| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Báez, Buenaventura |
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(bw ´´nävnt ´rä bä´s) (KEY) , c.1810–1884, president of the Dominican Republic (1849–53; 1856–58; 1865–66; 1868–73). Like his rival, Santana, Báez was unscrupulous and selfish; he gained and lost the presidency by revolution and counterrevolution. With his country in a condition of financial ruin and recurrently gripped by anarchy, he negotiated (1869) a treaty with the United States providing for U.S. annexation of the Dominican Republic. A Dominican plebiscite (1870) confirmed the treaty, but the U.S. Senate, ignoring President Grant’s wishes, failed to ratify it. Báez lost his popular support and was overthrown. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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