Annotations for Speakers: Joaquín Balaguer

In writing this book, did you put any of yourself into your characterization of Balaguer?

If I put myself into...

Your characterization of Balaguer?

Well, not consciously, at least, no.

He's a fascinating character.

Was he really like that?

Well, I don't think I have been disloyal to what he really is. Maybe he's more complex. Maybe he's less complex than my character. I don't know.

But I had three long conversations with him when I was writing the novel, three. And he was so clever to evade difficult questions.

He was a kind of, how do you say in English, an anguilla.

An eel. Ooh!

He was absolutely, um. And I said to him, Dr. Balaguer, you are a cultivated man. You have read a lot.

A poet!

You have written quite decently, you know?

How could you for 31 years serve with such loyalty and competence, you know, against us and live surrounded by criminals and by the worst kind of human being?

And he said to me, look, when I was young, I wanted to be a politician. I had many sisters to take care of. If I went into exile, I wouldn't have been a politician. And I wondered if I would have been able to support my sisters.

So the only way in which you could do politics during those days was with Trujillo. So that's what I did.

And since the beginning, I said I'm not going to do two things: I'm not going to participate in sexual orgies with Trujillo [laughter] and I'm not going to steal one dollar.

And he said to me, and I have done this. I have never steal one dollar, and I have never participated in a Trujillo orgy [laughter]

I said this is the secret of your power? [laughter]

Well. Well, you also say in passing that the phrase was never for any reason lose your composure was his motto.

That's right.

Never lose your composure. With all this happening around you?

Another wonderful phrase of Balaguer was in my five presidencies, corruption has arrived to the door of my office, but it has never entered my office. [laughter]

Well, he's a poor man. He has no money, only power. He has got tremendous power, but no, he's a no, I think it's only power. That was his only passion in life, you know?

It was such a quiet colorless. Withdrawn....

Oh, yeah, he was very quiet. He managed to fool Trujillo, which was very difficult, you know? He was put in the presidency because Trujillo said publicly to many collaborators, you know, Balaguer has no ambitions. [laughter]

That's the reason why he must be the president. He has no ambitions.

But he really did, though, didn't he?

Of course.

I think he had, but he was so clever. He knew that the last symptom of political ambition was the end of his career with Trujillo.

In direct contrast, you have your characterization of the, what's his name, Hugo Romero.

Yes.

It was also a surprise for me the way in which Balaguer imposed himself and became almost as important as Trujillo, you know?

Well, Trujillo was there. And Balaguer, in a very well-written piece, said, well, did the the Dominican Republic has survived? 400 years of catastrophes, of invasions, of civil wars, of hurricanes, earthquakes.

And I think he really believed that Balaguer was right when he said that he had taken this responsibility and he has replaced God with this responsibility to save the Dominican Republic of disintegration. [laughter]