Antonio de la Maza

Who was Antonio de la Maza?

Antonio de la Maza was a Dominican businessman based in Santo Domingo. He was an opponent of Rafael Trujillo, and was one of the principle conspirators in the assassination of the aforementioned dictator that took place on May 30, 1961.

De la Maza grew up in Moca, Espaillat. His family had ties to Horacio Vasquez who was ousted by Trujillo when he started his reign in 1930. 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.

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. A few days later de la Maza and Tomas Diaz were killed by the SIM when coming out of hiding.