With Dictators on Both Sides of the Atlantic: Spanish Exiles in the Caribbean Basin, Trans-Atlantic Antifascism, and Circum-Atlantic Dictatorships, 1944–54

This paper examines how Spanish exiles in the Caribbean Basin contributed to a trans-Atlantic anti-fascist vision opposed to circum-Atlantic dictatorships based in Spain and the Caribbean Basin in the early years of the international Cold War. In contrast to the body of scholarship that examines Spanish refugees’ cultural or social contributions in Latin America, this paper reveals their crucial role in contesting Caribbean dictatorial and military regimes and supporting fellow anti-dictatorial groups in exile. Following the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, various Republicans fled to the Caribbean Basin. There, they networked with democratic groups under the Guatemalan and Venezuelan governments and Dominican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan exiles opposed to the dictatorships of Rafael Trujillo, Tiburcio Carías, and Anastasio Somoza. Together, these groups championed a common anti-fascist sentiment, denounced Caribbean dictatorships and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and spearheaded militant expeditions to remove those regimes.

 In the process, Spanish exiles linked their struggle against Franco with those against Caribbean dictators, shaping conflicts over democracy and dictatorship and assisting the anti-dictatorial exiles who made up the Caribbean Legion. Similarly, Caribbean dictators reached out to Franco as part of their self-proclaimed anti-communist alliance transcending the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, Spanish refugees had to confront the trying experience of exile, limited resources, and a changing international arena epitomized in growing U.S. support for Franco’s regime during the early years of the international Cold War. Consequently, certain dictators succeeded in convincing a handful of Spaniards to betrayal the Caribbean Legion for financial assistance and political gain. Others remained loyal, growing closer to Venezuela’s newly-exiled Acción Democrática, helping the Legion’s remnants, and keeping alive a trans-Atlantic anti-fascist vision as the Cold War escalated.