[2] Since 1844, when Luperón was around five years old, the atmosphere surrounding his environment was engulfed in revolutionary fervor, as his childhood took place in the midst of the Dominican War of Independence, a time in which the national identity was shaped through the struggle against invading forces.

Luperón was sent to extend operations in the direction of San José de las Matas, but he ran into resistance from the “serranos,” a term used to designate the inhabitants of the foothills of the Central Mountain Range.

On the contrary, in La Vega he used strong procedures to force them to commit to the restoration cause, and decided to set an intimidating example by shooting, on charges of espionage, a Spanish colonel who had left Santo Domingo with the aim of extracting money from the people.

More than anyone, Luperón condemned the attempts of the deposed president Salcedo in favor of Báez or an armistice with the Spanish; However, in strict observance of principles, he was the only general who protested publicly for his execution and tried to protect him as much as possible.

Such inclination could not be maintained for long, because in October 1865, barely three months after the evacuation of the Spanish troops, the restoring general Pedro Guillermo led a mutiny in Hato Mayor in favor of Báez.

[24] In his attempt at armed opposition to Báez, at the end of 1865, Luperón only had, among the leaders of the Restoration, the support of Benito Monción and Gaspar Polanco, but both quickly decided abandon the rebellion, which precipitated its failure.

[29] While Cabral entered the southern border, where he was received by General Timoteo Ogando – who was already waging a formidable guerrilla opposition to Báez – Luperón headed to Saint Thomas to gather resources among merchants who had business in Dominican Republic and feared losing the market if annexation to the United States materialized.

He was accompanied by some of his most faithful followers and other prominent blue politicians, such as generals Marcos Evangelista Adón, Severo Gómez (former bricklayer of his house), Segundo Imbert, Juan Belisario Curiel, Pedro Casimiro and Pablo Pujol.

In that letter he writes, [31] Today I repeat our protest again, no longer hesitant because of doubt, but horrified by the consummation of a violent act and convinced that a bad law handling wants to decide the fate of my country.

The American Government notified the French in 1866 that their stay in Mexico was a threat to America; The Dominican people thought the same, and our Congress awarded the undefeated Juárez the title of Benemérito de América.

[35] The conflict broke out due to Luperón's demand that recognized as national debt the sum of 170,000 pesos that he had borrowed mainly from merchants in Saint Thomas to finance the acquisition of El Telégrafo and the corresponding weapons.

The new president obtained a favorable consensus, but was forced to count on recognized liberals in the first place, while his willingness to eliminate the compensation that González granted to the military leaders caused them to take animosity toward him.

One of the reasons for the disagreement lay in his defense of the interests of the Compueblan merchants who had granted loans to the government and, before, to the blue side, arguing that their support was indispensable and that the Mariano Cestero's financial reform condemned them to ruin.

On that occasion Luperón did not want to speak out against his archenemy, perhaps for fear of being described as a wayward revolutionary, since, eager for peace to reign, quite a few blue intellectuals provided support to the red leader, who pretended in words to adhere to democratic principles.

But, upon returning from his second trip to Europe, he found that the President was violating his promises and was moving towards establishing a tyranny, a consideration which included the intention of achieving control over the Puerto Plata customs office, the most important in the country.

Aware of his rival's weakness, he did not even bother to lead the forces dispatched to Santo Domingo, which remained under the command of Ulises Heureaux, who in previous years had emerged as his most capable lieutenant, especially in military actions.

This triumph was ratified naturally, an expression of the erosion of the options of opposing power, through the support of influential figures from all cities – some not exactly characterized by the relationship with the Blue Party, such as Eugenio de Marchena in Azua and Benito Monción in Monte Cristi.

[41] When announcing the overthrow of Guillermo, for the first time Luperón agreed to occupy the provisional presidency, aware that it was required of his personal intervention to redirect the country's affairs and contribute to opening the path of progress.

[45] As president, the hero had to face problems more delicate such as the requirement to strengthen the State and the safeguarding of freedoms, the demand for financial resources to apply public policies in a country exhausted by past wars of warlords.

Guided by the certainty that the country had the resources to maintain full independence from international powers, he understood that it was urgent to strengthen the state apparatus, first of all through a military force capable of confronting recent innovations in weapons.

When presenting Fernando Arturo de Meriño's candidacy, he said goodbye to power with a hint of bitterness, stating: "the disappointments I have suffered in my long political career have sickened my spirit, and I feel incapable of supporting the overwhelming weight of the Supreme Judiciary of the State.” Although he did not abandon his faith in principles, he was invaded by doubts about the moral quality of Dominicans to be agents of freedom and progress.

But in it was the germ of an oligarchic order that generated early criticism among young intellectuals, whom he harshly reprimanded, calling them "visionaries" and "socialists," since they were presented as factors of discord at a time when, he claimed, there were no principles to discuss.

On two occasions Luperón again asked the isolated intellectual to reconsider his position, and on one of them Bonó frankly explained his repudiation of the concept of “progress” in vogue, since it entailed the proletarianization of the small peasantry, in his opinion the social basis of the country.

What was at stake was a criticism of the oligarchic liberal scheme that was beginning to operate under the aegis of the blues, even above the good intentions of Luperón and a part of the intellectuals who supported his preeminence, infused with a democratic spirit.

Bonó was ahead of his time, so it seems that his criticisms exceeded the intellectual capacity of Luperón, who in his response was content to ratify his vision of the tasks that awaited the country to complete an institutionalization process that would clear the obstacles to progress.

This did not only reveal the violent and daring man, willing to do anything to maintain the stability of the can; In addition, Heureaux's intelligence placed him as the key partner of the situation, deliberate bearer of the oligarchic style, with its antidemocratic and inequitable implications.

A few years after the modern dictatorship was established, a considerable part of the exiled opponents returned defeated to the country and some renewed their personal friendship with Heureaux, like Casimiro de Moya, or became his admirers, like the new sociologist José Ramón López.

Very few currently think about the future, and it seems that they believe that the tyranny that humiliates and subjugates them will have no end, sustained by the perversion of the great popular feelings; and as if the country and patriotism were a chimera, they run after the oppressor to sell them their rights and freedoms, with which the stupid have the logical satisfaction of their baseness.

He surely perceived that the confrontation would cast a favorable balance on his enemy, who would exploit the event to present it as an anachronistic expression of the revolutionary spirit that had caused so much damage to the country and that threatened to prevent the material achievements of the current era of peace.

President Heareaux visits him on board and provided a foreign doctor named Dr. Fosse to assist him in San Felipe de Puerto Plata, and takes care of Luperón during the final 5 months of his life.