Pedro Antonio Pimentel y Chamorro (1830 – 1874) was a Dominican Republic military figure and politician. He served as the 9th president of the Dominican Republic from March 25, 1865 until August 4, of that year. He also served as governor of Santiago de los Caballeros, Minister of War, and as a deputy of the Congress of the Dominican Republic. He was born to father Jacinto Pimentel and mother Juana Chamorro. He died sick and without any money in Quartier-Morin, Haiti in 1874.
Pedro Antonio Pimentel | |
|---|---|
 Illustration of President Pimentel | |
| 9th President of the Dominican Republic | |
| In office 24 March 1865 – 4 August 1865 | |
| Vice President | Benigno Filomeno de Rojas |
| Preceded by | Benigno Filomeno de Rojas |
| Succeeded by | José María Cabral |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1830 Castañuelas, Dominican Republic |
| Died | 1874 (43–44) Quartier-Morin, Haiti |
| Nationality | Dominican |
Birth edit
Son of Jacinto Pimentel and Juana Chamorro, he was born in the area of Lozano, Montecristi in 1830. Gregorio Luperón defined him as a man "rebellious to discipline, lazy to the cabinet, but bold and farsighted in war."
War of Santo Domingo edit
When Pedro Santana annexed the Republic to Spain in 1861, he joined the ranks of the revolutionaries, passing through all the ranks of the military hierarchies. An officer under the orders of Lucas Evangelista de Peña in February 1863, he was imprisoned when the first insurrection in Guayubín failed, but he fled, taking refuge in neighboring Haiti. With the famous Grito de Capotillo pronounced on August 16, he gathered weapons and together with Benito Monción attacked and dislodged the Spanish garrison of La Patilla. When Brigadier Manuel Buceta left Dajabón for Guayubín and Santiago, he followed him in various places, and helped his compatriots in the siege of the city of Cibaeña, where he fought until the Spanish abandoned it. Later he was in the cantons of Puerto Plata and the Northwest Line acting as head of operations. When General José de la Gándara, the last Spanish governor of Santo Domingo, landed in Montecristi to attack the Cibao, Pimentel was one of those who offered the first resistance.
He contributed to the overthrow of the restoration president Salcedo. The Provisional Government fell to Gaspar Polanco, whose mandate was characterized by exercising cruel tyranny, viciously persecuting all his supposed enemies. In January 1865 , the other restoring generals, including Pimentel, overthrew Polanco, whom they accused of having ordered the death of Salcedo. The Provisional Board that was formed called a National Convention to draft a new Constitution, which was promulgated in February 1865 and Pimentel was elected president of the Republic in arms. Immediately, he accused Polanco of Salcedo's murder and appointed a court martial to try him, which sentenced him to be shot. Later his innocence was revealed and the true perpetrators of the crime were punished.
Presidency edit
After Spain abandoned Dominican territory, Pimentel decided to move to Santo Domingo to continue with the supreme command of the country, but in Cotuí he learned that generals José María Cabral and Eusebio Manzueta had risen up against him and proclaimed the first head of the Government with the title of Protector. Pimentel then returned to Santiago, where he found that many of the senior military also opposed him and he resigned. In the city of Santo Domingo he was asked to occupy a secretary of state.
A few weeks after Cabral's installation, a revolution led by General Pedro Guillermo broke out with the purpose of favoring the return of Buenaventura Báez to the country and handing him the reins of power. Báez returned and on December 8, 1865, he took possession of the Presidency, appointing Pimentel Secretary of the Interior and Police. When a revolt began in Cibao, Báez commissioned Pimentel to go to that region with the task of offering the rebels all possible means of conciliation, but upon arriving in the Central Mountain Range he joined the rebels. General Juan de Jesús Salcedo arrested him in Moca, telling Gregorio Luperon that if he did not leave the country he would shoot Pimentel. Luperón defeated Salcedo and together with Federico de Jesús García and Pimentel formed a triumvirate to overthrow Báez, who resigned on May 28, 1866 . With Cabral again at the head of the Executive Branch, Pimentel supported his actions. The following year he moved to Puerto Plata, from where he left for Saint Thomas. He organized an expedition against Buenaventura Báez, who had returned to the Presidency after Cabral's resignation. During Báez's Six Years regime, he fought to prevent his annexationist plans.
Death edit
At some point, during the Six Years' War, he became seriously ill, and went into exile. He died in village of Quartier Morin, Haiti in 1871.
See also edit
References edit
- Antonio Pimentel Biography[permanent dead link] at the Enciclopedia Virtual Dominicana
External links edit
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