Antonio de la Maza (May 24, 1912 – June 4, 1961) was a
Dominican businessman based in
Santo Domingo. He was an opponent of
Rafael Trujillo, and was one of the principal conspirators in the assassination of the aforementioned dictator which took place on May 30, 1961.[1]
Life
De la Maza was born in
Moca, Espaillat. His family had ties to
Horacio Vásquez who was ousted by Trujillo when he started his reign in 1930.[2] After attending the Corps of Military Aides, De la Maza became manager of a Trujillo-owned sawmill near
Restauracion. In the context of the 1956
Galindez case, his brother, Octavio, was used as a scapegoat by Trujillo's henchmen; he was presented to the American Government as the murderer of Gerry Murphy and killed.[2]
During the assassination De la Maza left Juan Tomás Díaz's
.45 automatic pistol at the scene, a complication that facilitated the
Servicio de Inteligencia Militar's work as they could identify the owner.[3] A few days later De la Maza and Tomas Díaz, were killed in a gun battle with the SIM after coming out of hiding.[4][5][6]