In The Time Of The Butterflies Summary
In the Time of the Butterflies
Julia Alvarez
Published by Plume, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.
1994
325 Pages
Although it is a novel of fiction, the historical facts that are mentioned in the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez, come alive through the lens of four courageous sisters pushing reformations for all. Living as a prosperous farming family in the city of Ojo de Agua in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1960, the Mirabal family was privileged enough to have four strong-headed daughters named Maria Theresa, Minerva, Patria, and Dede. The sisters were lucky enough to be given an excellent education from attending the Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion, or the school …show more content…
of the Immaculate Conception. From the prestigious education, each opinionated woman had ambitious priorities to make a difference in the history of the Dominican Republic. The Mirabal sisters joined the underground movement against Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina’s regime, respectively referred to as “Trujillo” in the novel, under the code name of “Las Mariposas,” or the Butterflies, in order to restore a democracy and bring about more liberty for the peoples of the Dominican Republic. Julia Alvarez wrote this novel because she too was affected by the dictatorship of Trujillo. Alvarez embarked on a mission to retrieve as much information as she could about the regime of Trujillo, the background influences of the Mirabal sisters that compelled them to attempt the reforms that they did, which was mainly the Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion. Julia Alvarez also referenced greatly the actual lives of the Mirabal sisters to allow readers to follow their lives as if each thought or quote or action was recorded in a diary. From the way that Alvarez told the story, she stressed that all of the’ happenings in this novel were a large part of “la historia de la Republica de Dominicana, or the history of the Dominican Republic. Alvarez also briefly mentioned the man that started the economy’s downfall, who was named President Horacio Vasquez, leading to the dictatorship of Trujillo. When deeply considering the depths that this story went to, Alvarez would not have had the chance to tell a courageous tale of four ambitious sisters hoping to better the lives of their children and even begin a women’s’ rights campaign called the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.” Julia Alvarez’s main purpose of this novel was not to just write a random fiction story with made up characters and events, but to make a point about the power of women, how one action can literally cause a chain reaction, and creatively relive the thoughts and actions that motivated each “historical” figure to act as she or he did. Just as Julia Alvarez began her research, the history behind the Dominican Republic was represented in an accurate, but one-sided way. The Dominican Republic’s decline in rule of the economy began with the wrong choices of one man and ended with the assassination of another. Ex-president Horacio Vasquez was curiously stripped of his presidency position from the interference of Trujillo. Vasquez was the product of fighting within the country and he invalidated some laws that he had previously agreed with, therefore making him a liar for changing his outlook. At that time, Trujillo was quickly making his way up higher and higher in rank in the army until he was one below the President’s command. The novel briefly mentioned the presidency of Vasquez to show the questionable transition that “Trujillo announced he was the president [once] the old president was the ex-president on an airplane to Puerto Rico [unknowing of how his position was stripped from him]” (Alvarez 18). “According to Sinita, Trujillo became president in a sneaky way. First, he was in the army, and all the people who were above him kept disappearing until he was the one right below the head of the whole armed forces” (Alvarez 17). This quote is very true because Trujillo was a general in the army and “[a]fter Trujillo became head of the army, he got to talking to some people who didn’t like the old president. One night, these people surrounded the palace and told the old president [Horacio Vasquez] that he had to leave [the Dominican Republic]. The old president just laughed and sent for his good friend, the head of the armed forces. But General Trujillo didn’t come and didn’t come. Soon, the old president was the ex-president on an airplane to Puerto Rico. Then, something that surprised even the people who had surrounded the palace, Trujillo announced he was the president” (Alvarez 18). Already from the rule of ex-president Horacio Vasquez the economy of the Dominican Republic had begun to greatly decline and the replacement of Trujillo only began an even greater decline in the respect and trust of the peoples whom he was to govern over. Over the next thirty years, the dictatorship of a once humble man ran the native people out of the country, caused Dominicans to resent the government, but managed to increase the economical stance of the Dominican Republic. Although poverty persisted, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, nicknamed “El Jefe” in the novel, managed to eliminate foreign debt, expanded the economy, improved conditions for the middle class, and stabled the currency. Yes, that is contradictory, but also relevant because he was a conceited man with an irresistible charisma, or as he thought, however the novel did not relish on Trujillo’s reforms seeing how they were irrelevant to the views of the Underground Movement. In October 1937, Trujillo ordered the massacre of Haitians, in the Dominican Republic, living in retaliation against Trujillo’s regime to exile from the country and to be executed by the Haitian government, which slaughtered as many as 20,000 unarmed men, women, and children. The mass execution and exile of Haitians marked the downfall of Trujillo’s regime that started off as “[o]ne day, the general told Trujillo he was going to be meeting this woman that very night under the bridge in Santiago where people meet to do bad things. So Trujillo went and told the husband, who waited under the bridge for his wife and this general and shot them both dead” (Alvarez 18). A frightfully true warning given by Sinita, a young girl that Minerva had met upon entrance into Inmaculada Concepcion, was that “[p]eople who opened their big mouths didn’t live very long [because,] [l]ike [her] uncles [she] told [Minerva] about[,] two more uncles [were killed], and then [her] father [and] [t]hen [over the past] summer, they killed [her] brother” (Alvarez 18). The quote in relation to actual facts is very realistic because Trujillo sought out to kill all of those whom disobeyed his law and for those that did not, were unmercifully slaughtered by a monopoly of secret spies, called the “SIM” or the “Serivicio de Inteligencia Militar” in Spanish and the “Military Intelligence Service” in English, which he had created to help keep a watchful eye over his country. All of the previous information was mentioned in the novel and according to any research that can be done, it is factitiously correct, as it was found in the research needed for this analysis. Trujillo’s regime began during the times when the sisters were just entering the school, and the school, in reference to the above quotes, may have helped to influence the thoughts and actions of the Mirabal sisters. On to the main characters of the novel, the Mirabal sisters, had a very well-educated, fully-supported, religious background that may have helped to influence their thoughts and actions. All of the Mirabal sisters attended the Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion in La Vega and spent all of their younger years receiving a powerful education. While in the school, the regime of Trujillo was happening around them, and their hatred for him began growing while each of them (as well as everyone else) had to follow Trujillo’s communist-like demands. The novel never elaborated on the views of the nuns that lived and taught at the convent, but the sisters proceeded to meet secretly and find out about Trujillo’s happenings, even though it was against every rule of the school. “It turns out she and Elsa and Lourdes and Sinita have been going to some secret meetings over at Don Horacio’s house! Don Horacio is Elsa’s grandfather who is in trouble with the police because he wont do things he’s supposed to, like hang a picture of our president in his house” (Alvarez 39). The physical school does not directly influence the sisters’ actions but it is the occurrences within it and around it, along with the interchanges between meetings such as these, which motivate the girls to act as they do. Inmaculada Concepcion motivated the girls to act with respect and dignity when faced with Trujillo, but could keep their own opinions between themselves and God. The school was a passageway for the girls to be able to become a part of the underground movement and work towards governmental reforms under the code name of “La Mariposas,” or the Butterflies. The Mirabal sisters also each had influences outside of Inmaculada Concepcion. Patricia Mercedes Mirabal was interested by art and painting and the root of her name “Patria” meant fatherland, which gave her a closer connection with her sister Minerva to opposing Trujillo. Minerva Argentina Mirabal showed signs of great intelligence at the age of seven because she could recite the verses of French poets, but she, too appreciated and enjoyed art, especially that of Pablo Picasso. However, Minerva had a true calling for writing and reading poetry. Minerva was also influenced by her uncle and had made many friends at Inmaculada Concepcion whose relatives had been captured or killed by Trujillo’s spies. The youngest sister, Maria Teresa Mirabal enjoyed mathematics and solving problems, but was also interested in the opinions of her older sister, Patricia, and decided to follow her and take part in her actions. The reformation process for the Mirabal sisters began with an underground movement, called the 14th June Movement, which networked those who were against the Trujillo regime. The movement was lead by Minerva’s husband, Manola. The Mirabal sisters navigated through the movement passing on information and handing out pamphlets of the dictatorship of Trujillo under the code name “La Mariposas.” The information that the sisters continued to relay eventually got passed on beyond the underground to the SIM, or the secret spies of Trujillo, landing them and their husbands in jail many times. Out of all the sisters, Minerva had the strongest hatred for Trujillo, especially because she studied law and politics. Minerva created the name “La Mariposa” because she was the first one to become involved with the underground movement. One specified date of the imprisonment of two of the sisters was on January 20, 1960, when Maria Teresa and Minerva were both taken to La Cuarenta, or La 40, which was a very revolting torture prison. When Trujillo’s spies discovered the movement, they imprisoned over one hundred members, including men and women. Eventually, Trujillo was kind enough to release all women in the hope of gaining popularity amongst the women; however, he kept the husbands of the Butterflies under close guard and locked up in La 40. All of the researched information is very relevant and apparent in the novel, making for a more realistic setting and adding to the drama. Unfortunately, the novel ended with a heart-breaking resolution that devastated many all over. On November 25, 1960, Trujillo’s spies clubbed three of the four Mirabal sisters to death while they were on a ride up the mountain to visit their husbands in prison. The spies made the murder scene look as if the sisters flew off the road over the side of the mountain and rolled down to the bottom. The murders of the sisters were later followed by the assassination of Trujillo on May 30, 1961, in Santo Domingo. The novel of course ended at this point, and Dede, the only remaining Mirabal sister was left saying “it’s me, Dede, it’s me, the one who survived to tell the story,” to express her remorse and shock and disbelief that the tragedy had even ceased to occur, but Dede did not consider it a tragedy because she focused on all of the beneficial reformations that her sisters had to die martyrs for (Alvarez 321). Dede was proud of all of the accomplishments of her sisters and was left reflecting on all of the good times they shared together to make their family proud and for the sisters to go down as legendary heroines. Dede was proud to be a part of her sisters’ hearts and share the same blood that bound them together. As a concluding result of the murders and assassination of La Mariposas and Trujillo, the United Nations General Assembly established on December 17, 1999, that November 25 was to be the day of celebration called the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women” in honor of the efforts of “La Mariposas” throughout Latin America.
Not only were the sisters influenced, but the sisters became influential legends themselves to women, and men, all across Latin America hoping to make efforts for women to live with more benefits and less restrictions. In addition, the sisters’ reforms were of allowing free elections, putting bad presidents into their respective places (out of office), enabling Free Zones to go up everywhere, and kicked off the prosperity of the country with the building of clubs and resorts (Alvarez …show more content…
318). The novel, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is one of great inspiration for women all over dreaming of making a difference to better life for the generations to continue after them.
In the historical references located at the end of the novel titled “The Postscripts,” Julia Alvarez explained in detail that although she had extensively researched the Mirabal sisters and the regime of Trujillo, some of the characters and dates were changed in an attempt to make the readers mind travel into what it could have been like to someone who was not there (Alvarez 323-324). Alvarez was the speaker behind the sisters, therefore she was their interpreter, their voice, she did not have enough accurate information to write a biography, and therefore she added fictitious elements to liven their spirits. The spirits of the Patricia, Maria Theresa, and Minerva will always be remembered by many because of their tremendous efforts to resist Trujillo’s regime and to restore a democracy that would enable many more liberties amongst the Dominicans.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Julia. IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, New York City, © 1994 and Plume, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Books, USA, © 1995. By permission of Susan Bergholz Literary Services, New York City and Lamy, NM. All rights reserved.
"Bienvenida | Colegio Inmaculada Concepcion." Bienvenida. Colegio Inmaculada Concepcion,
2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
De Miguel, Veronique. "Las Mariposas Mirabal: Four Latinas Who Changed History." Mamiverse. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
Encyclopedia of World Biography SECOND EDITION, STUDI-VISSER, Vol. 15. Pages 313-314, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina.
"Eradication of Violence, Violence, Humanitarian Affairs." UN News Center. UN, 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
"Mirabal Sisters of the Dominican Republic." The Real Dominican Republic. The RealDR.com, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
"The Assassins." The Assassins. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2013. .
United States. Library of Congress. Country Studies. Dominican Republic The Era of Trujillo. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Library of Congress Country Studies. Offices of the General Customs Receivership, Dec. 1989. Web. 24 Jan. 2013.
Julia Alvarez
Published by Plume, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.
1994
325 Pages
Although it is a novel of fiction, the historical facts that are mentioned in the novel, In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez, come alive through the lens of four courageous sisters pushing reformations for all. Living as a prosperous farming family in the city of Ojo de Agua in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1960, the Mirabal family was privileged enough to have four strong-headed daughters named Maria Theresa, Minerva, Patria, and Dede. The sisters were lucky enough to be given an excellent education from attending the Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion, or the school …show more content…
of the Immaculate Conception. From the prestigious education, each opinionated woman had ambitious priorities to make a difference in the history of the Dominican Republic. The Mirabal sisters joined the underground movement against Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina’s regime, respectively referred to as “Trujillo” in the novel, under the code name of “Las Mariposas,” or the Butterflies, in order to restore a democracy and bring about more liberty for the peoples of the Dominican Republic. Julia Alvarez wrote this novel because she too was affected by the dictatorship of Trujillo. Alvarez embarked on a mission to retrieve as much information as she could about the regime of Trujillo, the background influences of the Mirabal sisters that compelled them to attempt the reforms that they did, which was mainly the Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion. Julia Alvarez also referenced greatly the actual lives of the Mirabal sisters to allow readers to follow their lives as if each thought or quote or action was recorded in a diary. From the way that Alvarez told the story, she stressed that all of the’ happenings in this novel were a large part of “la historia de la Republica de Dominicana, or the history of the Dominican Republic. Alvarez also briefly mentioned the man that started the economy’s downfall, who was named President Horacio Vasquez, leading to the dictatorship of Trujillo. When deeply considering the depths that this story went to, Alvarez would not have had the chance to tell a courageous tale of four ambitious sisters hoping to better the lives of their children and even begin a women’s’ rights campaign called the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.” Julia Alvarez’s main purpose of this novel was not to just write a random fiction story with made up characters and events, but to make a point about the power of women, how one action can literally cause a chain reaction, and creatively relive the thoughts and actions that motivated each “historical” figure to act as she or he did. Just as Julia Alvarez began her research, the history behind the Dominican Republic was represented in an accurate, but one-sided way. The Dominican Republic’s decline in rule of the economy began with the wrong choices of one man and ended with the assassination of another. Ex-president Horacio Vasquez was curiously stripped of his presidency position from the interference of Trujillo. Vasquez was the product of fighting within the country and he invalidated some laws that he had previously agreed with, therefore making him a liar for changing his outlook. At that time, Trujillo was quickly making his way up higher and higher in rank in the army until he was one below the President’s command. The novel briefly mentioned the presidency of Vasquez to show the questionable transition that “Trujillo announced he was the president [once] the old president was the ex-president on an airplane to Puerto Rico [unknowing of how his position was stripped from him]” (Alvarez 18). “According to Sinita, Trujillo became president in a sneaky way. First, he was in the army, and all the people who were above him kept disappearing until he was the one right below the head of the whole armed forces” (Alvarez 17). This quote is very true because Trujillo was a general in the army and “[a]fter Trujillo became head of the army, he got to talking to some people who didn’t like the old president. One night, these people surrounded the palace and told the old president [Horacio Vasquez] that he had to leave [the Dominican Republic]. The old president just laughed and sent for his good friend, the head of the armed forces. But General Trujillo didn’t come and didn’t come. Soon, the old president was the ex-president on an airplane to Puerto Rico. Then, something that surprised even the people who had surrounded the palace, Trujillo announced he was the president” (Alvarez 18). Already from the rule of ex-president Horacio Vasquez the economy of the Dominican Republic had begun to greatly decline and the replacement of Trujillo only began an even greater decline in the respect and trust of the peoples whom he was to govern over. Over the next thirty years, the dictatorship of a once humble man ran the native people out of the country, caused Dominicans to resent the government, but managed to increase the economical stance of the Dominican Republic. Although poverty persisted, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, nicknamed “El Jefe” in the novel, managed to eliminate foreign debt, expanded the economy, improved conditions for the middle class, and stabled the currency. Yes, that is contradictory, but also relevant because he was a conceited man with an irresistible charisma, or as he thought, however the novel did not relish on Trujillo’s reforms seeing how they were irrelevant to the views of the Underground Movement. In October 1937, Trujillo ordered the massacre of Haitians, in the Dominican Republic, living in retaliation against Trujillo’s regime to exile from the country and to be executed by the Haitian government, which slaughtered as many as 20,000 unarmed men, women, and children. The mass execution and exile of Haitians marked the downfall of Trujillo’s regime that started off as “[o]ne day, the general told Trujillo he was going to be meeting this woman that very night under the bridge in Santiago where people meet to do bad things. So Trujillo went and told the husband, who waited under the bridge for his wife and this general and shot them both dead” (Alvarez 18). A frightfully true warning given by Sinita, a young girl that Minerva had met upon entrance into Inmaculada Concepcion, was that “[p]eople who opened their big mouths didn’t live very long [because,] [l]ike [her] uncles [she] told [Minerva] about[,] two more uncles [were killed], and then [her] father [and] [t]hen [over the past] summer, they killed [her] brother” (Alvarez 18). The quote in relation to actual facts is very realistic because Trujillo sought out to kill all of those whom disobeyed his law and for those that did not, were unmercifully slaughtered by a monopoly of secret spies, called the “SIM” or the “Serivicio de Inteligencia Militar” in Spanish and the “Military Intelligence Service” in English, which he had created to help keep a watchful eye over his country. All of the previous information was mentioned in the novel and according to any research that can be done, it is factitiously correct, as it was found in the research needed for this analysis. Trujillo’s regime began during the times when the sisters were just entering the school, and the school, in reference to the above quotes, may have helped to influence the thoughts and actions of the Mirabal sisters. On to the main characters of the novel, the Mirabal sisters, had a very well-educated, fully-supported, religious background that may have helped to influence their thoughts and actions. All of the Mirabal sisters attended the Colegio de Inmaculada Concepcion in La Vega and spent all of their younger years receiving a powerful education. While in the school, the regime of Trujillo was happening around them, and their hatred for him began growing while each of them (as well as everyone else) had to follow Trujillo’s communist-like demands. The novel never elaborated on the views of the nuns that lived and taught at the convent, but the sisters proceeded to meet secretly and find out about Trujillo’s happenings, even though it was against every rule of the school. “It turns out she and Elsa and Lourdes and Sinita have been going to some secret meetings over at Don Horacio’s house! Don Horacio is Elsa’s grandfather who is in trouble with the police because he wont do things he’s supposed to, like hang a picture of our president in his house” (Alvarez 39). The physical school does not directly influence the sisters’ actions but it is the occurrences within it and around it, along with the interchanges between meetings such as these, which motivate the girls to act as they do. Inmaculada Concepcion motivated the girls to act with respect and dignity when faced with Trujillo, but could keep their own opinions between themselves and God. The school was a passageway for the girls to be able to become a part of the underground movement and work towards governmental reforms under the code name of “La Mariposas,” or the Butterflies. The Mirabal sisters also each had influences outside of Inmaculada Concepcion. Patricia Mercedes Mirabal was interested by art and painting and the root of her name “Patria” meant fatherland, which gave her a closer connection with her sister Minerva to opposing Trujillo. Minerva Argentina Mirabal showed signs of great intelligence at the age of seven because she could recite the verses of French poets, but she, too appreciated and enjoyed art, especially that of Pablo Picasso. However, Minerva had a true calling for writing and reading poetry. Minerva was also influenced by her uncle and had made many friends at Inmaculada Concepcion whose relatives had been captured or killed by Trujillo’s spies. The youngest sister, Maria Teresa Mirabal enjoyed mathematics and solving problems, but was also interested in the opinions of her older sister, Patricia, and decided to follow her and take part in her actions. The reformation process for the Mirabal sisters began with an underground movement, called the 14th June Movement, which networked those who were against the Trujillo regime. The movement was lead by Minerva’s husband, Manola. The Mirabal sisters navigated through the movement passing on information and handing out pamphlets of the dictatorship of Trujillo under the code name “La Mariposas.” The information that the sisters continued to relay eventually got passed on beyond the underground to the SIM, or the secret spies of Trujillo, landing them and their husbands in jail many times. Out of all the sisters, Minerva had the strongest hatred for Trujillo, especially because she studied law and politics. Minerva created the name “La Mariposa” because she was the first one to become involved with the underground movement. One specified date of the imprisonment of two of the sisters was on January 20, 1960, when Maria Teresa and Minerva were both taken to La Cuarenta, or La 40, which was a very revolting torture prison. When Trujillo’s spies discovered the movement, they imprisoned over one hundred members, including men and women. Eventually, Trujillo was kind enough to release all women in the hope of gaining popularity amongst the women; however, he kept the husbands of the Butterflies under close guard and locked up in La 40. All of the researched information is very relevant and apparent in the novel, making for a more realistic setting and adding to the drama. Unfortunately, the novel ended with a heart-breaking resolution that devastated many all over. On November 25, 1960, Trujillo’s spies clubbed three of the four Mirabal sisters to death while they were on a ride up the mountain to visit their husbands in prison. The spies made the murder scene look as if the sisters flew off the road over the side of the mountain and rolled down to the bottom. The murders of the sisters were later followed by the assassination of Trujillo on May 30, 1961, in Santo Domingo. The novel of course ended at this point, and Dede, the only remaining Mirabal sister was left saying “it’s me, Dede, it’s me, the one who survived to tell the story,” to express her remorse and shock and disbelief that the tragedy had even ceased to occur, but Dede did not consider it a tragedy because she focused on all of the beneficial reformations that her sisters had to die martyrs for (Alvarez 321). Dede was proud of all of the accomplishments of her sisters and was left reflecting on all of the good times they shared together to make their family proud and for the sisters to go down as legendary heroines. Dede was proud to be a part of her sisters’ hearts and share the same blood that bound them together. As a concluding result of the murders and assassination of La Mariposas and Trujillo, the United Nations General Assembly established on December 17, 1999, that November 25 was to be the day of celebration called the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women” in honor of the efforts of “La Mariposas” throughout Latin America.
Not only were the sisters influenced, but the sisters became influential legends themselves to women, and men, all across Latin America hoping to make efforts for women to live with more benefits and less restrictions. In addition, the sisters’ reforms were of allowing free elections, putting bad presidents into their respective places (out of office), enabling Free Zones to go up everywhere, and kicked off the prosperity of the country with the building of clubs and resorts (Alvarez …show more content…
318). The novel, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is one of great inspiration for women all over dreaming of making a difference to better life for the generations to continue after them.
In the historical references located at the end of the novel titled “The Postscripts,” Julia Alvarez explained in detail that although she had extensively researched the Mirabal sisters and the regime of Trujillo, some of the characters and dates were changed in an attempt to make the readers mind travel into what it could have been like to someone who was not there (Alvarez 323-324). Alvarez was the speaker behind the sisters, therefore she was their interpreter, their voice, she did not have enough accurate information to write a biography, and therefore she added fictitious elements to liven their spirits. The spirits of the Patricia, Maria Theresa, and Minerva will always be remembered by many because of their tremendous efforts to resist Trujillo’s regime and to restore a democracy that would enable many more liberties amongst the Dominicans.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Julia. IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, New York City, © 1994 and Plume, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Books, USA, © 1995. By permission of Susan Bergholz Literary Services, New York City and Lamy, NM. All rights reserved.
"Bienvenida | Colegio Inmaculada Concepcion." Bienvenida. Colegio Inmaculada Concepcion,
2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
De Miguel, Veronique. "Las Mariposas Mirabal: Four Latinas Who Changed History." Mamiverse. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
Encyclopedia of World Biography SECOND EDITION, STUDI-VISSER, Vol. 15. Pages 313-314, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina.
"Eradication of Violence, Violence, Humanitarian Affairs." UN News Center. UN, 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
"Mirabal Sisters of the Dominican Republic." The Real Dominican Republic. The RealDR.com, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.
"The Assassins." The Assassins. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2013. .
United States. Library of Congress. Country Studies. Dominican Republic The Era of Trujillo. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Library of Congress Country Studies. Offices of the General Customs Receivership, Dec. 1989. Web. 24 Jan. 2013.