Trujillo Assassinated; CIA Provided Weapons

Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo was assassinated on May 30, 1961. Church Committee investigations (1975) confirmed that the CIA had provided weapons to the conspirators, though the extent of direct US operational involvement remains disputed. The assassination removed a US client who had become an embarrassment but left a power vacuum that destabilized the country and contributed to the 1965 US military intervention.