Báez, Buenaventura

Báez, Buenaventura (bwā"nävāntOO'rä bä'ās) [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.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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