In 1947, seventeen years after dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (1891-1961) assuming power, the sugar industry in the Dominican Republic was mostly foreign owned.  In 1948 Trujillo decided to participate in the profits the industry generated, so he started a movement to “Dominicanize” the sugar industry by creating for himself and his family a monopoly of the sugar industry using a complex scheme involving several corporate entities. He installed an office at the Palacio Nacional to manage the new venture.

Trujillo started his incursion in the Dominican sugar industry by building three central sugar mills outright; Ingenio Rio Haina[1] in 1949, Ingenio Catarey in 1950 and Ingenio Esperanza in 1954.  He followed by acquiring nine others from its foreign owners, usually at below market prices.  Contrary to public belief, the ingenios were acquired by Trujillo and not nationalized by the state as they were not owned by it. The corporate structure created by Trujillo was complex and although a general structure can be established, details have generally been obscure.  In order to understand how his investments were handled, it is better to review the holding company Corporación Dominicana de Centrales Azucareras (CDCA) established in July of 1957 to unify the operations of three corporate entities; Azucarera Haina C x A, Azucarera Nacional C x A and Azucarera del Yaque C x A.  Following is a breakdown of the three entities or subsidiaries of CDCA and their sugar mill holdings.

• Azucarera Haina C x A - Established September 1954 with seven initial shareholders among which were Juan Antonio Jiménez Alvarez, President & Treasurer and Tirso E. Rivera, Vice President who was in charge of Trujillo's personal office and affairs.  
  

  • Central Rio Haina C x A - was organized in 1949 to build the Ingenio Rio Haina which was completed in time for its first grinding season in 1951.  By virtue of a contract signed February 1952 it was managed by Administradora de Ingenios C por A, a subsidiary of the South Porto Rico Sugar Corp. until September 1953.  On November 1953 Central Rio Haina C por A sold its land to a group of colonos and the sugar mill to Banco de Crédito Agricola e Industrial who in October 1954 sold the sugar mill to Azucarera Nacional C x A.  One month after its creation, Azucarera Haina C x A acquired Central Rio Haina C x A  from Azucarera Nacional C x A and all the land that had been sold to a group of colonos.

  • Ingenio Amistad C x A - founded in 1899 by Italian born brothers Rodolfo and Augusto Bentz (58%), Juan N. Folch (21%) and Juan Martinez (21%) who was its manager, its first grinding season was 1899.  In 1914 it was mortgage in favor of  National City Bank and acquired in 1926 by the New York corporation Annsing & Sommy, Inc.  The sellers to Azucarera Nacional in 1953 were Puertorican Maria Luisa Toro de Julián and her daughter Victoria L. Julián de Estrella who had inherited the sugar mill from Cornelio Julián Rodriguez.  It was acquired in 1952 by Central Rio Haina C x A then sold to Azucarera Nacional C x A late in 1953.​

  • Ingenio Santa Fé C x A - was established in 1885 in San Pedro de Macorís by the firm Vasquez, Rousset & Cia. formed by Frenchman Augusto Rousset.  The 1907 publication The Dominican Republic published by the Department of Promotions and Public Works, states that Santa Fé was owned by a syndicate formed by Bartram Brothers and Salvador Emilio Ross.  According to the Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer in its edition of August 5, 1922, it was owned by US naturalized and Cuban born Salvador Ross.  In 1925 Central Romana acquired all of the outstanding stock of Ingenio Santa Fé C. x A. including its mill and about 75,000 acres of land.  The mill, with a daily milling capacity of 3,200 tons of sugarcane, was acquired on March 1957 from the South Porto Rico Sugar Co. by Azucarera Haina C x A for US$2.8 million, great part of the land owned by Ingenio Santa Fé was not part of the sale.  It closed after the 2006 season and has since been dismantled.​​

  • Ingenio Barahona[2] - was the initiative in 1916 of José Eleuterio Hatton (1854- ) and his son Richard under the corporate name Barahona Sugar Company, a New York company.  Hatton ran out of capital to invest in Barahona in 1920.  In 1921, the National City Bank foreclosed on its outstanding loans to the Barahona Sugar Co. and acquired title.  National City Bank subsequently transferred title to the Cuban Dominican Sugar Co., successor to the West India Finance Co., who finished the mill in time for its first milling season of 1922-23.  It was located in the southwestern coastal city of the same name with a daily milling capacity of 4,536 mt of sugarcane or approximately 7% of the total national capacity.  At inception, it controlled 49,400 acres of land and was the 2nd largest sugar estate in the country after Central Romana.

  • Quisqueya Sugar Co.[2] - established in 1892 in San Pedro de Macorís by Cuban immigrant Juan Fernandez de Castro, who also established Ingenio Cristobal Colón in 1882 together with Emilio Loret Mola under the name Castro, Mola & Cia.  The publication The Dominican Republic published in 1907 by the Dominican Department of Promotions and Public Works, states that Quisqueya was then owned by Bartram Brothers.  It was acquired in 1920 by the West India Sugar Finance Corp. who was the seller to Azucarera Haina C x A.  The West India Sugar Finance Corp. operated the sugar mill under the corporate name Compañia Azucarera Dominicana whose Vice President was Edwin I. Kilbourne.

  • Ingenio Consuelo[2] - established in 1881 as Ingenio Agua Dulce in San Pedro de Macorís by Cuban immigrants of Catalonian descent descent Pablo Padrón and Pedro Solaún of the firm Padrón, Solaún & Cia.  Was acquired in 1886 by US born Alexander Bass, machinist at Ingenio San Agustín in Cuba and gifted to his Cuban born son William Louis Bass who changed the name to honor his mother and operated the sugar factory with his assistant Edwin I. Kilbourne.  Under the ownership and administration of Bass, it would later become the most modern in the region.  Due to excessive debt acquired to upgrade its machinery, Ingenio Consuelo was sold under duress in 1910 to Bartram Brothers when Kilbourne became its Manager.  Kilbourne continued in the position through 1920, the year Consuelo was acquired by the Cuban-Santo Domingo Sugar Development Syndicate.  On March 21, 1922 The Cuban-Dominican Sugar Co. was established as a Maryland corporation to take over the holdings of the Cuban-Dominican Sugar Development Syndicate which in turn was established in May 1920 as the result of a reorganization to take over some properties of the West India Sugar Finance Corp.  Officers and Directors of the Cuban-Dominican Sugar Co. were sugar men closely associated with the West India Sugar Finance Corp.  In 1950 Ingenio Consuelo expanded its land holdings by acquiring Ingenio Las Pajas which had ceased to operate in 1948. 

  • Ingenio Boca Chica[2] - Established in 1916 as Central San José by Spanish immigrants Juan Parra Alba ( -1922) and Puerto Rico resident Rafael Fabián.  The Louisiana Planter & Sugar Manufacturer edition of October 19, 1919 reports that “There are five new sugar factories under construction.  Three located in the Santo Domingo district, namely, one each at La Romana, San Pedro de Macoris and Bocachita (sic).”  It was the smallest of the mills owned by the Cuban Dominican Sugar Co.  The publication Facts About Sugar in its edition of 11/11/22 states “There have been some important changes in the personnel of the Dominican estates recently, one of which takes Samuel Ginsberg, who played an important part in the building of La Romana, to Boca Chica as administrator there.  Boca Chica is one of the estates that has suffered from the crisis in the industry and the Banco Territorial of Puerto Rico is taking over the management.”  The book Género y Trabajo: La industria del Aguja en Puerto Rico y el Caribe Hispano by Maria del Carmen Baerga states that Puerto Rican Rafael Fabián was president of Las Pajas and Boca Chica.  Apparently not a coincidence, Fabián was at one time also president of Banco Territorial y Agricola de Puerto Rico.  The 1927 Report of the Twelfth Fiscal Period Dominican Customs Receivership submitted to the Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department in Washington DC per the American-Dominican Convention of 1924 states that “Likewise the Montellano estate, near Puerto Plata, passed to new owners, the Puerto Plata Sugar Co. and the Central Boca Chica, Macoris Province, to American ownership.” In it issue of January 6, 1949 The NY Times reports that the West Indies Sugar Corp. (successor to the Cuban Dominican Sugar Co.) acquired all the shares of Corporación Azucarera Boca Chica.  Ingenio Boca Chica ceased to operate in 2007, it has since been demolished and all that is left is the chimney and a Baldwin steam locomotive on a plinth inside a children playground. 

• Azucarera Nacional C x A - Established in 1953 by Juan Antonio Jiménez Alvarez as the successor to Ingenio Porvenir CxA.  In November 1953 Central Rio Haina C x A was acquired by Banco de Crédito Agricola e Industrial who turned around and sold it to Azucarera Nacional C x A owned by Juan Antonio Jimenez Alvarez. 
  

  • Central Catarey C x A - was established by Trujillo in 1950 to build Ingenio Catarey in part with machinery from Central Santa Bárbara in Puerto Rico.  By virtue of a contract signed February 1952, it was managed until September 1953 by Administradora de Ingenios C x A, a subsidiary of the South Porto Rico Sugar Corp.  Ingenio Las Pajas had been established in 1918 in San Pedro de Macorís by Juan Martín Santoni and Gaetan Bucher under the corporate name Dominican Sugar Co.  In 1950 after two years of ceasing to operate, Ingenio Las Pajas was acquired by Ingenio Consuelo for its land.  Las Pajas' machinery was then acquired by Trujillo and installed at Catarey.  Central Catarey C x A was acquired in 1953 by Azucarera Nacional C x A and operated until ca. 1987.    

  • Ingenio Porvenir C x A - was established in 1879 by Santiago Mellor and sometime between 1914 and 1927 acquired by Hugh Kelly.  In 1953 Juan Antonio Jimenez Alvarez acquired all the shares of Ingenio Porvenir C x A and shortly thereafter changed its name to Azucarera Nacional C x A.

  • Bergantín Corporation - started as a 6,000 acre sugar plantation known as “La Empresa Montellano” in the port of Bergantin near Puerto Plata.  Construction of the sugar mill, which machinery was acquired from the defunct Central Providencia in Puerto Rico, was started in 1918 by brothers Rodolfo and Augusto Bentz and finished in time for the 1923 season.  Timing for this sugar mill was unfortunate as it was conceived during a time when the price of sugar in world markets had reached almost 25¢ a pound but started operations when the price of sugar had come back down to 2¢ never to go back up.  In 1926, the National City Bank, as successor to the American Foreign Bank who in turn was the successor to the Banco Nacional de Jarvis, acquired Montellano and sold it to Puerto Plata Sugar Co. Inc., a Delaware corporation.  In 1948, Edwin Kilbourne, manager of the Cuban-Dominican Sugar Co. and vice-president of Puerto Plata Sugar Co., personally acquired Montellano from the Chase Manhattan Bank under the corporate name of Bergantin Corporation and operated it until 1952.  In 1952 Kilbourne sold Ingenio Monte Llano C x A to Central Rio Haina C x A reportedly for 40% of its fair market value, Central Rio Haina C x A turned around and in late 1953 sold it to Azucarera Nacional C x A.

  • Ozama Sugar Limited - originally established as Ingenio San Luis in 1881 at El Pajarito by Luis Cambiaso, it was acquired ca. 1908 by Puerto Rican Santiago Michelena (1862-1928) who moved it to La Cortadera.  It was left inoperative due to damages caused by Hurricane San Zenón of 1930 after which it was acquired by the Bank of Nova Scotia and rebuilt it in time for the 1939 season.  The Ozama Sugar Limited Co. of Canada acquired the sugar mill from the Bank of Nova Scotia and operated it until 1955 when it was sold to Azucarera Nacional C x A for approximately ½ its book value.

• Azucarera del Yaque C x A
  

  • Ingenio Esperanza - built in 1954 in the Valverde Province near Puerto Plata, it owned approximately 77,500 acres of which about 10% was planted with sugarcane.  It operated until 1989.

The sugar corporations owned by Trujillo were very profitable, reportedly yielding profits of US$73 million between 1953 and 1957.  At the time of his death in 1961, his personal sugar related holdings included the above twelve sugar mills.  Two major ownership groups were not affected by the Trujillo acquisitions, the South Porto Rico Sugar Co. owner of Central Romana, and the General Industrial Co., the successor to Juan Bautista Vicini interests. Today, in addition to the four sugar mill in operation, remains are left of Ingenio Santa Fe, Ingenio Consuelo, Ingenio Angelina, Ingenio Ozama, Ingenio Rio Haina, Ingenio Montellano, Ingenio Boca Chica, Ingenio Esperanza and Ingenio Ansonia.

It is said that Trujillo wanted to own twelve ingenios that way beating Julio Lobo in Cuba who with eleven to his name was called the Sugar Czar.

________________________________________________________________________________

[1] As opposed to Puerto Rico and Cuba where a central sugar mill is called a “central”, in the Dominican Republic they are called “Ingenios”

[2] Ingenios Barahona, Consuelo, Quisqueya and Boca Chica were all acquired in January 21, 1957 from the West India Sugar Finance Corp. for US$35.5 million, US$10 million to be paid at closing with the balance to be paid in three consecutive annual installments beginning on September 1957, which payments were all made as agreed.