La Fiesta del Chivo

LA FIESTA DEL 

CHIVO 

BY MARIO VARGAS LLOSA 

DIRECTED BY JORGE ALÍ TRIANA 

Study 

Guide 

Written and compiled by 

Iliana Fuentes 

This study guide is made possible by 

the generous contributions of: 

The Eleanor Naylor Dana Foundation, 

The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, 

The Wallace Foundation and: 

Copyright Repertorio Español 2003

La fiesta del Chivo / The Feast of the Goat 

Table of Contents 

I. Synopsis 

II. Brief History of the Dominican Republic 

III. Scenes from the Play 

IV. Food for Thought 

V. About Mario Vargas Llosa 

VI. Remarks and Reviews about Vargas Llosa´s Novel 

VII. Suggested Readings 

Photo: The Banquet Scene, Production by Repertorio Español. 

Directed by Jorge Alí Triana, Photo by Michael Palma. 

2

The return of Urania Cabral. 

Ricardo Barber as Agustín Cabral and Alejandra Orozco as Urania. 

Production of “La Fiesta del Chivo” by Repertorio Español. 

Directed by Jorge Alí Triana. Photo by Michael Palma. 

The Feast of the 

Goat 

(An adaptation by Jorge Ali Triana of Mario Vargas 

Llosa’s epic novel, The Feast of the Goat) 

Full Synopsis 

Note: Throughout the play, parallel plots unfold in different time frames (past or present), and scenes 

switch back and forth between: 

the reunion between Urania Cabral and her father, Agustin (in the present); 

General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s quarters (bedroom, offices, meeting rooms) where he meets with 

cabinet members, military officers, his henchmen, and the like (in the past); 

various opposition leaders who are plotting Trujillo’s assassination (in the past); 

Secret Police headquarters where meetings of various sorts take place (in the past); 

the reunion between Urania and her family (in the present). 

-ACT I- 

It is the present. Urania Cabral, daughter of former Senator and Trujillo’s close associate Agustin 

Cabral, has returned to the Dominican Republic to visit her father. She hasn’t seen him in thirty-five 

years. Urania finds him confined to a wheelchair. His full time nurse provides Urania details about his 

daily routine. From the onset, we know Urania has returned to settle old scores with her father. Theirs 

will be a one-way monologue, for Don Agustin cannot talk as a result of a stroke. 

Urania tells her father about herself. At 49, she has remained single, "a spinster…a failure, as you 

intuited when I was a girl." She is a successful New York lawyer, much sought after by important men. 

Sarcastically she tells him she has become a Trujillo expert. "Where have all your books gone?" she 

inquires as she describes her own library. She regrets that he cannot talk so he could set the record 

straight about so many things: "Did Trujillo go to bed with my mother, too?" "Was she thrilled, like all 

beautiful Dominican women of her time, or did she simply resign herself?" "Did you allow it and score 

points in your political career, like the rest of your colleagues, or did you deny Trujillo the pleasure?" 

Don Agustin jumps in his chair, but cannot answer. The nurse returns with his lunch; Urania tries to feed 

him, but he tightens his lips and refuses. 

May 1961. General Trujillo is in his bedroom. 

He has just come out of the shower, and is 

getting dressed as he listens to the news on the 

radio. We learn that Catholic Bishop Tomas Reilly 

has gone into hiding in a nun’s convent after 

declaring his opposition to Trujillo. There is unrest 

in the country, and the Catholic Church, a longtime 

supporter of the dictator, has turned against him. 

Trujillo’s sons, Ramfis and Radhames, are 

also in the news. They have been chosen most valuable 

players in a polo cup match in Paris. Trujillo 

complains about his decadent sons, whom he 

describes as indolent playboys who take after his 

brothers, chasing after women and squandering a 

fortune "What will become of this country after I 

die?" 

In the presidential office, Trujillo meets with 

Colonel Johnny Abbes Garcia, head of the Secret 

Police, president Joaquin Balaguer, and Senator 

Henry Chirinos, his closest associates. Abbes wants 

to go after Bishop Reilly, citing that the [Irish 

Catholic] bishop might be conspiring with [Irish 

Catholic] president Kennedy against Trujillo. But 

Trujillo doesn’t want trouble with the Church. "We 

are all Catholics, you know." Abbes Garcia reminds 

his boss that the honeymoon between government 

and Church is over. He proposes two alternative 

plans to get rid of the bishop, and at the same time 

expel all foreign priests from the Dominican 

Republic. Trujillo says no. 

Abbes Garcia wants to reinforce security 

along the daily presidential car routes, but Trujillo 

wants none of that either. Senator Chirinos brings 

up other domestic issues, the dismal state of the 

economy, in particular. Trujillo’s industries are 

falling behind, and Chirinos warns him that he will 

loose a lot of money if measures aren’t taken. 

Chirinos suggests nationalizing all of Trujillo’s private 

enterprises, so that the losses can be incurred 

by the Dominican state, and not by the Trujillo 

family. "We cannot afford for you to go bankrupt, 

my General." 

Trujillo is angered by the implication of 

greed. He is convinced that his alleged greed is 

actually patriotism. The fact that he owns most 

industries, Trujillo tells Chirinos, is the reason why 

there are jobs in the country. To Trujillo, his 

monopoly of industry and production is the reason 

there is progress in the Dominican Republic. 

President Balaguer has been listening quietly 

to their exchange, but Trujillo engages him in the 

conversation. He remarks on Balaguer’s secretive 

personality, and about the formal nature of their 

relationship. "I don’t know any of your weaknesses," 

Trujillo tells his president. "I have always had to 

impose privilege on you, you never ask. The ambassadorships, 

the cabinet posts, the vice-presidency, 

even the presidency. Do you have a hidden agenda?" 

Balaguer goes on to tell Trujillo how much 

he admires and reveres him, how much he is honored 

to serve him, to be at his command, to advise 

him on official matters, such as the fall out with the 

Catholic Church. Trujillo recites by heart excerpts 

from a speech Balaguer once wrote wherein he 

affirms that God himself sent Trujillo to govern the 

Dominican Republic. "You are an instrument of 

God, Excellency." 

Meeting with his cabinet. 

Left to right: Pietro González as President Balaguer, Pedro 

De Llano as General Johnny Abbes, Ricardo Barber as General 

Rafael Trujillo and René Sánchez as Henry Chirinos. 



A Lieutenant Amado Garcia Guerrero 

comes before Trujillo to request permission to 

marry his young fiancé. Requesting permission from 

"the Boss" is a customary ritual. Trujillo informs 

Amado that his future brother-in-law is a communist 

who was arrested in a recent conspiracy. 

"There are other women in this country. Find yourself 

one." With those words, permission is denied. 

Amado meets up with his friend Salvador 

Estrella Sadhala, the son of one of Trujillo’s generals. 

He is nicknamed Turco (Turk). Amado tells of 

how after the meeting with Trujillo, Abbes Garcia 

tested his loyalty by ordering him to execute a conspirator 

held in prison. At Abbes’ command, 

Amado shot the man in cold blood, twice. Then 

Abbes took Amado to the local whorehouse to celebrate, 

and once there, he revealed the identity of 

the victim: none other than his former fiancé’s 

brother. Amado vows to kill Trujillo. "You and Tony 

Imbert can count on me." 

Salvador Estrella is a member of Trujillo’s 

opposition. A devout Catholic, and a parishioner of 

Bishop Reilly, he is following the anti-Trujillo stand 

of the Catholic Church. We hear Monsignor Reilly 

blasting Trujillo from the pulpit. Salvador Estrella 

approaches him: "Father, will God forgive me if I 

kill Trujillo?" he asks the bishop. Quoting from St. 

Thomas Aquinas, Reilly encourages him. "Killing 

the Beast is justified if its death will free a people." 

The crowd and Trujillo’s insiders listen to 

Monsignor Reilly’s sermon. 



A new character comes into the picture: 

Simon Gittleman, an American marine who is 

Trujillo’s old time friend and supporter, has come to 

the Dominican Republic to stand by Trujillo. Over 

lunch and champagne, Trujillo recalls the staging of 

the 1937 Dajabon massacre, where thousands of 

Haitians were slaughtered. He regrets having conducted 

"a necessary evil," and he justifies it by 

explaining that Haitians were crossing the border 

into the Dominican Republic displacing hardworking 

Dominicans in that area. 

The other men at this luncheon reminisce 

about the operation and compare figures on fatalities. 

Senator Henry Chirinos describes the Haitian 

migration as a "hydra-like invasion;" Agustin Cabral 

–Urania’s father- calls them "barbarians;" they 

speak of "the blacks" raping white Dominican 

women and killing landowners. General Pupo 

Román defends the Army’s actions and recalls 

killing 20,000 Haitians. But Pupo Román also tells 

of Dominican civilians killing Haitians as well, not 

just the Army. 

Trujillo asks president Balaguer to give the 

official count. Balaguer was chief negotiator of the 

peace treaty with Haiti. The official count was 

merely symbolic, says Balaguer, but the actual casualties 

were between 10,000 and 15,000 Haitians. 

The conversation switches to president Kennedy’s 

foreign policy. Kennedy has just staged the Bay of 

Pigs fiasco in Cuba. Simon Gittleman fears an 

American invasion to topple Trujillo. But Trujillo is 

confident that president Kennedy will not make 

such a mistake. He reaffirms the strength and preparedness 

of the Dominican army, and reassures his 

guests that he will neither flee nor surrender, for, 

unlike other Latin American presidents who behave 

like cowards, he got his training with the United 

States marines. 

Salvador Estrella; Army Lieutenant Amado 

Garcia; retired Air Force Lieutenant Antonio de la 

Maza; and Trujillo family administrator Antonio 

Imbert are inside a car along one of Trujillo’s daily 

motor routes. They are part of an assassination plot 

and are expecting Trujillo’s car to show up any 

minute now. Instead, officer Miguel Baez shows up 

in another car to inform them that Trujillo is 

delayed. Antonio de la Maza recalls his brother 

Octavio’s arrest and murder. 

At Trujillo’s behest, Octavio "Tavito" de la 

Maza had killed a certain professor Galindez, an 

American citizen who had been flown to the 

Dominican Republic by Tavito’s career co-pilot, a 

guy named Murphy. The murder caused such a 

ruckus in Washington that Trujillo decided to eliminate 

the sole witnesses to the crime: Murphy and 

Tavito. Antonio had warned his brother that 

Trujillo would do just that, but he paid no attention. 

When Antonio de la Maza learns of his brother’s 

alleged suicide –Johnny Abbes in fact shot the 

younger de la Maza point blank from behind-, he 

vows to avenge him. 

Trujillo buys Antonio’s loyalty by awarding 

him a major government contract. He assures 

Antonio that he had nothing to do with Tavito’s 

death, tells him he has named a commission to 

investigate the alleged suicide, and has even summoned 

the FBI to look into Murphy’s death. But 

Antonio de la Maza doesn’t buy any of it. He must, 

however, go along with Trujillo’s agenda, or be 

killed. Salvador Estrella tells him that everyone 

thinks he sold out to Trujillo. But nothing could be 

further from the truth. Antonio will have his 

revenge when they kill Trujillo. 

The conspirators –Antonio Imbert, Antonio 

de la Maza, Salvador, and Amadito- are still waiting 

for Trujillo’s car. Suddenly, they see the lights. It is 

the official car. They get ready and as the car gets 

closer, they start shooting. Trujillo and his chauffeur 

are killed. Only one of the conspirators –Pedro 

Livio Cedeño, another Trujillo family administratoris 

wounded. They hide Trujillo’s body in the trunk 

of their car, dump the dictator’s car by the roadside, 

and drive off to deliver the body to General Pupo 

Roman, who is part of the conspiracy and is waiting 

for them. 

Back in the Cabral home, Urania attempts 

to feed her ailing father are useless. The nurse 

takes over. Urania asks her if she recalls Trujillo’s 

rule, but the nurse was a little girl when Trujillo 

was assassinated. She has heard the stories, and 

also knows that don Agustin Cabral was a very 

important man. In her opinion, things were better 

when Trujillo was alive but Urania doesn’t agree. 

She proceeds to narrate how her father fell out of 

favor with Trujillo, all the while addressing her 

father and compelling him to agree with her story. 

Urania recalls how there was hardly any 

street crime during Trujillo’s thirty-year rule. 

However, there was big crime in high places: abductions, 

assassinations, people tortured and harassed 

by the Secret Police. Urania admits to coming to 

the Dominican Republic to torture her father’s 

mind. She had resolved never to see him again. She 

remembers when he used to call her in the States, 

and she would not answer his calls. Don Agustin 

listens patiently to his daughter, shrugging his 

shoulders every so often as if saying, "I don’t know 

what you are talking about," or "I don’t care." 

Suddenly, the doorbell rings: it is Urania’s 

cousin Lucinda who comes to visit don Agustin regularly. 

She is happily shocked to find her cousin 

Urania there. They haven’t seen each other since 

they were teens. Lucinda reproaches Urania for her 

absence, for not writing, for not telling the family of 

her plans to return to the Dominican Republic. 

Lucinda gently scolds Urania for neglecting 

her father, and tells her many stories about his grief 

and troubles. The relatives know that Urania supports 

her father and pays for his nurse. But no one 

understands why Urania left without even saying 

goodbye, and why she cut all lines of communication, 

even with her father. Urania learns how the 

family lost everything after Trujillo’s assassination. 

We learn from Lucinda that Ramfis and 

Radhames Trujillo launched a political vendetta 

right after the assassination. Lucinda tells Urania of 

her father’s arrest and humiliation. Don Agustin 

was floored when his loyalty to "the Boss" was questioned. 

Urania finds it amusing: "My father, who 

was capable of committing atrocities out of loyalty 

to Trujillo! How unfair!" She is being sarcastic, for 

she knows only too well about her father’s loyalty, 

and how he almost lost his mind when he fell out 

of favor with the dictator. 

GENERAL TRUJILLO: 

"A MÍ NO ME TIEMBLA LA MANO CUANDO TENGO QUE MATAR. 

GOBERNAR EXIGE, A VECES, MANCHARSE DE SANGRE. 

A LOS LEALES, LES HAGO JUSTICIA, NO LOS MANDO A MATAR". 

The assasination of Gen.Rafael Trujillo 



But cousin Lucinda defends her uncle’s honesty. 

Don Agustin made no deals with subsequent 

governments, like some of his former colleagues 

did, which is why he destitute, but for Urania’s 

remittances. Lucinda wants to know about Urania’s 

personal life, but only gets a dubious story from her 

cousin about an elderly gentleman lover who is 

married and sees her only on weekends. The story 

is music to Lucinda’s ears, whose own husband left 

her with two young daughters. "What good is getting 

married? Look at me!" Urania accepts 

Lucinda’s invitation to dinner at home with the 

family. 

The story of Urania’s estrangement from her 

father begins to unfold from here on, as the conversation 

between Urania and her father –Urania’s 

monologues- turns to sex, Trujillo’s men, political 

power, and Dominican women. 

ACT II 

The conspirators have been caught. In the 

torture chambers at police headquarters, Abbes 

García oversees personally the torture of Antonio 

de la Maza and Salvador Estrella. Ramfis not only 

had Salvador Estrella arrested, but he kidnaps his 

wife and children. Salvador prays to the Virgin 

Mary to spare his family. A guard brings him a pot 

of cooked meat, and Salvador devours it. When he 

has finished, the guard gives him a message: 

"General Ramfis wants to know if eating your son’s 

flesh turns your stomach." Salvador thinks it’s a 

sick joke. But enters Pupo Roman with the boy’s 

head in his hand. 

At the funeral, Trujillo’s widow is hysterical, 

calling for the blood of her husband’s assassins. 

Abbes Garcia goes up to Pupo Roman and arrests 

him. President Balaguer chums up to the widow, 

advising her of how best to protect her fortune 

before big changes take place. He recommends that 

Henry Chirinos can be of assistance and totally discreet. 

A greedy woman, Trujillo’s widow doesn’t 

even want her children to know how she will dispose 

of the family fortune. 

Then he takes Ramfis aside, and tells him 

only he can preserve the legacy of his father. 

Balaguer has presented Ramfis with a transition 

plan, but is ready to go along with Ramfis if he has 

other plans, or even resign. Balaguer instructs 

Ramfis that Trujillo’s brothers –army Generals 

themselves- must abandon the Dominican Republic 

and all hopes of political power, as must he. Ramfis 

accepts Balaguer’s plans and agrees to leave as soon 

as he has avenged his father’s death. 

Finally, Balaguer calls on Senator Henry 

Chirinos to head the new Parliament. The transition 

to peace and democracy is under way, thanks 

to president Balaguer´s political acumen. 

Urania is dining with her family: aunt 

Adelina, cousin Lucinda and her daughter, 

Marianita. The conversation revolves around 

Urania’s absence, her estrangement from her father, 

and her father’s ordeals after Trujillo’s assassination. 

Aunt Adelina assures Urania that her father 

was not only an exemplary honest politician, unfairly 

harassed and ruined during the post-assassination 

vendetta, but also the best father in the world. 

"You behaved unkindly towards him, Urania," 

admonishes her aunt. 

Urania remarks that don Agustin was not 

the good father they have him to be. She proceeds 

to narrate the story of Senator Cabral’s fall out with 

Trujillo, and his comeback through the influence of 

Trujillo’s protocol advisor, Manuel Alfonso. Urania 

tells how as a young man, Alfonso had moved to 

New York, where he succeeded as a model in advertising. 

Trujillo recruited him for his personal 

entourage: 

Alfonso selected Trujillo’s wardrobe, advised him 

on etiquette and protocol, and was his English-language 

interpreter. He also picked the women 

Trujillo needed to satisfy his morbid appetite for 

sex. 

Manuel Alfonso pays a visit to Agustin 

Cabral, who has asked to see him. He has just 

returned from the U.S. where he had throat surgery 

at the Mayo Clinic. Agustin asks for his help to win 

Trujillo’s favor once again. He has been removed as 

president of the Senate and is under investigation, 

although he hasn’t done anything to betray 

Trujillo’s trust. 

Alfonso reminds him that Trujillo was very 

upset when the Cabral Commission failed to get 

the Catholic prelates to name Trujillo "Benefactor 

of the Catholic Church". Nonetheless, Manuel 

Alfonso promises Cabral to do everything possible 

to stage the Senator’s comeback. Don Agustin 

assures Alfonso that he is willing to do anything to 

appease Trujillo. 

A few days later, Alfonso returns to the 

Cabral home, and runs into young Urania, who is 

fourteen at the time. He praises her beauty. "You’ve 

grown so pretty, you remind me of your mother! 

You must be breaking boys’ hearts!" When they are 

finally alone, Manuel Alfonso states his plan: 

Agustin Cabral should offer his most precious possession 

to Trujillo as proof of his loyalty: the virginity 

of his daughter Urania. Initiating a virgin in the 

pleasures of sex, explains Alfonso to a dumbfounded 

Cabral, is Trujillo’s predilection. "A man who 

works from dusk to midnight, seven days a week, 

twelve months of the year, deserves to feast himself 

with a woman every once in a while," Alfonso goes 

on. "There is nothing he won’t grant you after he’s 

had your beautiful daughter." 

Manuel Alfonso: 

"Qué suerte tienes, muchachita. Trujillo, 

invitándote en persona a su Casa de Caoba. 

¡Qué privilegio! Se cuentan con los dedos de 

las manos las que merecieron algo así. 

Te lo digo yo, muchacha, créemelo". 

That night, an unsuspecting Urania prays to 

the Virgin of Altagracia, patron saint of 

Dominicans, and vows a life of chastity if Manuel 

Alfonso succeeds in helping her father. 

Back at the dinner table, aunt Adelina is 

upset when Urania describes her father as wicked. 

She demands an explanation. Urania breaks the 

news to the family explaining that she was her 

father’s peace offering to Trujillo. Adelina, Lucinda 

and Marianita are in shock. "Father trembled, he 

was so afraid I’d know he was lying," adds Urania. 

The tragedy unfolds. The day after his meeting 

with Manuel Alfonso, Cabral recruits young 

Urania’s help. He tells his daughter that Trujillo 

has invited her to a party at Mahogany House, 

Trujillo’s estate. When she learns that her father is 

not invited, she hesitates about going. But don 

Agustin reassures her that there will probably be 

other young ladies there as well. Manuel Alfonso 

will come for her at 8 pm. "Have you told Alfonso 

what time to bring me home?" She agrees to accept 

the invitation only because disappointing Trujillo 

will only make matters worse for her father. 

In excruciating detail, Urania describes how 

Alfonso arrived with his chauffeur at 8 o’clock 

sharp. On the road to Mahogany House, Trujillo’s 

matchmaker begins to "charm her," telling her she is 

one of the luckiest girls in the world to have been 

chosen by Trujillo for a private affair. He coached 

her on Trujillo’s intimate likes and dislikes. "He 

likes a girl to be tender, but not overly amorous." 

Urania tells how Trujillo was very disappointed. 

He liked sensuous women, with big breasts 

and hips, not skinny bodies like hers. Trujillo didn’t 

send her away because he liked forcing himself on 

virgins. "Men love to break a young girl’s cunt," he 

bluntly tells her. 

She describes the evening: they danced to 

soft tunes. Trujillo doesn’t call her by her first 

name, but instead calls her "Beautiful." He gives her 

a glass of sherry, sits her on a couch and asks her 

why she is so quiet. Finally, he kisses her several 

times, each time more passionately, while reciting a 

poem by Pablo Neruda. 

"You are a virgin, are you not?" he asks her. 

Urania can feel his erection. "Sorry, auntie, but I 

must talk about erections," she explains to a scandalized 

Adelina. He then took Urania upstairs. He 

was seventy, and she was fourteen, a grandfather 

with his granddaughter. She thinks about jumping 

out the window while Trujillo slowly undresses her. 

She is very cold and trembling, so Trujillo holds her 

in his arms for a while. 

But soon enough, he goes crazy with passion, 

angered by her stillness, by her apparent indifference. 

He speaks vulgarities to her, brings her to 

her knees. "You better help me get a hard on, or 

else!" Urania is traumatized. It’s no use. He throws 

her on the bed, and rapes her. Urania cries as she 

bleeds all over the bed. 

Aunt Adelina cannot take any more of 

Urania’s crude story, and begs her to stop. "You are 

full of resentment and hatred, my child. Let us 

pray." Urania goes on. Trujillo throws her out, calls 

Benita his housekeeper, who arranges for Urania to 

be taken home in a jeep. Manuel Alfonso and the 

limousine are nowhere near. Urania asks to be driven 

to the Santo Domingo convent, where a Sister 

Mary takes her in and comforts her. 

Although Lucinda and Adelina are in shock, 

they tell Urania that in spite of the horrible experience, 

she has been a lucky woman: her studies were 

paid for; she has a successful career and leads an 

enviable life any Dominican woman would die for! 

And she even has a gentleman friend who doesn’t 

interfere with her life! 

Urania breaks the news to her cousin 

Lucinda: she made up the story about the gentleman 

friend. She has never been with a man or had 

a relationship. All she does is work and work until 

she drops. "I envy you who have a family, children, 

relatives, a country. Thanks to my father and His 

Excellency, I am barren." Adelina still tries to find 

excuses for her brother Agustin’s behavior, insisting 

that perhaps Manuel Alfonso had deceived 

Agustin. Urania understands clearly that her aunt 

Adelina is in denial, and drops the subject. 

It’s 2 o’clock in the morning, and Urania 

must return to the hotel to pack. She leaves on the 

first flight. The family reunion has been a good 

one. The four women agree to stay in touch and 

write to each other. 

Monseñor Reilly: 

"La raíz y fundamento de todos los derechos 

está en la dignidad inviolable de la persona 

humana. Hay millones... que continúan viviendo 

bajo la opresión y la tiranía; para ellos no 

hay nada seguro: ni el hogar, ni los bienes, 

ni la libertad, ni el honor. Hasta la 

paciencia divina tiene su límite". 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 

For at least 5,000 years before Christopher 

Columbus "discovered" America for the Europeans, 

Amerindians inhabited the island that in 1492 he 

named Hispaniola. Anthropologists have traced two 

major waves of immigration, one from the West in 

Central America (probably Yucatan) and the second 

from the South, descendants of the Arawakan 

tribes in Amazonia and passing through the 

Orinoco valley in Venezuela. The ancestors of the 

taínos that welcomed Columbus on his first voyage 

originated from this second source. 

The first permanent European settlement 

was founded in this island in 1493. It was called 

Isabella -after the Spanish queen- and was located 

on the north coast of the island not far to the east 

of Puerto Plata. 

From there the invaders could readily exploit 

the gold in the Cibao River, a short distance away 

upstream. The Spaniards brought with them horses 

and dogs, and combined with their armor and iron 

weapons, they posed an occupation force that the 

peace-loving taínos were unable to defeat. 

The Western third of the island became a 

French possession in 1697, and over the next century 

developed Saint-Domingue into what became by 

far the richest colony in the world. The wealth of 

this colony stemmed primarily from sugar. 

Hundreds of thousands of African slaves were 

imported from Africa to work in those plantations, 

where they were brutally treated. 

Between 1795 and 1821, both Spain and 

France ruled the island intermittently. In 1821, the 

first independence from Spain was achieved, cut 

short by the Haitian occupation of 1822, which lasted 

until 1844. Haiti had become an independent 

country in 1804. The great national leader, Juan 

Pablo Duarte led the Dominicans against the 

Haitians. But by 1861, General Pedro Santana was 

inviting the Spanish to return to their former 

colony and take over control. After a short period 

of mismanagement, the Dominicans quickly realized 

their mistake and forced the Spanish out. 

During the 19th century the country's economy 

shifted from primarily livestock grazing to 

other sources of revenue. In the southwestern 

region, a new industry sprung up: cutting down and 

exporting precious woods such as mahogany, oak 

and guaiacum. In the northern plains and valleys 

around Santiago, the emphasis was on growing 

tobacco, an activity that yielded some of the world's 

best cigars. Throughout the country, coffee was 

another important crop. 

In 1905, the U.S. took over the administration 

of the customs revenues of the Dominican 

Republic, presumably to outmaneuver other 

European creditors. With the advent of the First 

World War, political instability raised fears and the 

United States sent in its Marines to occupy the 

country in 1916. Only a few months earlier, the 

Americans had occupied Haiti. The US occupation 

lasted eight years in the Dominican Republic, 19 

years in Haiti. 

One of the changes implemented by the 

U.S. was to establish a trained national army to 

maintain law and order and uphold public safety. 

During the occupation, U.S. Marines established 

the Dominican National Guard. A former telegraph 

clerk named Rafael Leónidas Trujillo joined the 

new force and excelled in the ranks; the Americans 

chose him to head the police in 1924. The country 

had its first relatively free election after the U.S. 

forces withdrew that year; but Trujillo staged a military 

coup in 1930, overthrowing president Horacio 

Vázquez, and proclaiming himself head of state. 

There is no question that Trujillo reached out to his 

people, created jobs, paid off the national debt, 

strengthened the sugar industry and improved the 

general standard of living in the first years of his 

rule. Dominicans worshiped him like a deity. 

Trujillo always made it clear that he was a 

racist –even though his mother was a mulatto 

woman with African slave ancestry- and he considered 

Black Haitians inferior and a threat to 

Dominican integrity. This feeling was echoed in 

most Dominican homes, in spite of the fact that 

about 70% of the population at the time were 

mulattoes and 11% Black. In 1937 he ordered his 

army to massacre all Haitians found illegally within 

Dominican territory, especially those near the border 

with Haiti. In Dajabón alone, some 15,000 

Haitians were killed. However, during the peace 

negotiations –headed by Trujillo’s president Joaquin 

Balaguer on the Dominican side of the table- an 

official figure of 2,750 casualties was "agreed upon." 

The Dominican government compensated its 

Haitian counterpart in cash. 

Trujillo remained in power for over 30 years, 

but toward the end he succeeded in alienating even 

his most avid supporters, including the United 

States and the Catholic Church. 

The Organization of American 

States imposed diplomatic and 

economic sanctions on his government. 

Finally, on May 31, 1961, 

after many local attempts, several 

revolts and an invasion in 1959 supported by 

Cuba’s Fidel Castro, a CIA backed conspiracy succeeded 

in deposing the dictator. Trujillo’s car was 

ambushed on its way to his estate, and both he and 

his chauffeur met a violent end. 

After Trujillo's murder, his ruthless son 

Ramfis took over the government for a short time, 

during which he tortured and murdered everyone 

suspected of plotting against his father. Doctor 

Balaguer, who remained president at least nominally, 

finally succeeded in consolidating his power, and 

pacified the country during the following year and a 

half. In 1963 elections were held and Dr. Juan 

Bosch, of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, was 

elected president. However, his socialist program 

was deemed too extreme, and only nine months 

later he was ousted in a coup d’état. Political and 

economic chaos ensued; it culminated on April 24, 

1965, when President Lyndon Johnson ordered the 

U.S. Marines to occupy the Dominican Republic 

one more time. A year later, Balaguer was re-elected 

president. This time, he remained in power for a 

continuous 12-year period, winning re-election in 

1970 and 1974. 

In 1978 Dominicans elected Antonio 

Guzman, of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, 

defeating Balaguer’s incumbency for a fourth consecutive 

term. Just before his four-year term ended 

in 1982, Guzman committed suicide, prompted by 

the revelation that close family members allegedly 

were involved in massive corruption and embezzlement 

of government funds. Salvador Jorge Blanco 

replaced Guzman. The time-honored tradition of 

rewarding relatives, close friends and political supporters 

with lucrative governmental posts continued. 

His administration was in the end marred by 

allegations of corruption and misappropriation of 

public funds. In fact, he was subsequently found 

guilty and convicted to 20 years in prison for said 

crimes. 

Thoroughly disillusioned by the misrule of 

the leaders of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, 

Dominicans returned to the polls in 1986 to re-elect 

an ailing Joaquin Balaguer, who won re-election in 

1990. That administration was plagued with international 

criticism due to the exploitation of Haitian 

sugar cane workers. In a draconian turn of events, 

in June 1991 the Dominican government deported 

all Haitian workers. 

In 1994, Balaguer won re-election once 

again. The Organization of American States and 

other international observers unanimously agreed 

the election was rigged. In a bid to avoid a major 

outbreak of violence, Balaguer and Peña Gomez, his 

principal opponent, met and negotiated an agreement 

whereby Balaguer promised to remain in 

power for a period not to exceed two years, and not 

to run for re-election in 1996. Run-off elections 

were then scheduled for May 1996, and early 

returns showed Peña Gomez holding a plurality. 

However, Leonel Fernandez, the Patria Libertad y 

Democracia Party candidate (P.L.D.) edged out 

Gomez in the run-offs. Balaguer gave his support to 

Fernandez and helped him come up from behind to 

win the elections. 

Some of Leonel Fernandez's anticipated 

reforms hinged upon his party gaining a majority in 

the National Assembly, which held elections in May 

1998. Election results in the National Assembly 

gave a majority to Peña Gomez’s opposition, and 

many Dominicans felt that Fernandez would have 

difficulties getting congress to pass his proposed 

legislation. However, this kind of political debate is 

more representative of a true democracy. Election 

results split between contending political parties is 

proof that democracy is at work and people are 

expressing their opinions with greater freedom. 

Elections were held last in the year 2000, 

which brought Hipolito Mejia to the presidency for 

a four-year period. Elections are scheduled again for 

2003. Today the Dominican Republic is progressing 

in all aspects as a free and democratic nation. 

Political demonstrations take place openly and 

freely in the main streets and politicians are able to 

campaign without being censored, a far cry from 

the Trujillo era when dissidents and opposition 

leaders could only work underground, and when 

discovered were tortured, murdered and thrown to 

the sharks. 

SCENES FROM THE PLAY... 

Scene 1: Urania has arrived at her father’s 

house in Santo Domingo after a thirty-five 

year absence. Agustín Cabral is confined 

to a wheel chair and cannot talk. As soon 

as the nurse leaves the room, she confronts 

him, revealing the agenda behind her visit. 

Urania: Soy Urania... ¿Te acuerdas que tienes una 

hija?... La casa estaba llena de libros. ¿Qué fue de 

ellos? Ya no puedes leer, claro. Tenías tiempo de 

leer entonces. No recuerdo haberte visto leyendo 

nunca. Eras un hombre demasiado ocupado. Yo 

también ahora, tanto o más que tú en esa época. 

Diez, doce horas en el bufete o visitando clientes. 

Pero me doy tiempo para leer un rato cada día. 

Tempranito, viendo amanecer entre los rascacielos 

de Manhattan, o de noche. La ventaja de haberme 

quedado soltera, papá... ¿Sabías, no? Tu hijita se 

quedó para vestir santos. Así decías tú: ¡Qué gran 

fracaso! ¡No pescó marido!.. No quise. Tuve propuestas. 

En la universidad. En el Banco Mundial. En 

el bufete. Figúrate que todavía se me aparece de 

pronto un pretendiente. ¡Con cuarenta y cuatro 

años encima! No es tan terrible ser solterona. Por 

ejemplo, dispongo de tiempo para leer, en vez de 

estar atendiendo al marido, a los hijitos. Mi departamento, 

¿adivinas de qué época? La Era de Trujillo, 

¿cuál iba a ser?... "Lo más importante que nos pasó 

en quinientos años". Lo decías con tanta convicción. 

Es cierto, papá. En esos treinta y un años 

cristalizó todo lo malo que arrastrábamos desde la 

conquista... En algunos de esos libros apareces tú, 

como un personaje. Secretario de Estado; senador; 

presidente del Partido Dominicano. ¿Hay algo que 

no fuiste, papá?... Me he convertido en una experta 

en Trujillo. Lástima que no podamos conversar. 

¡Cuántas cosas podrías aclararme, tú que lo viviste 

del bracito con tu querido jefe, que tan mal pagó tu 

lealtad... Por ejemplo, me hubiera gustado que me 

aclararas si Su Excelencia se acostó también con mi 

mamá.....¿Lo permitiste? ¿Te resignaste? ¿Lo aprovechaste 

para tu carrera?.... ¿Visitó el jefe a mi mamá? 

Lo hacía cuando las esposas eran bellas. Mi mamá 

lo era, ¿no? ¿Qué hizo mi mamá? ¿Se resigno? ¿Se 

alegró, orgullosa de ese honor? Esa era la norma, 

¿verdad? Las buenas dominicanas agradecían que el 

jefe se dignara tirárselas. ¿Te parece una vulgaridad? 

¡Pero si ese era el verbo que usaba tu querido jefe! 

Lástima que no puedas hablar. Trataríamos de 

entenderlo juntos. 

Ricardo Barber as General Trujillo and Pedro De Llano as 

General Johnny Abbes. 




"AQUÍ, CONMIGO AL FRENTE, PELEARÁ HASTA EL ÚLTIMO 

DOMINICANO... LOS HOMBRES CON HONOR NO CORREN. PELEAN 

Y, SI HAY QUE MORIR, MUEREN PELEANDO. NI KENNEDY, NI LA 

OEA, NI EL NEGRO ASQUEROSO DE [RÓMULO] BETANCOURT, NI 

EL COMUNISTA FIDEL CASTRO, VAN AHACER CORRER A 

TRUJILLO DEL PAÍS QUE LE DEBE TODO LO QUE ES". 

JOHNNY ABBES GARCÍA: 

"MIENTA EL ENEMIGO DE DENTRO ESTÉ DÉBIL Y DESUNIDO, LO 

QUE HAGA EL DE AFUERA NO IMPORTA. QUE ESTADOS UNIDOS 

CHILLE; QUE LA OEA PATALEE; QUE VENEZUELA Y COSTA RICA 

LADREN; NO NOS HACEN MELLA. MÁS BIEN, UNE A LOS 

DOMINICANOS COMO A UN PUÑO EN TORNO AL JEFE. 

ESPECIALMENTE A LOS MILITARES". 

Scene 3: General Trujillo and President 

Balaguer exchange mutual comments about 

how they have related over the years. 

Trujillo questions the motives behind 

Balaguer’s apparent austerity, yet praises 

his loyalty; Balaguer reaffirms his absolute 

awe for the dictator. 

Trujillo: Siempre lo he tratado de usted, ¿cierto? Es 

el único de mis colaboradores al que nunca he 

tuteado. ¿No le llama la atención? 

Balaguer: En efecto, Excelencia. Siempre me pregunto 

si no me tutea porque confía menos en mí 

que en mis colegas. 

Trujillo: Pese a todos estos años juntos, para mí es 

usted bastante misterioso. Nunca he podido descubrirle 

las debilidades humanas, Balaguer. 

Balaguer: Estoy lleno de ellas, Excelencia. Pero, en 

vez de un elogio, parece que me lo reprochara. 

Trujillo: Hay algo inhumano en usted. Que yo sepa, 

no le gustan las mujeres, ni los muchachos... Yo 

tuve que imponerle los ministerios, las embajadas, 

la Vicepresidencia, y hasta la Presidencia que 

ocupa. Si lo saco de aquí y lo mando a un 

puestecito perdido en Montecristi o Azua, se iría 

usted para allá, igual de contento. ¿Es usted así? ¿O 

esa conducta es una estrategia, con un designio 

secreto? 

Balaguer: Desde que conocí a Su Excelencia, aquella 

mañana de abril de 1930, mi único vicio ha sido 

servirlo. Desde aquel momento supe que, sirviendo 

a Trujillo, servía a mi país. Eso ha enriquecido mi 

vida. Nunca tendré palabras para agradecer a Su 

Excelencia que me haya permitido trabajar a su 

lado. 

Trujillo: Voy a decirle algo que le va a complacer, 

Presidente. Yo no tengo tiempo para leer las pendejadas 

que escriben los intelectuales. Además, nunca 

me he fiado de los artistas. Son deshuesados, sin 

sentido del honor, propensos a la traición y muy 

serviles. Tampoco he leído sus versos ni sus 

ensayos. Pero, hay una excepción. Un discurso 

suyo, hace siete años. El que pronunció en Bellas 

Artes, cuando lo incorporaron a la Academia de la 

Lengua. ¿Lo recuerda? 

Balaguer: "Dios y Trujillo: una interpretación realista"... 

Trujillo: Lo he releído muchas veces. Me sé párrafos 

de memoria, como poesías: "Una voluntad aguerrida 

y enérgica que secunda en la marcha de la 

República hacia la plenitud de sus destinos la 

acción tutelar y bienhechora de aquellas fuerzas 

sobrenaturales.. Dios y Trujillo: he ahí, pues, en 

síntesis, la explicación, primero de la supervivencia 

del país y, luego, de la actual prosperidad de la vida 

dominicana..." 

Todos: ¡Amén! 

Trujillo: ¿Cree usted todavía que Dios me delegó la 

responsabilidad de salvar este país? 

Balaguer: Más que entonces, mi Excelencia. Trujillo 

no hubiera podido llevar a cabo la 

sobrehumana misión, sin apoyo trascendente. Usted 

ha sido, para este país, instrumento del Ser 

Supremo. 

Trujillo: Lástima que esos obispos pendejos no se 

hallan enterado. 

Meeting with his cabinet. Left to right: Pietro González as 

President Balaguer, Pedro De Llano as General Johnny Abbes, 

Ricardo Barber as General Rafael Trujillo and René Sánchez 

as Henry Chirinos. 



Scene 14: Urania’s cousin Lucinda has 

come to visit her uncle Agustín, and is 

happily surprised to find her long-lost 

cousin Urania back home. They chit chat 

about their respective lives. Lucinda tells 

about the family’s tribulations after 

Trujillo’s assassination. 

Balaguer: Es impertinente atosigarla con cosas prácticas, 

cuando el espíritu lo absorbe un quebranto 

atroz. Pero, ¿y el futuro? Usted todavía tiene una 

larga vida por delante. ¡Quién sabe lo que puede 

ocurrir luego de este cataclismo! La ingratitud de 

los pueblos está comprobada desde la traición de 

Judas a Cristo. El país llora a Trujillo y brama contra 

sus asesinos ahora. Pero, ¿seguirá mañana leal a 

la memoria del Jefe? ¿Y si triunfa el resentimiento, 

esa enfermedad nacional? Debe asegurarse de poner 

a salvo de cualquier eventualidad los legítimos 

bienes adquiridos gracias al esfuerzo de la familia 

Trujillo, y que, además, tanto han beneficiado al 

pueblo dominicano. Debe hacerlo antes de que los 

reajustes políticos se vuelvan un impedimento... Si 

quiere, discútalo con Henry Chirinos. Él le dirá qué 

tanto de su patrimonio puede ser transferido de 

inmediato al extranjero, sin mucha pérdida. 

Viuda: Yo sabía que usted era un amigo leal, doctor 

Balaguer. 

Balaguer: Espero demostrárselo, doña María. 

Confío en que no haya tomado mal mi consejo. 

Viuda: Es un buen consejo. En este país nunca se 

sabe lo que puede pasar. Hablaré con el doctor 

Chirinos mañana mismo. ¿Todo se hará con la 

mayor discreción? 

Balaguer: Por mi honor, María. 

Viuda: Le ruego que ni a mis hijos hable usted de 

este asunto. Por razones que sería largo de explicar. 

Balaguer: A nadie, ni siquiera a ellos. Permítame 

reiterarle cuánto admiro su carácter. Sin usted, el 

benefactor jamás hubiera hecho todo lo que hizo. 

Viuda: ¡Venganza! Ramfis, mi hijo, ¡Venganza! 

¡Hay que vengar a tu padre! 

Ramfis: (Ante el ataúd en que reposa el cadáver de 

Trujillo) Yo no seré tan generoso como tú fuiste 

con tus enemigos, papi. 

Balaguer: (A Ramfis Trujillo) Es indispensable que 

conversemos unos minutos, general. Ya sé que es 

un momento muy difícil para usted. Pero hay asuntos 

impostergables. De usted, y sólo de usted, 

depende que perdure algo, mucho, o nada, de la 

obra realizada por su padre. Si su herencia desaparece, 

la República Dominicana se hundirá de 

nuevo en la barbarie. Si quiero que crean que todo 

está cambiando, que el país se abre a la democracia, 

debo hacer un examen autocrítico del pasado. Es 

doloroso para usted, lo sé. No lo es menos para mí. 

La política exige desgarramientos, a veces. Si prefiere 

tomar las riendas, no necesita sacar los tanques. 

Le entrego mi renuncia ahora mismo. 

Ramfis: Todos me lo piden. Mis tíos, los comandantes 

de regiones, los militares, mis primos, los 

amigos de papi. Pero yo no quiero ocupar el puesto 

de papi A mí esa vaina no me gusta, doctor 

Balaguer. ¿Para qué? ¿Para que me paguen como a 

él? 

Balaguer: Entonces, general, si usted no quiere el 

poder, ayúdeme a ejercerlo. 

Ramfis: ¿Más? Si no fuera por mí, mis tíos lo 

hubieran sacado a balazos hace rato. 

Balaguer: Sus tíos deben irse. Mientras estén aquí, 

ni la comunidad internacional, ni la opinión pública, 

creerán en el cambio. Sólo usted puede convencerlos.... 

Y usted también. No todavía... 

Después de hacer partir a sus tíos, de ayudarme a 

consolidar el gobierno... 

Ramfis: Me hubiera ido hace rato, si hubiera 

encontrado a todos los asesinos... Una vez cumpla 

la promesa que he hecho a papi, me iré. 

Balaguer: (Se dirige al senador Henry Chirinos) 

Quiero que usted sea el líder parlamentario de este 

nuevo gobierno. Necesitamos cuanto antes mejorar 

nuestras relaciones con Estados Unidos, y confío en 

usted para hacerlo. 

Chirinos: Permítame congratularlo, excelentísimo 

señor presidente. Siempre pensé que el régimen 

debía abrirse a los nuevos tiempos. Cuente conmigo 

como su colaborador más leal y dedicado. 

Scene 22: General Trujillo has cast aside 

Senator Agustín Cabral –Urania’s father. 

Cabral doesn’t know the reasons for el 

Jefe’s disapproval. He turns to Trujillo’s 

personal assistant, Manuel Alfonso, for 

help; he tells Alfonso that he will do 

anything to win back Trujillo’s confidence. 

Alfonso has come to see Cabral with a 

plan. They are at the Cabral home, 

drinking. 

Alfonso: Se me ocurrió al entrar. Siempre he sido 

así: primero el Jefe, después yo. Te quedaste demudado, 

Agustín. ¿Me equivoco? No dije nada, olvídate. 

Yo, ya me olvidé. ¡Salud, Cerebrito! 

Cabral: Es que... es que... 

Alfonso: Olvidémoslo. Espero que no lo hayas 

tomado mal, Cerebrito. ¡Olvídate! ¡Olvidémoslo! 

Cabral: No lo tomé mal. Es que, estoy desconcertado. 

Algo que no esperaba, Manuel. 

Alfonso: La crees una niña, no te diste cuenta que 

se volvió una mujercita. Una linda muchacha. 

Estarás orgulloso de tener una hija así. 

Cabral: Por supuesto. Ha sido siempre la primera 

de su clase. 

Alfonso: ¿Sabes una cosa, Cerebrito? Yo no hubiera 

vacilado un segundo....No para reconquistar su confianza, 

no para mostrarle que soy capaz de cualquier 

sacrificio por él. Simplemente, porque nada me 

daría más satisfacción, más felicidad, que el Jefe 

hiciera gozar a una hija mía y gozara con ella. No 

exagero, Agustín. Trujillo es una de esas anomalías 

de la historia. Carlomagno, Napoleón, Bolívar: de 

esa estirpe. Fuerzas de la Naturaleza, instrumentos 

de Dios, hacedores de pueblos. Él es uno de ellos, 

Cerebrito. Hemos tenido el privilegio de estar a su 

lado, de verlo actuar, de colaborar con él. Eso no 

tiene precio. 

Cabral: Es todavía una niña... 

Alfonso: ¡Mejor, entonces! El Jefe apreciará más el 

gesto. Comprenderá que se equivocó, que te juzgó 

de manera precipitada, dejándose guiar por susceptibilidades 

o dando oídas a tus enemigos. No pienses 

sólo en ti, Agustín. No seas egoísta. Piensa en tu 

muchachita. ¿Qué será de ella si pierdes todo y terminas 

en la cárcel acusado de malos manejos y 

defraudación? 

Cabral: ¿Crees que no he pensado en eso, Manuel? 

Alfonso: Se me acaba de ocurrir al ver lo linda que 

se ha puesto. El Jefe aprecia la belleza. Si le digo: 

"Cerebrito quiere ofrecerle, en prueba de cariño y 

de lealtad, a su linda hija, que es todavía señorita", 

no la rechazará. Yo lo conozco. Él es un caballero, 

con un tremendo sentido del honor. Se sentirá tocado 

en el corazón. Te llamará. Te devolverá lo que te 

han quitado. Uranita tendrá su porvenir seguro. 

Piensa en ella, Agustín, y sacúdete los prejuicios 

anticuados. No seas egoísta. 

Cabral: Me emociona lo que dices, Manuel. Pero no 

me sorprende... Lo que tú sientes por él, esa 

admiración, esa gratitud, es lo que he sentido siempre 

por el Jefe. Por eso me duele tanto esta 

situación. 

Alfonso: Se arreglará, Cerebrito. Hablaré con él. Yo 

sé cómo decirle las cosas. No le diré que es idea 

mía, sino tuya. Una iniciativa de Agustín Cabral, 

un leal a toda prueba... Recuperarás tu posición... 

Lo organizaré todo con la más absoluta discreción... 

Tú, más bien, prepara a Uranita, Sin entrar en 

detalles. No hace falta. De eso se encargará el Jefe. 

No puedes imaginar la delicadeza, la ternura, el don 

de gentes con que actúa en estos casos. La hará 

feliz, la recompensará, tendrá su futuro asegurado.... 

Alejandra Orozco as Urania Cabral 



Scene 24: Manuel Alfonso has picked up 

Uranita at home, as arranged with her 

father. He has brought the fourteen-year 

old girl to the Trujillo Estate, under 

pretext of a party. Uranita finds herself 

alone with the old dictator. There is no 

party. In this scene, Urania is remembering 

as she narrates the events to her Aunt 

Adelina and her cousins. 

Trujillo: Buenas noches, belleza.... Bienvenida a la 

Casa de Caoba, belleza. ¿Benita no te ha ofrecido 

nada? 

Urania: (Talking to her relatives) Se llevó una 

decepción. Yo era muy delgada, y a él le gustaban 

llenas, con pechos y caderas salientes. Hasta pensaría 

en despachar a ese esqueleto de vuelta a 

Ciudad Trujillo. ¿Saben por qué no lo hizo? Porque 

la idea de romper el coñito de una virgen excita a 

los hombres. Romper el coñito de una virgen excita 

a los hombres. A Petán, a la bestia de Petán, lo 

excita más todavía romperlo con el dedo. 

Trujillo: Te daré una copa de jerez dulce, especial 

para una niña como tú. No me como a las niñas. 

¿Eres siempre tan callada, o sólo ahora, belleza? ¿Te 

gusta bailar? Seguro, como a todas las muchachas 

de tu edad. A mí, mucho..... (They dance for a 

while). ¿Eres siempre una esfinge? No, no. Debe ser 

que me tienes demasiado respeto. Me gustan las 

bellezas discretas, que se dejan admirar. Las diosas 

indiferentes. Me gustas cuando callas, porque estás 

como ausente; parece que los ojos se te hubieran 

volado y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca. 

Urania: (Talking to her relatives) Esa noche hice un 

montón de cosas por primera vez: tomar jerez, ponerme 

las joyas de mamá, bailar con un viejo de 

setenta años y recibir mi primer beso en la boca. 

Trujillo: No sabes besar, belleza... ¿Eres doncellita, 

verdad? 

Urania: (Talking to her relatives) Se excitó. Tuvo 

una erección. Tengo que hablar de erecciones. Si el 

macho se excita, su sexo se endurece y crece. 

Cuando metió su lengua dentro de mi boca, su 

Excelencia se excitó. 

Trujillo: Vas a descubrir una cosa maravillosa. El 

amor. El placer. Vas a gozar. Yo te enseñaré. No me 

tengas miedo. Te haré feliz, belleza.... No te 

desnudes todavía, belleza. Yo te ayudaré..... Tienes 

los pies muy fríos, belleza. ¿Estás con frío? Ven para 

acá, deja que te los caliente. 

Urania: (Talking to her relatives) Seguía muy excitado, 

creo. Cuando empezó a tocarme y acariciarme. 

Y a besarme, obligándome siempre a abrir la 

boca con su lengua. En los pechos, en el cuello, en 

la espalda, en las piernas. 

Trujillo: Romper el coñito de una virgen siempre 

excita a los hombres. 

Urania: (To her relatives) La primera palabrota, la 

primera vulgaridad de la noche. Después, diría peores. 

Ahí me di cuenta de que algo le pasaba. 

URANIA CABRAL: 

"MÁS NUNCA UN HOMBRE ME VOLVIÓ A PONER LA MANO, DESDE 

AQUELLA VEZ. MI ÚNICO HOMBRE FUE TRUJILLO. HE 

ESTUDIADO, TRABAJO, ME GANO BIEN LA VIDA. PERO NO ES 

PARA QUE ME ENVIDIEN. YO LAS ENVIDIO A USTEDES, MÁS 

BIEN. TIENEN UNA FAMILIA, HIJOS, UN PAÍS. 

ESAS COSAS LLENAN LA VIDA. A MÍ, PAPÁ Y 

SU EXCELENCIA ME VOLVIERON UN DESIERTO". 

The Violation Scene 

Alejandra Orozco as Urania Cabral and 

David Crommett as Manuel Alfonso 



Food for Tought 

Study Questions (1-10) 

1. Johnny Abbes says to Trujillo "El idilio de treinta 

años se acabó. La Iglesia quiere guerra. Y, en las 

guerras, hay sólo dos caminos: rendirse o derrotar al 

enemigo". What did the Dominican Catholic 

Church do to show its condemnation of Trujillo’s 

regime? 

2. What measures does Senator Henry Chirinos 

propose to Trujillo in order to avert his financial 

ruin? What makes such a proposition possible? 

3. Were the Trujillos a dysfunctional first family? 

What kind of men were Ramfis and Radhames, the 

dictator’s sons? How about "the benefactress", the 

First Lady? 

4. Why do Trujillo’s advisors fear that the U.S. 

could take action against the Dominican Republic? 

What kind of action were they afraid of? 

5. How would you describe Dr. Joaquin Balaguer? 

"Paint" a personal and political portrait. Is he a despot, 

or does he believe in democracy? How many 

posts did he hold during Trujillo’s dictatorship? 

How about after? 

6. Rebels with a cause: What reasons do Amadito 

(Amado García Guerrero), Antonio de la Maza, 

and Salvador Estrella Sadhala have to risk their 

lives in order to assassinate Trujillo? 

7. What happened in Dajabon? 

8. Sexism, Dominican style: identify instances of 

machismo in this work. What attitudes do the different 

male characters have toward women 

(Agustín Cabral, Manuel Alfonso, Abbes García, 

others)? 

9. Nations are traditionally depicted as females. In 

Spanish, we say "la patria", "la nación". In many 

illustrations, a half-naked woman stands for "the 

nation." For tyrants, the nation is "rape-able" just 

like a woman. Discuss Trujillo –and any other dictator- 

as a predator, both sexually and politically. 

The Return of Urania 

Alejandra Orozco as Urania Cabral and 

Ricardo Barber as Agustín Cabral. 



10. A large percentage of the Dominican population 

falls under the category of "people of color", 

because they are either Black or mulatto. Discuss 

the possible historical and social causes of racism 

aimed at Blacks in the Dominican Republic. 

Food for Tought 

Study Questions (11-20) 

11. What does Joaquin Balaguer propose to Ramfis 

Trujillo at the dictator’s funeral? To Henry 

Chirinos? Discuss Balaguer’s motives, and his political 

acumen. 

12. Who is Manuel Alfonso? Is he merely a "yes 

man" or is he a pervert as well? 

13. How will Agustin Cabral win back "el Jefe"? 

What is Manuel Alfonso’s role in this strategy? 

14. "A mí, papá y Su Excelencia me volvieron un 

desierto", says Urania to her aunt and cousins. 

What exactly does she mean by that? 

15. Urania in New York, and her cousins in Santo 

Domingo live very different lives. What are some of 

the differences? How are their priorities and expectations 

different? 

16. Urania reveals that she feels nothing for her 

father. Is this true? What feelings does she harbor 

toward don Agustin? How does Adelina (Urania’s 

old aunt) feel about Agustin? Does she persuade 

Urania to forgive and forget? If you were Urania, 

would you? 

17. Political henchmen; ruthless army officers; corrupt 

politicians; decadent oligarchs. But for the 

conspirators who kill Trujillo –and are themselves 

tortured and killed-, the male characters in this 

novel/play are a despicable bunch. 

18. Take one or two dictators, past or present, and 

explore the similarities (and perhaps differences) 

between them and the Trujillo regime, comparing 

the family excesses, the abuse of power, the suppression 

of civil rights, the sacking of national 

resources, the personality cult, etc. Draw from 

Vargas Llosa’s quotes included in this Study Guide 

concerning absolute power and absolute corruption. 

19. Discuss how Mario Vargas Llosa has constructed 

the [all-fictional] female characters in this novel. Is 

Urania a victim, or an assertive survivor? Compare 

Urania with real-life women whose experiences of 

abuse are documented (there are several books 

written by survivors of rape, incest, sexual traffic, 

etc). Is the character of Urania a realistic construct? 

Or is the outcome of her life "too good to be true"? 

20. Write a different ending for this novel/play. 

Venture to tell Urania’s story from the time she left 

Santo Domingo to the present, prior to her return 

to Santo Domingo, 35 years worth of a survivor’s 

life that the author tells us very little about. 


"DECIDÍ IR YO MISMO A LA FRONTERA. CON ESTOS OJOS LO VI: 

NOS HABÍAN INVADIDO DE NUEVO, COMO EN 1822. 

ESTA VEZ, PACÍFICAMENTE. ¿PODÍA PERMITIR QUE LOS 

HAITIANOS SE QUEDARAN EN MI PAÍS OTROS VEINTIDÓS AÑOS?" 

Original logo for the production of 

“La Fiesta del Chivo by Repertorio Español. 

Designed by Puerto Rican Artist: 

José Efraín Rodríguez 

About the Author 

Mario Vargas Llosa 

Peruvian novelist, playwright, essayist, journalist, 

literary critic, one of the central writers in 

the Hispanic world. Vargas Llosa started his literary 

career in Europe, but most of his novels are set in 

Peru. From his first works, Vargas Llosa has used a 

wide variety of avant-garde techniques to create an 

aesthetic "double of the real world." Although 

Vargas Llosa has followed the tradition of social 

protest of Peruvian fiction exposing political 

corruption, machismo, racial prejudices and 

violence, he has underlined that a writer should 

never preach or compromise artistic aims for 

ideological propaganda. 

Mario Vargas Llosa was born in Arequipa. 

After his parents separated he was brought up by 

his mother and maternal grandparents in 

Cochabamba, Bolivia (1937-45), Piura, northern 

Peru (1945-46), and then in Lima. When he was 

about eight years old his parents reconciled. He 

attended Leoncio Prado Military Academy (1950- 

52), and Colegio Nacional San Miguel de Piura 

(1952). In 1955 he married Julia Urquidi; they 

divorced in 1964. From 1955 to 1957 Vargas Llosa 

studied literature and law at the University of San 

Marcos. He then attended graduate school at the 

University of Madrid, from where he received his 

Ph.D. in 1959. Vargas Llosa's doctoral dissertation 

about García Márquez (1971) was followed by several 

books on literary criticism, among them La 

Orgía Perpetua (1975) about Flaubert's masterpiece 

Madame Bovary. With Julio Cortázar, Carlos 

Fuentes, and García Márquez, Vargas Llosa was 

among the most famous writers, whose aim was to 

revitalize the Latin American novel. 

In the 1950s, while still a student, Vargas 

Llosa worked as a journalist for La Industria. He 

was a coeditor of the literary journals Cuadernos de 

Conversación and Literatura, and journalist for 

Radio Panamericana and La Crónica. His first collection 

of short stories, Los Jefes, appeared in 1959. 

In the same year he moved to Paris because he felt 

that in Peru he could not earn his living as a serious 

writer. Although the boom of Latin American 

fiction in the 1960s opened doors to some authors 

for commercial success, the great majority of 

Peruvian writers suffered from the problems of the 

country's publishing industry. 

In France Vargas Llosa worked as Spanish 

teacher, journalist for Agence-France-Presse, and 

broadcaster for Radio Télévision Française in early 

1960s. From the late 1960s Vargas Llosa worked as 

a visiting professor at many American and 

European universities. In 1965 he married Patricia 

Llosa; they had two sons and one daughter. In 1970 

Vargas Llosa moved to Barcelona and five years 

later he settled back in Peru, ending his selfimposed 

exile. In 1977 he was elected President of 

PEN Club International. The military dictatorship, 

which started in 1968 when General Francisco 

Morales Bermudez took over the country, ended in 

1980. 

In 1980 Vargas Llosa lectured and traveled 

in Japan and in 1990 he was a conservative candidate 

(Fredemo, the Democratic Front) for the 

Peruvian presidency. Vargas Llosa was defeated by 

Alberto Fujimori, an agricultural engineer of 

Japanese descent, also a political novice. President 

Fujimori escaped to his ancestral homeland Japan 

after a corruption scandal in 2000. In 1991 Vargas 

Llosa worked as a visiting professor at Florida 

International University, Miami and 

Wissdenschaftskolleg, Berlin from 1991 to 1992. 

The author has received several prestigious literary 

awards, including Leopoldo Alas Prize (1959), 

Rómulo Gallegos Prize (1967), National Critics' 

Prize (1967), Peruvian National Prize (1967), 

Critics' Annual Prize for Theatre (1981), Prince of 

Asturias Prize (1986) and Miguel de Cervantes 

Prize (1994).

About the Author 

Mario Vargas Llosa (cont.) 

Vargas Llosa made his debut as a novelist 

with The Time of the Hero (1962), set in Leoncio 

Prado military Academy, where he had been a student. 

The book received an immediate international 

recognition. According to Vargas Llosa's theory, personal, 

social or historical daemon gives a meaning 

to a novel and in the writing process unconscious 

obsessions are transformed into a novelist's themes. 

Autobiography and art has been one of the themes 

in his criticism. 

One of Vargas Llosa's own obsessions is the 

conflict between a father and son, which he has 

approached from the private level or from more 

universal or social levels. The Time of the Hero is a 

microcosm of Peruvian society. The murder of an 

informer is buried due to the codes of honor to protect 

the academy's reputation. Aunt Julia and the 

Scriptwriter (1977) is a partly autobiographical 

story of a courtship and marriage, written with 

uninhibited humor. The tyrannical father threatens 

to shoot his son, a novelist named Marito 

Varguitas, in the middle of the street, because of his 

marriage to the sexy, sophisticated, older Aunt 

Julia. Marito is eighteen and the marriage is illegal. 

Eventually his father accepts the situation. The 

book started to live its own life when Aunt Julia, 

Vargas Llosa's first wife, wrote a reply to it. 

In The Green House (1966) Vargas Llosa 

returned to formative experiences of his childhood 

and youth. The complicated novel has two major 

settings: the first, a provincial city and the second, 

the jungle, a challenging, hostile and attractive 

environment, which the author has depicted in several 

works. In 1957 Varga Llosa traveled with a 

group of anthropologists into the jungle, and 

learned how Indian girls were being drafted into 

prostitution on the coast. The "Green House" of 

the story is a brothel, which is burned to the 

ground but rebuilt again. Another storyline follows 

the fate of the virginal Bonifacia from a jungle mission; 

she becomes a prostitute in Piura. 

The War of the End of the World (1981) is a 

story of a revolt against the Brazilian government in 

the late 19th-century and the brutal response of the 

authorities. A religious fanatic, known as 

Conselheiro (Counselor), is followed by a huge 

band of disciples drawn from the fringes of society. 

Before the army of the Republic wins, the modern 

rational world suffers several humiliating defeats 

with the group of outcasts. Vargas Llosa uses 

Euclides da Cunha's account of the events, Os 

sertões (1902), as a source. One of the characters, a 

"nearsighted journalist", is loosely based on da 

Cunha. 

The Real life of Alejandro Mayta (1984) is 

written on several narrative levels. It deals with a 

failed Marxist-Leninist insurrection in the Andes, 

led by an aging Trotskyist Alejandro Mayta. He is 

captured and his second lieutenant Vallejos executed. 

The novelist-narrator interviews a number of 

people who give a contradictory view of Mayta's 

personality and the events. Finally the reader realizes 

that in the process of creating a novel within a 

novel, the narrator has invented Mayta's life and 

undermined the concepts of writing and reading 

history. 

Vargas Llosa's bitter memoir, El Pez en el 

Agua (A Fish in the Water), appeared in 1993. It 

focused on his run for the presidency in 1990 - he 

was supposed to win the little-known Alberto 

Fujimori. 

JOAQUÍN BALAGUER: 

"HE AQUÍ, SEÑORES, TRONCHADO POR EL SOPLO DE UNA RÁFAGA 

ALEVE, EL ROBLE PODEROSO QUE DURANTE MÁS DE TREINTA 

AÑOS DESAFIÓ TODOS LOS RAYOS Y SALIÓ VENCEDOR DE TODAS 

LAS TEMPESTADES". 

Remarks and reviews about 

Vargas Llosa’s Novel 

About Urania Cabral 

"La hija del doctor Agustín Cabral, Urania, no es 

un personaje histórico, como lo son por ejemplo los 

Trujillo, Joaquín Balaguer, Abbes García y otros. 

Ella y su padre son seres de ficción. La pluma astuta 

y precisa de Vargas Llosa nos presenta los muchos 

estragos de la dictadura de Trujillo, a través de los 

ojos inteligentes de una mujer atormentada. Vargas 

Llosa nos dibuja primero una Urania independiente, 

profesional exitosa en un mundo competitivo, 

misteriosa, inteligente, inalcanzable en su ser más 

profundo, una mujer lejana que guarda un abrumado 

y doloroso secreto, acaso un trauma infantil tan 

execrable como el incesto, o tal vez sufre por un 

amor imposible, quizás una enfermedad incurable. 

No lo sabemos, pero ese misterio y esa ambigüedad 

contribuyen a crear un clima de tensión dramática a 

lo largo de la obra, que azuza nuestra curiosidad, 

nos envuelve y estremece". 

"La Urania adulta rechazará todo tipo de relación 

sentimental en su vida. Sí, vivirá con esa limitación, 

con esa amputación de su sensualidad, y de su confianza 

hacia los hombres. A diferencia de la Yerma 

de García Lorca, que es rechazada por su marido, 

Urania será la que rechace a todo aquél que intente 

aproximarse a la orilla de sus afectos". 

"Urania es, entonces, la Ifigenia mitológica que 

estuvo a punto de ser inmolada para aplacar la ira 

de la diosa Artemisa. Ifigenia fue rescatada por la 

misma Artemisa en el altar de los sacrificios y reemplazada 

por un ciervo, o por un oso según otras versiones 

de origen ático. El sacrificio de Urania no se 

consumó tampoco, a ella la salvó la impotencia de 

Trujillo, el otrora macho cabrío, pero la arrojó 

despiadadamente a la furia de éste por haber sido 

testigo de su oprobio. Ifigenia supo lo que 

Agamenón, su padre, fue capaz de hacer, y Urania 

supo también a qué sórdidos extremos de servilismo 

había llegado Cabral. Así como Abraham, que para 

probar su amor incondicional a Dios, está dispuesto 

a sacrificar en holocausto a su unigénito hijo Isaac... 

Agustín Cabral, hundido en la desesperación, está 

decidido a hacer cualquier cosa para recobrar el 

favor del dictador Trujillo, incluso inmolar a su 

única hija, una niña de catorce años." 

Tomado de Urania en "La fiesta del chivo", 

de María Elvira Luna Escudero-Alie, 

Georgetown University. Versión original 

publicada en la Revista El Patio (La 

Revista de la Cultura Hispano-Guineana), 

No. 70, junio-julio 2000, Malabo, Guinea 

Ecuatorial. 

"[Urania] es un personaje basado en muchas experiencias 

concretas. De La fiesta del Chivo, lo que 

más me fascinó es la relación subjetiva que llega a 

establecerse entre el dictador y su pueblo. Esa 

especie de vasallaje espiritual, que va más allá de la 

simple servidumbre, por culpa de la coacción o el 

temor. Es el mundo de los caudillos militares, quizá 

lo que más se parece a una dictadura totalitaria. 

Llegan a controlar no sólo la esfera cívica, sino la 

familiar, la profesional" 

"Ésa es una de las hazañas de Trujillo: lograr tener 

ese control tan absoluto no sólo sobre las conductas, 

sino sobre las conciencias y hasta los sueños. 

Los padres llevaban a Trujillo a sus hijas, está completamente 

documentado. El secretario de Trujillo, 

que, dicho sea de paso, es una persona muy simpática, 

me contó que era un problema por la cantidad 

de padres que llevaban al generalísimo sus 

hijas. Era una manera de expresarle su admiración, 

y eso ocurría en los años cincuenta, no en la Edad 

Media. Es una de las cosas que me precipitó a tratar 

de entender ese fenómeno. Ni una sola de esas víctimas, 

y eso es interesante, de las que está comprobado 

que fueron sacrificadas, digamos, ha querido 

contarlo". 

"Urania es un personaje que yo inventé, es un personaje 

totalmente ficticio, porque muchas dominicanas 

vivieron traumas terribles de niñas, de adolescentes, 

parecidas a las de Urania. Entonces, es un 

personaje que de alguna manera es simbólico de lo 

que fue la condición de la mujer en esos años. . La 

mujer realmente fue, quizás, una de las peores víctimas 

de la dictadura.


Vargas Llosa’s Novel 

(cont.) 

Una dictadura que, además, estaba muy apoyada en 

la cultura del machismo, si se puede llamar cultura 

a esa forma de discriminación radical de la mujer." 

"Urania [es] una víctima de la dictadura y una de 

las víctimas, además, más terribles, porque es una 

víctima inocente, es una niña a la que jamás nadie 

le ha consultado sobre su destino, un destino que se 

decide brutalmente por razones políticas. Porque, 

cuando el padre acepta ofrecérsela a Trujillo en 

señal de fidelidad, de sacrificio de un cortesano, 

realmente destruye el futuro de esta niña. Entonces, 

eso es lo que yo quería que el personaje representara: 

lo que fue la situación de la mujer en un 

mundo en el que, además de un régimen autoritario, 

había una actitud frente a la mujer profundamente 

machista que, por supuesto, hacía de la 

mujer una víctima de un modo quizás más radical 

que el de los hombres que fueron víctimas también 

del régimen". 

Entrevista realizada por José Zepeda, 

Publicada en Internet cortesía de AOL 

Español y The Americas Society) 

About dictatorships and democracy 

"Las dictaduras reemplazan la razón por un sentimiento 

de otra índole, un sentimiento que es 

mucho más religioso que inteligente. Hay una adhesión 

personal a la figura del dictador que se justifica 

con argumentos racionales por supuesto, pero en 

realidad lo que se crea allí es un tipo de adhesión 

personal que llega a tener características religiosas. 

Todos los grandes dictadores, grandes caudillos, al 

final, se convierten en figuras casi semi-divinas, por 

la adulación, el servilismo que general el entorno, lo 

que además los va convirtiendo en unos verdaderos 

monstruos de vanidad, de egolatría". 

"La tradición más antigua de la Humanidad no es la 

democracia, es la dictadura. Son las satrapías, los 

regímenes construidos en torno a déspotas, a esos 

seres semi-divinos que parecen adquirir otra naturaleza, 

superior a la humana del común, por el 

poder que llegan a acumular. Desde luego, una de 

las características de la dictadura es ésa de abdicación 

de una sociedad, a veces entera, y a veces de 

una buena parte, frente al líder, al que se confía su 

libre albedrío, renuncia a toda forma de soberanía 

frente al dictador. Y ese fue, sin ninguna duda, el 

caso de Trujillo. Trujillo era temido por muchísimos 

dominicanos, pero fue inmensamente respetado 

y reverenciado." 

"Si un hombre queda exonerado de todo tipo de 

críticas, si vive en un mundo donde todo lo que 

hace es aplaudido, ovacionado, si vive en un estado 

de divinización permanente, al final llega a creerse 

un ser divino, un ser que está por encima de los 

demás, y no hay ninguna duda de que Trujillo se lo 

creyó. Hay testimonios fehacientes de que cualquier 

manifestación de oposición a su régimen, era un 

acto profundamente ingrato hacia alguien que había 

convertido a la República Dominicana en un país 

moderno, que había acabado con las luchas de 

caudillos regionales, que había construido carreteras, 

puesto la luz eléctrica, traído teléfonos a un 

país que no tenía nade de eso.. Entonces, ¿cómo 

podían hacerle eso a él? ¡Es una mentalidad típica 

de los dictadores!" 

Mario Vargas Llosa, entrevista realizada 

por José Zepeda. Publicada en 

Internet cortesía de AOL Español y The 

Americas Society. 

En general / In general 

"La vida sexual de los dictadores es muy rica en 

pormenores. Dictadores austeros sexualmente son 

pocos: Franco, Salazar y Hitler, quien da la impresión 

de que la pasión carnicera no le dejaba tiempo 

para la pasión sexual. Pero la mayor parte de los 

dictadores latinoamericanos, por efecto del machismo, 

han tenido un prontuario sexual muy abundante. 

No sólo era la búsqueda del placer, sino la 

afirmación de la virilidad. Coleccionar mujeres era 

una manera de afirmar su hombría, su poder, y de 

mantener el mito. 


Vargas Llosa’s Novel (cont.) 

El dictador no sólo es el fuerte; es el chivo, el gran 

fornicador. Es el macho cabrón. A Trujillo le decían 

El Chivo por eso. Ha sucedido con muchos dictadores. 

A Stalin le gustaba más el alcohol que las 

mujeres, pero digamos que le gustaba mucho fornicar. 

Y Mao: ahora se ha revelado cuánto le gustaban 

las niñas, que practicaba la ninfomanía de manera 

colectivista. Por eso es que el poder hay que 

limitarlo, reducirlo al mínimo, porque cuando a un 

ser humano se le da todo el poder, aparece la crueldad". 

Mario Vargas Llosa, en entrevista 

realizada por Sol Alameda, "El imperio del 

miedo" publicada en El País, España, 

8 de marzo 2000 

"La libertad de expresión es la principal de las conquistas. 

Una sociedad sin libertad de expresión está 

condenada a ser corrompida y maltratada por el 

poder". 

Mario Vargas Llosa, Conversa torio 

electrónico en AOL el 26 de febrero de 

2002 

"[Vargas Llosa possesses] an ambition worthy of 

Balzac, Dickens and Galdós, but with a technical 

skill that brings him closer to the heirs of Flaubert 

and Henry James." 

Suzanne Jill Levine, The New York 

Times Book Review 

"Most of the characters are taken from life, and Mr. 

Vargas Llosa has captured the dictator and his supporters 

so well that the book has caused scandal 

and embarrassment in Santo Domingo. Although 

he is not a fine stylist, few writers can match Mr. 

Vargas Llosa for storytelling. His words serve the 

unfolding plot." 

The Economist, 2000 

"(H)is Trujillo is not some Rabelaisian monster, 

some demi-god of brutality sprung fully-blown from 

the Latin American psyche, but a human grown 

monstrous with the accumulation of power and its 

brutal applications. It is in this critical difference 

that Vargas Llosa's psychological astuteness reveals 

itself – as well as in the depiction of how terror, 

once unleashed, slithers through the body politic 

gradually to eviscerate all its members." 

2000 

Lisa Appignanesi, The Independent, 

"Still, laborious as it seems in the beginning, this 

difficult structure pays off extremely well in the second 

half of the book (....) What we are brought to 

see at the end of this novel is the ultimate horror of 

the Trujillo regime: Not so much that he raped 

people's daughters but that his power was so total 

and pervasive that he could get people to cooperate, 

voluntarily, in the raping of their own daughters." 

Madison Smartt Bell, The Los 

Angeles Times, 2000 

"La fiesta del Chivo es algo más que los últimos días 

de Rafael Leonidas Trujillo; es una historia de 

desamor. De una niña, Urania, que es conducida al 

altar de los sacrificios de la tiranía, en la más absoluta 

inocencia. Urania es el símbolo de todas las 

víctimas que han padecido la prepotencia de las 

botas y las pistolas en una región donde la democracia 

no ha sido moneda corriente" 

José Zepeda, "La fiesta del chivo. La 

fiesta de la palabra". 

"... la controversia en torno a la novela se debe a 

que la obra es un retrato sumamente duro de una 

época muy difícil en la que la vida y la palabra estaban 

totalmente polarizadas... porque no había un 

rincón de la existencia social donde los símbolos 

opresivos de ese poder no estuvieran presentes... la 

novela refleja esa situación con mucha crudeza". 

Andrés L. Mateo, autor, en 

entrevista a la AP, citado en El Comercio, 

Perú, 6 de abril 2000.

Study guide 

Suggested Readings 

Cambeira, Alan. Quisqueya La Bella: The 

Dominican Republic in Historical and 

Cultural Perspective. M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1997 

Ferguson, James. Dominican Republic: Beacon of 

Despair. NACLA (North American 

Congress on Latin America Journal) Report on the 

Americas, Vol. XXIV, 1990 

Hartlyn, Jonathan. The Struggle for Democratic 

Politics in the Dominican Republic. University of 

North Carolina Press, 1998 

Hernández, Ramona and Silvio Torres-Saillant. The 

Dominican Americans. Greenwood 

Press, 1998. 

Levine, Barry B. The Caribbean Exodus. New York: 

Praeger Publishers, 1987 

Ornés, Fermán E. Trujillo: Little Caesar of the 

Caribbean. Nelson, 1958 

Roorda, Eric Paul. The Dictator Next Door. The 

Good Neighbor Policy and the Trujillo 

Regime in the Dominican Republic, 1930-1945. 

Durham: Duke University Press, 

1998 

Schoomaker, Herbert G. Military Crisis 

Management: United States Intervention in the 

Dominican Republic, 1965. Greenwood Press, 1009 

Wiarda, Howatd J. and Kryzanek, Michael J., The 

Dominican Republic, a Caribbean 

Crucible, Westview Press, 1992 


"TÚ TAMBIÉN PIENSAS QUE ACAPARO FINCAS Y NEGOCIOS POR 

ESPÍRITU DE LUCRO. SI ESAS EMPRESAS NO FUERAN DE LA 

FAMILIA TRUJILLO, ESOS PUESTOS DE TRABAJO NO EXISTIRÍAN. 

Y LA REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA SERÍA EL PAISITO AFRICANO QUE 

ERA CUANDO ME LO ECHÉ AL HOMBRO". 

Jorge Alí Triana (left) giving directions to Actors, 

Ricardo Barber, Anilú Pardo and Alejandra Orozco during 

rehearsal process of production of “La Fiesta del Chivo” 

at Repertorio Español. February 2003. 

Photo by Michael Palma 

René Sánchez rehearsing backstage for his role of Henry 

Chirinos in the production of “La Fiesta del Chivo” at 

Repertorio Español. February 2003. 

Photo courtesy of El Comercio, Perú.

La Fiesta del Chivo

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