Republic, but it appears that he probably had a greater interest in writing since he began his literary career very early. In fact, it is in his early adolescent writings that one sees significant evidence that Juan Bosch may have been a born humanist. for, virtually all his adolescent stories are about the forgotten inhabitants of the country side. From this, it can be inferred that the plight of the Dominican peasantry succeeded in arousing the adolescent Juan Bosch's humanity and creative instincts. There was, however, one other significant influence, namely, the U.S. military intervention of 1916, which succeeded in equally arousing Juan Bosch's humanism and patriotism by embedding in his mind tragic images of anarchy and of the national flag being supplanted by the U.S. flag.

Indeed, the impact of the U.S. military intervention on Juan Bosch is reflected in La Manosa, one of his better known novels. As Doris Sommer points out, La Manosa (1936) is a child-centered novel, which acts as a vehicle for social realignment: "Told in the autobiographical voice of the author as a little boy, the novel is about coming down with a fever that lasts throughout the book.... War and fever clearly go together in the uncomplicated child-size picture, and they ravage the future of both the boy and his country."

Thus, it is evident that Juan Bosch's early childhood and adolescent experiences affected him deeply. Indeed, these early influences explain a great deal about Juan Bosch's firm belief in democracy, which comes through very clearly in a conversation he had with Robert Alexander in July 1964:"If Communism is the end result for most of Latin America, this is a dismal prospect.... There will be thousands killed...there will be no possibility of expression, of free speech, of any of the things, which we all regard as essential. This will be a bad world indeed."

Early Adulthood

Although Juan Bosch was deeply affected by the state of affairs in his country, he did not immediately venture into politics. Instead, he chose to work in various commercial firms in Santo Domingo as a teenager. Bosch even left the country in 1930, choosing to work his way and travel through Spain, Venezuela, Curazao, Martinica, and Trinidad. In fact, it is interesting to note that Bosch did all kinds of jobs on his travels that ranged from loading trucks to emceeing shows at an amusement park.

Juan Bosch returned to his native land in 1931, and spent the next few years largely devoting himself to his writing. Inspired by literary figures such as Horacio Quiroga, Guy de Maupassant, and later by the Puerto Rican patriot, Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Juan Bosch published several works when he was in his thirties. In fact, his first literary work, a collection of short stories titled Camino Real, was published in 1933 shortly after Bosch's return.

Although Bosch concentrated mainly on his writing during this period, it is apparent that he continued to be concerned about the hard life and sufferings of the rural peasants. Indeed, his concern is reflected by his graphic depiction of Latin American society and his ardent defense of the underprivileged in his early writings. Besides his critical writings, he is reported to have secretly opposed the Trujillo dictatorship, and was even jailed for three months because of an anonymous tip that he had criticized Trujillo. In fact, he spent most of his imprisonment in Nigua, one of the worst prisons during Trujillo's regime.

Juan Bosch finally decided to leave his nation in 1938 when he learnt that Trujillo was planning to offer him a seat in the legislature, a tactic calculated to stop Bosch's purported subversive activities.

Years in Exile

Bosch's self-imposed exile lasted almost 23 years, during which time he visited Puerto Rico, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. It was in Cuba, however, that Bosch spent the maximum number of years. More important, it was in Cuba that Bosch formally began his political career with the founding of the Dominican Revolutionary Party or the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) in 1939.

Cuba also made Bosch into a consummate writer and political leader. So much so, that Bosch himself once told journalists that Cuba had made him "everything I am." Since Bosch was already a writer of some repute before he ventured out to Cuba, it can be said that the time he spent in Cuba contributed more to his maturing as a political leader. He became closely associated with Cuban political leaders such as President Ramon Grau San Martin and a very young Fidel Castro, and it was with their help that he made his first attempt to overthrow the Trujillo dictatorship in 1947. The attempt was thwarted by Trujillo and unsuccessful, post which Bosch turned his attention once again to his writing and Latin American politics per se.

In fact, Bosch got deeply involved in Cuban politics and even became personal secretary to President Carlos Prio Socarras. This involvement led to Bosch having to flee Cuba in 1952 when Fulgencio Batista overthrew Prio. In any case, Juan Bosch would have found life untenable under a regime such as Batista's. As he is reported to have told Alexander in a conversation, he had in March 1952: "Statements by U.S. businessmen that they can now expect better times, since Batista is in power, are gifts handed on a silver platter to the Communists, who are trying to maintain that the revolt was actually the work of American interests." It is important to note that Bosch made such statements throughout his career, indicating that he was never a Communist.

Yet, Bosch suffered the perception that he had pro-communist leanings at several points in time. In fact, he was even jailed in Cuba in July 1952, with Communist leaders. In jail, the communists tried to get him to work on behalf of the Guatemalan regime, but he told them "he was an anti-communist out of conviction...and that therefore he could not be bought." This incidence is very revealing in so much that it proves that Juan Bosch was a person with integrity and had the courage of his convictions.

More important, it reveals that while Bosch may have been concerned with the problems of the rural class and working poor, he did not believe that communism could solve their problems. On the contrary, he was a firm believer in democratic principles, which is reflected very clearly in his writings as well as in the decisions he took during his long political career.

Bosch left Cuba for Costa Rica where he spent a period of time teaching at the Institute of Political Science. In fact, his teaching stints along with his more academic writings earned him the fond nickname of "Professor Bosch," in all spheres of life.

Juan Bosch, the writer

As observed earlier, Juan Bosch's literary career can be traced back to his childhood, adolescent, and early adulthood when he wrote a great deal about "the hardscrabble life of the Dominican peasant." However, Bosch's writings were by no means one-dimensional, for he addressed many universal aspects of life. Indeed, Bosch's versatility as a writer is reflected in his ability to write works of fantasy, political thought, biographies, history, social realism, and cultural commentaries. He also published several poems and short stories in Cuban and Dominican newspapers and magazines, and worked for a period of time as literary editor for the influential newspaper, Listin Diario.

The fact that Juan Bosch was, first and foremost, a humanist who was interested in all aspects of human interest and welfare is clearly reflected in his writings. for, Bosch did not merely dwell on the miserable plight of the rural poor, but also reflected on the materialism and hypocrisy of the upper classes. For instance, in La bella alma de don Damian (the Beautiful Soul of Don Damian), Bosch depicts Don Damian's soul examining itself with a critical eye while his survivors lament with "troubling predictability the passing of his beautiful soul." Thus, it is evident that Juan Bosch was also a philosopher, who was concerned about the welfare of the human soul.

Bosch's humanism also led him to closely examine and reflect on multiple aspects of human life and culture, as evidenced by works such as Hostos, el sembrador (Hostos, the Sower), Mujeres en la vida de Hostos (Women in the life of Hostos), Cuba, la isla fascinante (Cuba, the Fascinating Island), Judas Iscariote (Judas Iscariot), and El Caluminado (the Slandered). In addition, he wrote extensively on political ideologies and thought. In 1949, he published Errores de la politica norteamericana en el Caribe (U.S. Policy Errors in the Caribbean), and in 1950, Tres paises conquistados con miedo (Three Countries Conquered Through Fear). Bosch is also noted for his works such as Cuentos escritos en el exilio (Stories Written in Exile), El Oro Y La Paz (Gold and Peace), Dictaduras Dominicanas (Dominican Dictatorships), and Social Classes in the Dominican Republic.

Later in life, Bosch tempered his idealism with pragmatism. So much so, that he proclaimed that "democracy was impossible in the Dominican Republic because of the lack of a strong middle class...and came out in favor of a dictatorship with popular support." When Bosch made this statement, he was going through a period of disillusionment and searching, prompting him into examining the nature of capitalism and society on the basis of class struggle. This study led to books such as El pentagonismo, sustituto del imperialismo (Pentagonism, a Substitute for Imperialism) in 1967; Tesis de la dictadura con respaldo popular (Theory of a Dictatorship with Popular Support) in 1969; De Cristobal Colon a Fidel Castro (From Columbus to Fidel Castro) in 1969; and Breve historia de la Oligarquia (Brief History of the Oligarchy) in 1970.

Bosch may have changed his views on the viability of democracy in the Dominican Republic, but this change in ideology does not imply that he had changed his humanitarian stance. Instead, it must be understood that Bosch was simply an intellectual giant and an enlightened visionary, who understood better than most, his country's history and the social reality of the island. Indeed, Bosch's continued concern for the welfare of his people and understanding of both the political and social reality is reflected in the decisions he took in his political career.

Juan Bosch, the political leader

In May 1961, Trujillo was assassinated. Conservative and economically wealthy people dominated the provisional government that followed. This government called for general elections in 1962, expecting to win easily. However, Juan Bosch who had returned from exile won the elections, earning him the honor of becoming the first president to be democratically elected after decades of dictatorship.

Actually, Bosch's victory should have been no surprise since he had the support of the peasants, whose cause he had long championed. Further, Bosch's campaign addressed ground realities, namely the cleavage in the country between the rich and the poor, and not between Trujillistas and anti-Trujillistas. Bosch, in fact, moved quickly to institute a program of reforms once he was in office, including a program to redistribute the land and holdings that Trujillo had illegally seized. In addition, Bosch also announced plans to nationalize certain industries, proving that he was determined to be an intransigent reformist, and that his interests lay in achieving social and economic equality for his people.

Unfortunately, Bosch stayed in power for just seven months, at the end of which period he was overthrown by a military coup organized by a coalition of groups with vested interests. These vested interests included the nation's traditionally wealthy landowners, industrialists, businesspersons, the military, and the church. These groups coalesced to oust Bosch, using the pretext that he was leading the country into communism. Thus, Bosch was once again accused of being a communist when he was, in point of fact, merely focusing on securing social justice and civil liberties for all sections of society.

With Bosch's exit, an important historical opportunity was lost: "Democracy was almost starting from scratch in the country.... The ability of domestic groups opposed to Bosch to exploit U.S. fear of communism was clear.... Ultimately, what lay behind Bosch's overthrow was the lack of democratic commitment and the tremendous insecurity of the country's economic elites and their political leaders...." Bosch may have been ousted from the Presidential office by people more interested in securing their own wealth and position, but there is at least one theory that Bosch himself erred in his political maneuvering: "Bosch governed honestly and democratically, but he did not act pragmatically in the face of hostile opposition.... For several observers, Bosch could have done far more to attempt to prevent his overthrow by addressing some of the fears of his opponents." Yet, another view posits that Bosch always knew that his regime was doomed. However, he felt that instead of attempting to stay in power, it was more important to show the people what a democratic experience was really like.