Republica Dominicana 1959 "Era de Trujillo" Medalla

[sdesember]

This was given to me as a gift during one of my trips to Munich. The person knew that I collected medals and told me that the medal was a gift from his friend and since it was just laying around collecting dust at his home, he thought that he would just give it to someone who would appreciate it more. The gentleman was of a Spanish descent from the Canary Island. I tried to ask him on how the medal came into his possession, but he didn't elaborate much more other than that it was a gift from his friend.

The medal was awarded to those who took part in fending off a failed attempted coup to overthrow the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo Molina (1891-1961), also famously known as "El Jefe", in the June 1959 landing by a group of militants from the Dominican Liberation Movement, who were dressed in Dominican Air Force uniforms¹ and landed at the Constanza Airport.

The obverse of the medal is inscribed with five stars (signifying Trujillo's rank?) and the words "Constanza Heroismo y Lealtad" which translates to Constanza (the airport's name) heroism and loyalty.

The reverse of the medal bears the Dominican Republic's coat of arms which carries the national's slogan of "Dios, Patria & Libertad" (God, Country & Liberty) with the name of the country "Republica Dominicana" at the foot of the arms. Further down, there is a repetition of the inscription of the country's name, "Republica Dominicana " "1959 Era de Trujillo" (during Trujillo's regime, the period was also known as The Era of Trujillo, hence the inscription - "Era de Trujillo").

¹medal-medaile.com

Obverse

Reverse

[nickstrenk]

The Dominican Republic: Order of Trujillo

Because there are no photos with the topic I decided  to add the photos of the Star of 2nd Grade of this order.

Weight 124gr

diameter- nearly 8x8cm

Material-silver?

Some more information in Wikipedia