Long Road to Hegemony of Center-Left in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

The article analyzes the history and state of the leftist movement in the Dominican Republic, primarily its center-left segment. Having shown the evolution of the Dominican left and the zigzags of its history (from attempts to negotiate with the right-wing dictatorship to an eclectic model that combined Cuban-style revolutionaryism and social reformist approaches), the authors explain how the left centrism was becoming able to turn into a dominant phenomenon in the party and political life of the Caribbean nation. The article describes the main subjects of the Dominican left and center-left movement, shows its connections and reveals contradictions with the former left forces in the context of the historical development of the Dominican Republic. The source base of the article (which include the archives of the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee, official publications of the left parties and by their leaders), compared with the available literature, made it possible to show a picture of the evolution of leftist revolutionary thought, which has become the cultural and genetic basis for the modern left parties of the Dominican Republic.