The 1965 U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic was the fourth time U.S. Marines had occupied that country. The previous occupation lasted from 1916 to 1924. The bloody tyrant Rafael L. Trujillo got his start during that occupation as a procurer of prostitutes for the U.S. Marines. The Marines sent him to a school the U.S. had set up for training a puppet Dominican military establishment. By 1930 Trujillo controlled the Dominican armed forces and was elected president. He maintained his grip for 31 years by cultivating powerful friends in Washington and the Pentagon. He also organized a political patronage system that made his close friends wealthy and simply murdered opponents he thought threatened his rule.

What were the excuses for the U.S. invasion? First, to "protect American lives and property." This was not very widely believed, since not a single U.S. civilian had been killed or wounded, and no one had threatened to expropriate any of Wall Street's sacred holdings in Santo Domingo. The second public excuse was that the Marines were sent to "prevent another communist state in this hemisphere."

April 26, 1947
In Texas City last week the worst industrial disaster in America since the First World War snuffed out the lives of between 400 and 600 people, with many dead still uncounted, injured 3,000 more and laid waste an entire city. Shudders of horror and apprehension swept over the nation as pictures and reports of this flaming funeral pyre were received. People were shaken not only by the deaths and destruction but by dire foreboding that this Texas catastrophe was a preview of the destructive powers that can be unloosed in atomic warfare.

A fire aboard the explosive-laden French freighter Grandcamp on April 16 blasted the vessel and most of its crew out of existence. This first blast set off a chain of explosions that for three days rocked the Gulf Coast and ripped through the jerry-built-industrial Texas City.

The death toll was highest among the hundreds of workers in the $19,000,000 Monsanto Chemical plant built at government expense during the war, which sprawled over 30 acres on Galveston Bay. No alarm was sounded in the plant when the Grandcamp fire started and none of the workers evacuated although there was ample time to do so. The plant became a flaming shambles as its chemicals ignited. Other vessels in the Harbor exploded, including the High Flyer, also loaded with explosives.

Who is responsible for this horror? The N.Y. World Telegram on April 17 states: "It comes in the category of those indefinable acts of God... seemingly there is no one to blame." This is a lie. Evidence is beginning to accumulate that capitalist greed and reckless disregard for the lives and safety of the working people are behind the disaster.

The Texas City workers bore the brunt of the disaster. Their flimsy shacks covering some 70 blocks, were built in an arc of danger around the inflammable chemical plants and oil refineries on the waterfront. Among these workers were many Mexican-American and Negro families. This sector was virtually wiped off the map in the blasts and fires. As an afterthought, when city officials talked about rebuilding the destroyed areas, County Auditor Isidore Predecki of Galveston stated: "This town should be built up four miles from the tanks. That's the only way to insure safety."  
 
 
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