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gangsters came into town, they instilled fear. Only one of them, Candelaria’s nephew Felipe Ozán, was
able to make amends and be accepted by the community.
Billini’s cultural commentary aims to glorify values such as integrity, friendship, and emotional sincerity,
but what really stands out is his appreciation for a culture of the past that is summoned to become the exem-
plar of a good society. The urban realm, however, was defined by rural savagery—epitomized by the
machet-
eros
—and plagued by the failings of many of its members. Billini’s proposals for reform, which he had begun
developing years earlier, were redefined to be disseminated in literary form. This was achieved by rejecting
the ills of society: violence related to civil war, the lack of patriotism of the masses, general apathy, and worst
of all, individualism. His approach to managing the future development of the Republic involved the combi-
nation of hard work and awareness through education. Don Postumio was used as a paradigm of the typical
politician who aims to lead by example, preaching freedom and taking a moderate stance on solidarity.
An essential read, the elite class devoured the novel, considering it a literary breakthrough, despite its for-
mal defects. In a sense, by focusing on the brutality of rural existence, it could be interpreted as the antithesis
of
El Montero
by Pedro Francisco Bonó. Offering an achievable cultural alternative—just as he had done more
than a decade earlier in relation to sugar production—it is possible that Billini sustained a hidden feud with
Bonó. During the Trujillo administration, it earned silent recognition after being banned on the assumption
that the evil Candelaria Ozán represented Silveria Valdez, the authoritarian’s grandmother.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Billini, Francisco Gregorio.
Baní o Engracia y Antoñita
. Santo Do-
mingo: Libreria Dominicana, 1962.
Billini, Francisco Gregorio.
Más que un Eco de la Opinión,
4 vols.,
ed. Andrés Blanco.
Santo Domingo: Archivo General de la Nación, 2009.
ENDNOTES
1
The Spanish name “Juan” is used here since it was customary
for immigrants to change their first names to Spanish.
Martínez, Rufino.
Diccionario biográfico-histórico dominicano, 1821-
1930.
Santo Domingo: Editora de la Universidad Autónoma de
Santo Domingo, 1971.
Rodríguez Demorizi, Emilio.
Baní y la novela de Billini
. Santo Do-
mingo: Editora del Caribe, 1964.
2
A native of a Latin American rural area especially a Latin
American Indian farmer or farm laborer.
FRANCISCO GREGORIO BILLINI, PRESIDENT AND AUTHOR