Juan Bosch had been the first democratically elected president after the assassination of the former dictator Rafael Trujillo, but he faced criticism due to his policies, which were seen as leftist.
The Dominican Republic had been de facto led by dictator Rafael Trujillo since 1932 but post-World War 2 his government came under scrutiny from foreign governments due to human rights violation and internal strife began to grow with one attempt to overthrow him by communist Dominican expatriates trained in Cuba on June 14, 1959.
[2] One of the fiercest critics of the regime was Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt, which led Trujillo to try and kill him in a failed assassination attempt.
The assassination was successful but Trujillo's son Ramfis was able to seize power and proceeded to begin a reign of terror executing and arresting any possible enemies of the regime.
The leaders of six right-leaning parties were called to assist in the formation of a provisional government which would lead to the creation of 3-man civilian junta headed by Emilio de Los Santos, Manuel Enrique Tavares Espaillat, and Ramon Tapia Espinal.
After the junta seized control both houses of the former legislature met in secret and held a unanimous vote to demand a return to constitutional rule.
Independent Front for Constitutional Rehabilitation, an organization of lawyers, proposed Congress meet as a national assembly to appoint the Senate president as head of caretaker government and to hold elections in 6 months.100 congress members would later meet and make former Senate president Juan Casasnovas Garrido provisional head of state, however Garrido was arrested on November 1, 1963, and exiled to Puerto Rico.
One ammo dump explosion that occurred across the Azuma river from Santo Domingo on June 11, 1964, left 10 dead and 110 injured, leading to the arrest of 14 persons including 4 army personnel.
[2] Brutal repression tactics would lead the original members of the junta to step down (De Los Santos on December 22, 1963, Ramon on April 8, 1964, and Espaillat on June 27, 1964) leading to Donald Joseph Reid Cabral becoming becoming the temporary minister of the armed forces and national police making him the de facto leader of the country.
The United States dispatched 22,000 troops to the island in Operation Power Pack during the ensuing civil war, occupying Santo Domingo for several months while a provisional government was formed and elections were organized.