Dominican Republic opens museum of memory

Here's a first for me: I don't think I've blogged about the Dominican Republic before, and it's a positive post as well, so that's even better.

The island republic has inaugurated a museum dealing with its history under dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.

"The Haitian genocide was the greatest crime against humanity of Trujillo's tyranny," said Luisa De Pena, director of the Dominican Resistance Memorial Museum. "Dominican society has to face the crimes that occurred and make them part of its public conscience so that way it can move forward."

Hear, hear. The Associated Press reports that the museum "will feature a re-creation of a prison torture chamber, along with audio of some of the actual torture sessions" - sounds pretty gruesome, but could be very effective if sensitively done. The museum has a website here.

DomRep museum to honor victims of dictatorship (AP)
Inauguration of Memorial Museum of Dominican Resistance (UNESCO)
Memorial Museum of Dominican Resistance inauguration (Colonial Zone News Blog)