Amín Abel Hasbún

Amín Abel Hasbún (12 October 1942 – 24 September 1970) was a Dominican civil engineer, student leader and political activist. A leading figure of student movements in the 1960s, he is remembered for his role in the struggle for university autonomy, his opposition to authoritarian regimes in the Dominican Republic and his political organizing with the Movimiento Popular Dominicano (MPD). He was killed during a police raid in 1970; his death is widely commemorated by student groups and leftist organizations in the Dominican Republic.

Early life and education Amín Abel Hasbún was born in Santo Domingo on 12 October 1942 to a family of Palestinian-Arab descent. He completed his secondary studies at Colegio La Salle in 1958 where he graduated as Bachiller en Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas and was awarded the distinction Alumno Eminente.

Political activism Hasbún began his political activism in the early 1960s, taking part in clandestine opposition to the Trujillo dictatorship and later participating in street mobilizations following Trujillo's fall.

He joined the Movimiento Popular Dominicano (MPD) where he took leadership roles and worked on urban and rural organizing. He was repeatedly targeted by state security forces during a period of repression under the administration of Joaquín Balaguer.

Arrest, writings and death In February 1968 Hasbún was arrested during organizing among sugar workers in San Francisco de Macorís and was released in June of the same year.

On 24 September 1970, Hasbún was shot and killed during a police raid at his home in Santo Domingo. Contemporary accounts and later commemorations treat his killing as a politically motivated assassination carried out in the context of state repression against leftist activists; his wife Mirna Santos and their young son were at home at the time.

Selected works

América Latina busca su camino (manuscript, incomplete — posthumously published 1972).