Operation Limpieza



Operation Limpieza took place during the Dominican Civil War in May 1965. In order to soften up the rebel positions and to try to silence Radio Santo Domingo TV, the military junta sent its airplanes to bomb and strafe on the 14 May. The bombing was ineffective, but one of the airplanes missed the rebel radio station and strafed U.S. Marines and junta troops. This convinced the U.S. government to ground the Dominican Air Force. The military junta, although deprived of air cover for its troops, decided to launch Operation Limpieza (Cleanup).

Operation
On the 15 May Operation Limpieza began when four junta tanks led over a thousand soldiers in an attack on rebel positions. The infantry was well equipped with mortars, bazookas, and 37 mm cannons, while the defending civilians were armed with nothing heavier than machine guns. The rebels inflicted heavy losses on the junta troops, and the offensive stalled by midday on the 16 May.

With the arrival of twelve tanks from the Haitian border on May 18 finished turning the tide against the outgunned rebels. The battle turned into bitter and savage fighting with wholesale destruction of many city blocks. With victory in the northern sector almost within sight of junta troops, the officers indulged in social and ethnic cleansing in the northern neighborhoods. No prisoners were taken, and suspected rebels were promptly executed, while the number of atrocities committed against civilians multiplied. Many blacks lived in these poor neighborhoods, and junta troops slaughtered many as part of their Limpieza campaign. Junta troops massacred up to 3,000 civilians. In the morning of 19 May, junta troops finally captured Radio Santo Domingo.

The IAPF forces began arriving at the end of the month, and the United States began withdrawing some of its troops. However, the remaining U.S. troops engaged in heavy fighting against the rebels on the 15 June and 16 June. Despite the coordinated attack involving mortars, bazookas, and several tanks, the rebels lost a 56-square-block area to 82nd Airborne Division units which had received OAS permission to advance.