Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
liberal constitution than that of 1844, which also eliminated
the dictatorial powers granted by Article 210. However, it was
almost immediately modified to place all control over the
armed forces directly in the hands of the president. With his
control over the army restored, Santana readily forced the
adoption by the Congress of a much more authoritarian constitutional
text later that year.
On the international front, renewed annexation talks
between the Dominican and United States governments
aroused the concern of Haitian emperor Soulouque. Motivated
at least in part by a desire to prevent the acquisition of any portion
of Hispaniola by the slaveholding United States, Soulouque
launched a new invasion in November 1855. However,
Dominican forces decisively defeated the Haitians in a number
of engagements and forced them back across the border by
January 1856.
The final crisis of Santana's second term also originated in
the foreign policy sphere. Shortly after the Haitian campaign,
the Dominican and United States governments signed a commercial
treaty that provided for the lease of a small tract in
Samana for use as a coaling station. Although Santana delaved
implementation of the lease, its negotiation provided his opponents—including
baecistas and the government of Spain—the
opportunity to decry Yankee imperialism and demand the
president's ouster. Pressure built to such an extent that Santana
felt compelled to resign on May 26, 1856, in favor of his vice
president, Manuel de la Regla Mota.
Regla Mota's rule lasted almost five months. An empty treasury
forced the new president to discharge most of the army.
Thus deprived of the Dominican rulers' traditional source of
power, his government all but invited the return of Baez. With
the support of the Spanish, Baez was named vice president by
Regla Mota, who then resigned in Baez's favor. Not a forgiving
man by nature, Baez lost little time in denouncing ex-president
Santana and expelling him from the country. Once again, Baez
purged santanistas from the government and replaced them
with his own men.
Baez had little time in which to savor his triumph over his
rival, however. Reverting to the policies of Baez's first term, the
government flooded the country with what rapidly became all
but worthless paper money. Farmers in the Cibao, who
objected strongly to the purchase of their crops with this devalued
currency, rose against Baez in what came to be known as
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