Buenaventura Báez

Ramón Buenaventura Báez Méndez (July 14, 1812 – March 14, 1884), was a Dominican conservative politician and military figure. Known for having served as president of the Dominican Republic on five different occasions, his rule was characterized by corruption and governing for the benefit of his personal fortune.

Born in the community of Rincón, today Cabral, into a wealthy family, at a very early age he was sent to France to be educated. Precisely because of his education, much higher than average, Buenaventura Báez was able to carve out a leadership from a young age that allowed him to be appointed as a deputy in the Haitian Congress, a position he held in 1843, when the Reform Revolution took place. From this position he began his work aimed at obtaining a protectorate from some foreign power, whether it was France, the United States, or any other.

Having achieved independence from Haiti in 1844, he was president of the brand new Dominican Republic on five occasions, a position in which he had some achievements, such as the founding of the first secondary school in the country, Colegio San Buenaventura; But, in general terms, Báez ruled dictatorially, orchestrating murders, engaging in political schemes, and alternating his first three terms. In 1861, he opposed annexation to Spain because the person promoting it was his longtime political enemy, Pedro Santana; However, after a few months, Báez managed and obtained the rank of marshal of the Spanish Army, with the intention of achieving the governorship of the overseas province that the country had become, which he did not achieve. Shortly after the Dominican Restoration War, the Dominican Republic regained its independence.

Since his return to power in the late 1860s, he attempted to negotiate another annexationist deal with the United States, under Ulysses S. Grant. However, the country was not annexed to the United States due to the opposition of Gregorio Luperón, who fought it on all fronts, supported by José María Cabral, and because the United States Congress rejected the offer, despite the fact that Báez had had the measure approved in a plebiscite. With the failure of the project, as well as his definitive fall from power in the late 1870s, he died in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, in 1884. His remains were repatriated in 1914, under the government of his son Ramón Báez.