- Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos
Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos (1871 - 1935) was a Dominican
political figure . He served as thepresident of the Dominican Republic between 1922 and 1924 under the U.S. military occupation.Early life
Juan Bautista Vicini was born on
19 July 1871 to Italian immigrant Juan Bautista (Giovanni Battista) Vicini and his wife Maria Burgos. His father arrived to the Dominican Republic during the boom in the sugar industry which he took advantage of to create a respectable operation within a relatively short amount of time. According to the Dutchauthor H. Hoetink in his book "El Pueblo Dominicano, 1850-1900", his father owned two sugar plantations by 1882 and by 1893 was the owner of the sugar mill "Angelina". His friendly relationship withGeneral Ulises Heureaux (Lilís) helped him consolidate a respectable fortune. Vicini inherited his fathers business and was able to become a successful businessman mainly by part of his strictEurope an education. Vicini wasfluent in Spanish, Italian, English and French at a very young age.Political career
The Dominican Republic had been occupied by American Troops since 1916 and after the approval of the Hughes-Peynado plan Vicini was a candidate for the position of provisional President of the Dominican Republic. He was elected President in 1922 and his main goal was to facilitate the evacuation of the
United States troops that where present in the Dominican Republic. The day after he was elected, Vicini named the five men who would make up his cabinet. They were as follows:# José del Carmen Ariza, Secretary of Internal Affairs
# Cayetano Armando Rodríquez, Secretary of Justice and Instruction
# Eladio Sánchez, Secretary of Promotion and Communications
# Manuel Sanabia, Secretary of Health and Charity
# Pedro Pérez, Secretary of Agriculture and ImmigrationWith these steps, Vicini assured the removal of the North American forces in a peaceful manner. Despite its good intentions, Vicini's regime was plagued and pressured by the tight grip of the Hughes-Peynado plan and by the American forces that were still in the country. Even so, he set up the cleanest elections that the Dominican Republic had ever seen in which
Horacio Vásquez won on15 March 1924 against Francisco J. Peynado.When Vicini left the presidency after the elections, he went back to his sugar business and abandoned politics for the remainder of his life. At the time of his death on
25 May ,1935 Juan Bautista Vicini left his relatives one of the largest sugar enterprises in theCaribbean , which is still operating as of 2008.External links
* [http://www.27febrero.com/biografias.htm#JUAN%20BAUTISTA%20VICINI]
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