The assassination of the Mirabal sisters
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2021
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The three Mirabal sisters were leading figures in the Dominican Republic's opposition movement against the dictator, General Rafael Trujillo. Patria, Maria Teresa and the most prominent of the three, Minerva, were all killed on the 25th of November 1960. They were dragged from their car and beaten to death on the orders of General Trujillo. Their murders sparked outrage in the Caribbean country, and are thought to have been a motivating factor in the assassination of Trujillo himself six months later. In 2016, Rebecca Kesby spoke to Minerva's daughter, Minou Tavarez Mirabal, who explained why her mother and aunts were called 'the butterflies' and how to this day people still decorate their houses with three butterflies in tribute to them.
Photo: The three Mirabal Sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa (Credit: Mirabal family collection)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | Now on the BBC World Service witness history with me Rebecca |
| 0:43.9 | Keseby and today a program from our archives and we head back to |
| 0:48.2 | November 25th 1960 to the Dominican Republic. |
| 0:53.1 | The country was in the grip of an authoritarian regime, but the political assassination of |
| 0:58.3 | three sisters was about to signal the beginning of the end for the dictator General Trojillo. |
| 1:04.6 | This is the story of the Mirabel sisters and in 2016 I spoke to Minutavares Mirabel, the daughter of the most prominent of the sisters, Minerva. |
| 1:17.0 | I remember her dressed wearing this military dream uniform looking at herself in the mirror and I remember me thinking she was so |
| 1:29.2 | beautiful because she was really beautiful. |
| 1:33.0 | Born into comparative wealth, Minerva Mirabel was an intelligent young political activist who, with her sisters, |
| 1:40.0 | formed an underground movement against the dictatorship of General |
| 1:44.7 | Raphael Trojil. Mino Tavares Mirabel is her daughter and she recalls her |
| 1:50.6 | childhood as a frightening time. |
| 1:53.0 | I remember the fear, I remember the night with the light of because the intelligence |
| 2:00.6 | servicemen were around and they were looking through the windows, so we felt all the time |
| 2:07.8 | watched. |
| 2:08.8 | There were really difficult times, dark and very dangerous. |
... |
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