Intervention in Dominican Republic
protects profits of U.S. monopolies |

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FA PRINCE DOMINICAN REP.
mews Gaye gfetonee tannic

The following article, slightly
abridged, is by a leading U.S. eco-
nomist.In his article he describes
the major U.S. monopolies which
have been operating for years in the
Dominican Republic, and who have

conspired to prevent democracy
from coming to the Island Republic.

By VICTOR PERLO

General Smedley D., Butler
said, “I brought light to the Dom-
inican Republic for American
sugar interests in 1916” and-his
suctessors are doing the same a
half century later.

Then the Marines acted openly
as collection agents for Wall
Street bankers, unable to get all
the. super-profits of U.S, sugar
companies and repayments on
usurious loans out of the poverty
stricken country,

That U.S. occupation lasted 18
years, Marine Col, Richard M,
Cutts trained the “gorilla” Tru-
jillo and arranged for him to.
*seize power” in 1930. Trujillo
established a U.S.-supplied local
armed force, capable of sup-
pressing the people, before the
Marines left in 1934, During his

rule. tens of millions of *back
debits” were paid the U.S,
bankers,

The Commerce Department
published an incomplete estimate

of U.S. investments in the Dom-
inican Republic of $108 million
in 1962, . The figure of $250
million given by Dominican offi-
cials in 1961 is more realistic,

The South Puerto Rico Sugar
Co, is the largest U.S. investor
there. Despite its name, two-
thirds of its sugar comes from
the Dominican Republican, one-
third from Purerto Rico (aside
from a new acquisition of Florida
cane,) Since the Cuban revolu-
tion, this company is the sole
remaining really large U.S,
owner of sugar plantations out-
side U.S, territory.

Next in importance is Mellon’s
Aluminum Corp, of America,
Supplementing its supplies from
Surinam, Alcoa opened a bauxite
mine in the Dominican Republic
in 1959, and obtained 852,000
tons from it in 1963,

The United Fruit Co, has 2,366
acres of banana lands there, a
small amount for that company,
But recently it contracted to build
a railroad and port so as to
expand its investment,

The First National City Bank,
chief Wall Street collection agent
during the first round of Carib-
bean invasions, has a branch in

v eabensainatabetieiltic’ 2

“Every night when I turn out the lights to sleep, I ask my-
self: Have I done everything I could to bring peace to this

world?” — LBJ

Santo Domingo, There arelesser
investments in hotels, breweries,
and other enterprises often nom-
inally owned by Dominicans,

N.Y. Times correspondent Tad.
Szule wrote from Santo Domingo.
of the “legion of carpetbaggers
who descended on this city from
the U.S. after the overthrow of
Trujillo in 1961,” (9/2/62).

The Marines and Trujillo made
eastern Hispaniola one of. the
happiest hunting grounds for U.S,
corporate giants, Commerce De-
partment statistics for 1955 show
employees of U.S, companies in
the Dominican Republic receiving
lower wages than in any other
Latin American country for which
separate figures are shown and
less than one-third the average
for the entire area,

After the assassination of Tru-
jillo, Dominican workers organ-
ized and gained some improve-
ments, Sugar workers fought
bitterly against company thugs
and local armed forces, Their
bargaining power increased when
the post-Trujillo regime banned
import of Haitian field workers,
who had been used to beat down
wages,

In 1962 the South Puerto Rico
Sugar Co, complained of many
strikes among its 20,000 peak-
season workers, Strikes and
stoppages alternated with nego-
tiations from December, 1962,
to August, 1963, when a two-
year contract was signed, retro-
active to January 1,

It provided for a 30% wages
increase and other benefits, The
company complained toits stock-
holders about a supposed 100%
rise in labor costs, despite a
continuing rise in its profits,

The state of affairs where
workers could organize and gain
improvements over adollara day
wages, galled the U.S. sugar and
bauxite chiefs, The U.S, Navy
kept vessels offshore, ready to
intervene momentarily should the
revolution take too progressive
a turn, U.S. military missions
“beefed up” the armed forces
and gave them anti-Communist
and anti-labor indoctrination
lessons,

In November 1963, the N.Y.
World- Telegram reported on
Washington’ s dissatisfaction,

‘printed its extravagant charges
against President Bosch and al-
leged “Castroite” influence, and
predicted the Bosch regime “may
not survive the year, Sugar pro-
duction, backbone of the economy,
is down sharply, Consequently,
dollar earnings this year will
drop sharply, Economic analysts
point to labor unrest — some
Communist-inspired — and mis-
management at the huge govern-
ment-owned sugar complex as the
main reasons for the production
plunge,” (11/23/63.)

Almost immediately after-
wards a gorilla coup deposed
Bosch, Then the U.S, sugar
“eompany attacked the workers,
and succeeded in revoking some
earlier concessions.

Doubtless the resentment of the
workers against the wage- cutting

Rockefeller groups’ Corn Pro-

MARINE GENERAL SAYS: :
‘| was a muscle ma
for big business’

By GEN. SMEDLEY D. BUTLER a
“(Quoted from ‘‘War Is a Racket” written by the late Marine Corps genet i
“TI spent 33 years and four months of active service
a member of our country’s most agile military force —!
Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from?
2nd Lieutenant to Major General. And during the period
I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle mal fot
Big Business, for
j Street, and for the
ers. I was a racketeer
capitalism ...

fot |

Tampico safe for Ame
can oil interests in 194
I helped make Haiti a™ |
Cuba a decent place { |
the National City f
boys to collect revenu®
in... I helped purify Ni
caragua for the inter’

tional banking house © |
Brown Bros. in 1909”
1912. ‘

“I brought light to th?
Dominican Republic { |
American sugar interes G
in 1916. I helped make Honduras ‘right’ for American frat ‘
companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped to see to}
that Standard Oil went its way unmolested .. .

GEN. BUTLER

“Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Co |
pone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate” |
racket in three city districts. We Marines operate ot
three continents!”

‘
committee, The company’s? f

firm is headed by ex-gov. TRON
EK, Dewey, life-time political 4
vant of the Rockefellers. cha
Manhattan, of course is the tran t
fer and dividend paying 2

U.S. companies contributed to the
revolutionary upsurge that threw
out the militarists before the
newest U.S, invasion,

While not among the corporate
giants, the South Puerto Rican
Sugar Co, is a significant unit
in the group of extremely profit-
able sugar companies, tied in with
shipping and banking interests,
owned by top Wall Street families,
and generally dominated by the
very aggressive Rockefeller in-
terests,

Of course, direct profit oppor, a
tunities are not the exclu
motivation for the U.S, invasioN
In such cases there is alw@
a mixture of economic, milital?
and political considerations. —

The Pentagon maintail® ; rt
guided missile tracking station? 4
Sabana de la Mar in the SoU 4
eastern part of the country:*)
its present invasion is, in eff@??
an attempt to adda more comP
hensive base to its Caribb
network,

President G,D, Debevoise was
formerly with J.P, Morgan and
Co, Other members of the exec-
utive committee include Alfred
W, Barth, head of the overseas
department of Chase Manhattan
Bank; Edward M, Carey, a di-
rector of the Rockefellers’ Com-
monwealth Oil Refining Co,
(Puerto Rico); and James A,
Moffett 2nd, Standard Oil heir
and retired president of the

Finally, by flaunting thee
power and ruthlessness, the ‘te
imperialists wish to inti
all the peoples of Latin Ameri@’ |
and other continents as well as
that they will fear to resist
drive for world conquest W
the Johnson administratio®

Standard Oil heir F, R, Pratt so blatantly and recklessly —
is chairman of the stock option vivified, ey)

6-2

May 14, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Pag

ducts Corp,