BOSCH'S PARTY ASKS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CLARIFY A POINT
Santo Domingo
The Partido Revolucionario Dominicano will give up peaceful means of struggle and employ violence if the government of the United States should confirm that it will intervene in the Dominican Republic “in behalf of a movement to change the present structures."
The PRD, which is the party of former President Juan Bosch, proposes to utilize "violent means against aggression," if an official declaration is made about any "new armed intervention."
This stand was taken January 3 by Dr. José Francisco Pefia Gémez, general secretary of the PRD, a little after a PRD commission sent a letter to the U.S. ambassador, John Crimmins, asking him to issue a statement on a declaration made by President Joaquin r to the effect that the United States will not permit another Communist regime to be established in the Western Hemisphere.
In its letter to Crimmins, the PRD said that President Balaguer's declaration had caused it “deep worry."
The letter added that the head of the state had utilized terms “proper to you only as the chief representative of the government of the United States in our country."
It held that if President Balaguer took as an example of "this future move" the landing of April 28, 1965, “it is obvious that this means the government of the United States will continue to resort to armed intervention not only against Communist revolutions but also against democratic revolutions like the one of April 24."
"No other meaning," continued the document, "can ve attributed to the statement that the United States will prevent Communists from acquiring preponderant influence in determining the destiny of the Dominican people, since it was on the basis of the pretext that the Communists had taken over the April revolution that the last armed intervention against our country was carried out."
The PRD held that the declarations of President Balaguer "involved a grave threat to the country and specifically
the existence of our political organiza-
tion and any changes necessitated by the
old economic and social structure of our
nation that might be carried out in the
future."
The PRD letter said that "in con-
trast to the president, we believe that
the government of the United States must
and ought not to intervene either mili-
tarily or economically in the Caribbean
zone, no matter what the motives might
be, unless the security of the United
States itself has been placed in danger,
in which case the government which your
excellency represents would be acting in
legitimate self-defense."
The letter said, "Deep worry was
aroused in the ranks of the PRD because
of certain statements in the latest
speech made by Dr. Joaquin Balaguer,
president of the Dominican Republic, at
the inauguration of the 1967 industrial
exposition in the Centro de los Héroes."
The meeting was attended by the busi-
nessmen of the country. In order to con-
vince them to make new investments with-
out any fear of future political contin-
gencies, Dr. Balaguer, the letter de-
clared, said the following: "These poten-
tial investors still believe in the pos-
sibility that the legitimate institutions
of the Republic can be again subverted or
that Communism might acquire preponderant
influence in working out the destiny of
the Dominican people.
"This fear has become obsolete
since the lesson which the country re-
ceived during the fratricidal war of
1965. To speak with the frankness which
the circumstances demand and to call
things by their right name instead of
beating around the bush, it can be said
that the United States, drawing the les-
son of the tragedy of Cuba, will never
permit the Dominican Republic or any
other country in the Caribbean zone to
install another regime similar to the
one that has withdrawn the country of
Marti from the community of Christian
nations."
The PRD asked Crimmins to make a
public statement on this and told him
that the same request would be made of
the Foreign Relations Committee of the
U.S. Senate.