Word: godoy
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There are few optimists in the Dominican Republic; many Dominicans have resigned themselves to the grim prospect of never seeing real peace in their lifetime. Last week, despite all the diplomatic maneuvering and the best intentions of Interim President Héctor Garcia-Godoy, the visceral hatred between rebel left and loyalist right exploded in yet another ugly little fire fight and a series of riots and demonstrations that left 34 dead, scores wounded. Once again, only the forceful intervention of OAS troops kept the tiny war-scarred country from renewed civil...
...service in the inland city of Santiago, 120 miles northwest of Santo Domingo, were Rebel Commander Francisco Caamaño Deño and 90 members of the rebel elite, all armed to the teeth. Caamaño had been warned about going by President García-Godoy, had been told that the loyalists would consider the trip a provocation. He insisted, took off in a convoy of 31 cars. In Santiago, the group swaggered around town, waving their guns, disarming cops and bullying civilians. After the memorial service, they went on to breakfast at Santiago's Hotel...
Caamaño himself grabbed a telephone and called for help from President García-Godoy in Santo Domingo. Within minutes, 133 U.S. paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne were on their way by helicopter and plane to Santiago. By the time they snuffed out the battle, the hotel was a shambles, and 23 loyalist Dominican troops and five rebels were dead, including Colonel Juan Maria Lora Fernández, 40, a U.S.-trained officer who was Caamaño's chief of staff during the April revolt...
...only ones to benefit from the episode were the extremists on both sides. A resurgence of violence makes it more difficult for loyalist military leaders to contain their bitter hatreds, and last week some officers were talking angrily about deposing President García-Godoy in the interests of restoring "order...
García-Godoy will consider it a victory if he can hold the country together until elections, tentatively planned for late May. "On that day," he says wearily, "I will make a speech and then someone else will be President, and I will be the happiest man in the world...