To listen an announcement about this special presentation, click here.

By public demand, the Institute for Latino Studies is proud to announce the presentation Los Panfleteros de Santiago (Santiago’s Pamphleteers) at the youth workshop scheduled to take place at CODA’s 10th Annual Conference on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at Rutgers School of Law in Newark, NJ.

The production is an English-subtitled documentary film about the courage and heroism of 27 young Dominican rebels who used flyers to exercise freedom of speech in an attempt to reclaim the Dominican Republic from dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.  Only one of the victims’ mothers is still living; at the age of eighty, she continues to call for justice, asking in vain, “Where are the graves of my son and Santiago’s pamphleteers?”

This documentary film is an original production of the Institute for Latino Studies, the New Jersey Conference on Dominican Affairs (CODA) and the Common Roots Project.

Based on the writings of Dr. Ramón Antonio Veras (Negro Veras), Los Panfleteros de Santiago presents rare archival materials and compelling interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses to the torture and execution of the 27 young panfleteros.

The presentation will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Veras, who is himself a survivor of the panfletero atrocity.  Dr. Veras will travel from the Dominican Republic to participate in this event.

“We sought to awaken the peoples’ conscience, so that they would know that Trujillo could be challenged and confronted,” said Dr. Veras.  “Up till then, the people accepted everything; no one protested; the only voice, the only propaganda that was heard was Trujillo’s.  We wanted to counter this by saying, ‘No, we also have our own truth’.”

To hear Dr. Veras’ testimony about the historical significance of documentary Los Panfleteros de Santiago, please click here: Testimony.

To watch a trailer, click here.

Sobre el Documental

Los Panfleteros de Santiago es un documental cinematográfico original que relata la historia de valentía y heroísmo de 32 jóvenes rebeldes que ejerciendo derecho a expresión, desafiaron la cruel tiranía del dictador Rafael Leonidas Trujillo distribuyendo un panfleto hiriente y de oposición, hecho a mano. El documental es una producción original del New Jersey Institute For Latino Studies, La Conference on Dominican Affairs (CODA) y el Common Roots Project.

Basado en los escritos del Dr. Ramón Antonio Veras (Negro Veras), Los Panfleteros de Santiago presenta material de archivos nunca antes vistos e incluye conmovedoras entrevistas con sobrevivientes y testigos de la tortura y ejecución de 27 jóvenes panfleteros de los barrios de Santiago, República Dominicana.

Para escuchar un anuncio sobre esta presentacion, pulse aqui.

To register for CODA’s 10th Annual Conference, click here.