7. Rafael Trujillo
During the first few decades of the 20th century, the Dominican Republic was occupied by the United States. After a series of coups and uprisings, an oppressive leader named Rafael Trujillo emerged. He was very friendly with the United States throughout most of his presidency, and as a young man had trained with the U.S. military. During his reign, he was responsible for over 50,000 deaths, including 10,000 deaths that occurred during one single massacre. In the 1960s, the Dominican Republic’s economy started to suffer. This was due to the fact that Trujillo was incredibly corrupt and was forcing businesses to pay huge taxes which always seemed to end up in his personal bank account. Since the United States conducted a lot of business in this country, something had to be done. The CIA contacted individuals within the Dominican Republic who wanted to get rid of their president, and a plan was put into place. Weapons were smuggled into the country, and the president’s car was ambushed on a highway after he had collected tribute from a cattle farmer. They completely riddled the car with bullets, killing Trujillo, as seen in the picture above.
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