Federico H. Henríquez Vázquez

Dominican Immigrants|Dominican Veterans|Dominicans in Politics|Dominicans in the United States|Rafael Leónidas Trujillo|World War II

CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

Enrique Henríquez Garcia, the National Archives and Records Administration and Jhensen Ortiz

Edward De Jesús, Principal Investigator / Curator

Ruth Lizardi, Coordinator / Assistant Curator

Dr. Ramona Hernández, Director, CUNY DSI & Professor of Sociology, The City College of New York

Anthony Stevens-Acevedo, Assistant Director

Idilio Gracia Peña, Chief Archivist

Sarah Aponte, Chief Librarian

Jessy J. Pérez, Archivist

Jhensen Ortiz, Assistant Librarian

Groana G. Meléndez, Photography Editor

Norma Guzmán and Donald Mounts, Researchers

Dr. Tim Williams, Senior Editor

Mariel Acosta, Katie Duarte, Shaday Fermín, and Anthony Stevens-Acevedo, Editors

John P. Bimbiras, Edward De Jesús, Jhensen Ortiz, Jessy J. Pérez, Sophia Monegro and Natalie A. Studt, Biography Text Writers

Isabelia Herrera, Grant Writer

Javier Pichardo, Graphic Artist

Sponsor: CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

Sponsor: Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York

Sponsor: Latino Americans: 500 Years - National Endowment for the Humanities

Sponsor: American Library Association

Sponsor: New York City Council

Sponsor: Smithsonian Latino Center

Sponsor: Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Centro)

Sponsor: The Documentary Forum - CCNY Center for Film, Journalism, and Interactive Media

Sponsor: Dominican Students Association

24" x 36" panel

English

Federico ("Gugu") Henríquez Vazquez was born on December 6, 1921 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. As a child, Henriquez developed a passion for sports and, already under the oppressive Trujillo dictatorship, became a major figure in Dominican basketball. He was captain of the famous basketball team "Los Mosqueteros del Normal Superior," leading them to victory in Puerto Rico and taking home the "Filo Paniagua" trophy.

After finding out about his son's involvement in clandestine activities against Trujillo's regime, Henríquez father- concerned for his son's safety-advised him to leave the country. Henriquez moved to the U.S., arriving in New York on July26, 1941, where he settled. He worked as a swim instructor until the attacks on Pearl harbor, after which he joined the U.S. navy. Shortly afterward, he married Dominican singer and actress Monica Boyar, a woman who also shared Henriquez passion for democracy and clandestine struggle against Trujillo. While in the Navy, he served in the Pacific Theater as a Gunner's mate Third Class in the USS LST 623. He also participated in the landings of Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, and Palawan Island, fighting to liberate the Philippines from the Japanese occupation.

After WWII, Henríquez continued his activism against the tyranny of Trujillo in his native Dominican Republic. Henríquez joined the group involved in Cayo Confites, the largest known attempt organized to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow Trujillo in 1947. The Cayo Confites plot failed but Henríquez was determined to continue the struggle. Two years later, Henríquez joined another group who were plotting to liberate the Dominican Republic from Trujillo. The Luperon Expedition, part of larger expedition that attempted to dispose of Trujillo's regime, traveled from Guatemala in a seaplane fro eleven hours and landed on the commune of Luperon, Province of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on June 23, 1949. Trujillo's military was on the alert and, weapons ready, were waiting for the freedom fighters to arrive. The seaplane landed; Henríquez and a fellow freedom fighter were captured by the dictator's military. Once Trujillo gave the kill order, Henríquez and the other captured insurgent were taken into the outskirts of town where they were executed in cold blood. Henríquez remains lie in the mausoleum for the fallen heroes of the Luperon Expedition in the Maximo Gomez cemetery in Santo Domingo.