Trujillo: The Death of the Goat
Bernard DiederichOn May 30, 1961, a hail of bullets ended the life of Generalissimo
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, known to his countrymen as "The
Goat" for his many revolting excesses, after thirty-one years of
brutal rule over the Dominican Republic. This book is a riveting,
minute-by-minute account of the plot to kill Trujillo, who was then the Western
Hemisphere's most ruthless dictator, and the ferocious wave of revenge that
ensued before his regime collapsed. The book also reveals the vacillating role
of the United States -- and the CIA -- in first propping up the dictator, and
then supplying weapons to slay him. Bernard Diederich knew most of those
involved in the plot, and painstakingly recreates the events in a gripping book
that reads like a novel, which also offers essential insights into the history
of a troubled Caribbean nation.