Antonio Imbert Barrera

Imbert, who plotted to assassinate dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961, was one of the two rival rulers in the Dominican Republic from May 7, 1965, until August 30, 1965, amid the Dominican Civil War. He had succeeded General Pedro B. Benoit van der Horst who ruled for less than a week. After the civil war ended, both General Imbert and his rival Colonel Francisco Caamaño resigned, and Héctor García-Godoy, a civilian, was sworn as interim president.

According to Imbert, he fired the fatal shot at Trujillo.^[2]

Early life

Imbert was born into a prominent family^[3] of military tradition: his father, Brigadier General Segundo Manuel Imbert Mesnier had a leading role in the northern region of the Dominican Republic; Brigadier General Segundo Francisco Imbert, Imbert Barrera's grandfather, was Vice-President of the Dominican Republic and candidate for president, and fought in the Dominican Restoration War; meanwhile his great-grandfather, Major General José María Imbert, who was a French migrant, achieved important victories against Haiti in the Dominican War of Independence.

Imbert's first significant position was as governor of

His brother Segundo, an army official too, was imprisoned in 1956 by Trujillo's regime.[3] Segundo was convicted for murder;^[4][5] implicated in the murder of Domingo Marión in 1943.^[6]

Assassination of Trujillo

On May 30, 1961, Trujillo was shot dead when his car was ambushed on a road outside the Dominican capital.^[7] Imbert, the driver of the ambushing vehicle, was accompanied by Antonio de la Maza, Salvador Estrella Sadhalá and Amado García Guerrero - the active participants who carried out the plot. Most of those involved in the assassination plot were subsequently captured and executed, with the exception of Imbert and Luis Amiama Tió. Imbert went into hiding until December 2.^[8]: 253

After Joaquín Balaguer, Trujillo's figurehead president, was overthrown in 1962 and the Trujillo family was ousted, Imbert was declared a "National Hero" and was promoted to Major General with the special grant of it being ad vitam or lifelong. In the Civil War in the Dominican Republic of 1965 he led one of the factions in the struggle which faced the constitutionalist government led by Colonel Francisco Caamaño, who tried to bring back Juan Bosch to the country's presidency. Imbert's faction, called the Government of National Reconstruction was endorsed by the U.S. troops inspectors, in addition, he was one of the collaborators with the Americans, finally signing a peace act that put an end to the April war.^{[citation needed]}

Later life

On March 21, 1967, he was shot in Santo Domingo while traveling with Marino García,

Imbert died on May 31, 2016, the day following the fifty-fifth anniversary of Trujillo's assassination, at the age of 95. Dominican President Danilo Medina declared three days of mourning.^[12][13] His niece, Carmen Imbert Brugal, said that cause of his death was complications of pneumonia.^[3]

Marriages and family

He married Guarina Tessón Hurtado on September 10, 1939, in Puerto Plata. They had three children:^[14][15][16]

• Antonio Segundo Imbert Tessón (born June 9, 1940), army general. He married Victoria Isabel Pellerano Amiama (niece of Luis Amiama Tió) and had 3 children.
• Leslie Imbert Tessón (1949–
  February 15, 1970
  ), sportswoman. Died childless in an aircraft accident.
• Oscar José Antonio Imbert Tessón (born December 30, 1953), architect. He designed the Punta Cana International Airport. He married Margarita Pou Guerra and had 1 child and divorced. He remarried to Solange Juliette Martín-Caro Lithgow, but later divorced with no children from this marriage.

He had a liaison with María Sánchez, from

His wife died in 1970 in an aircraft accident. After widowing Imbert Barrera remarried to Giralda Busto Sánchez, but had no children from this marriage.[18]

Cultural references

Antonio Imbert is a character of Mario Vargas Llosa's novel The Feast of the Goat. In the film adaptation, he was played by Carlos Miranda.

Ancestry

References