In a literary work, The Time of the butterflies, the story of the Mirabal sisters’ death was told by various people. There exist numerous accounts of their death even before the revelations of the five murderers of the sisters. The common theme is that the women were murdered because of their opposition to the Trujillo dictatorship. They resisted his tyranny.
The sisters are named Minerva, Mate, and Patria. They were ambushed. Patria was able to flee from the captors to a passing truck. He told the driver on the same road that he tell the Mirabal family that she and her sisters will be killed.
After the women were heartlessly murdered, the killers placed their bodies in a Jeep along with the driver and pushed their bodies over the edge of a cliff.
The life of the Mirabal sisters
The three sisters hailed from a middle-class family. They were all married with children, and they may not seem like the likeliest revolutionaries. But since they were living under the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo back in the 1950s, the sisters saw it fit to risk their lives to work with the resistance. During the 31-year dictatorship, the regime violently suppressed civil freedom as well as dissent. The Mirabal sisters organized and grew the resistance challenging the dictatorship. They were arrested repeatedly for their doings.
After the change to democracy in the late 1970s, they were eventually called the butterflies. They became symbols of both democratic and feminist revolt. The fourth sister was Dede, and she was less actively involved in the resistance. She was able to survive the regime and help continue her sisters’ legacy until she died in 2014. The family was able to set up a foundation and a museum in the Mirabal sisters’ name. The United Nations made the date of their death the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The Mirabal sisters are among those who exemplify the bravery of women against tyrannical forces. Although they didn’t survive the dictatorship in their country, their memory lives on and continues to be an inspiration.
A tyrant’s hunger for power
The Dominican Republic, back in the 1950s, was a totalitarian hell. It was controlled obsessively by a cruel dictator Rafael Trujillo. For him, there was no slight too small and no grudge too big. Every person quickly grew fearful of expressing their dissent. However, it was not until a group of sisters slapped Rogelio in the face that the nation found the courage to follow in their footsteps and revolt against the despot.
Of course, these women were none other than the Mirabal sisters, and they willingly sacrifice their lives to end Trujillo’s dictatorship.
Trujillo had a preponderance for beautiful women. He will often employ countless beauty scouts to search the countryside for young women for him to romance, kidnap, and rape. On one such occasion, it resulted in him forcing the Mirabal sisters to come to one of his gatherings. One of the sisters, Minerva, soon realized that she was Julius’ target and politely turned down his advances. When he forced himself on her, she slapped him in the face. She gathered her family and got out of the party lightning fast.
Soon after, Minerva will soon struggle as Trujillo had a personal vendetta and toyed with her life. Despite being an exemplary student in law school, Minerva often found that she was banned from classes. When she graduated many years later a summa cum laude, the government denied her license for law practice.
