Caamaño

Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó (1932-1973), was one of the leaders in the movement of 1965 to restore the democratically elected President Dr. Juan Bosch, who had been overthrown in a CIA sponsored military coup d'état in September, 1963. This faction of loyalists came to be known as the Constitucionalistas, for their desire to return to a rightful and constitutional form of government, as opposed to the military junta that was in place. Facing on-going threats and attacks by the Military Junta, Caamaño accepted an agreement to co-govern with the Junta. He later exiled to Cuba and prepared for his return in 1973 leading the landing of a small group of rebels at Playa Caracoles, near Azua on the southern coast, and then into the mountains of the Cordillera Central, with the purpose of starting a peasant revolution to overthrow Dominican President Joaquín Balaguer. Peasant support did not materialize and after a few weeks of intense fighting Caamaño was captured and later executed.