Elías Wessin was an air force officer who played a major role in the politics of the Dominican Republic in a period characterised by political plots, changing alliances and coups d'état.

General Wessin was the military leader behind the coup that ousted Juan Bosch's socialist government in 1963 and replaced it with a civilian triumvirate. Wessin also played a central role in the ensuing civil war that led to armed intervention by the US in 1965. He was a key figure among the reactionaries because he was head of an elite unit able to operate autonomously.

Wessin subsequently abandoned insurrectionism and founded his own party, the Partido Quisqueyano Demócrata, which is still active today under the leadership of his son. In the political arena, Wessin was remarkably successful at forging alliances with both the left and the right.

Like many Dominican officers who played a prominent interventionist role in politics, Wessin maintained that his actions were always driven by his desire to safeguard the nation. "My actions before, during and after the April 1965 war were undertaken with the strong conviction that a Socialist regime was not convenient for the Dominican Republic," he later said. Bosch's constitution, that promoted workers' rights and land distribution, was immediately suspended following the coup.

The US invaded the Dominican Republic in 1965 under codename Operation Power Pack to ensure that Bosch was not reinstated by his followers, known as constitutionalists. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was a recent setback and the US wanted to secure firm allies in its hemisphere during the Cold War. Wessin, however, was forced to leave the country in a political deal and spent four years living in the US. Shortly after his return, he was accused of conspiring against the government of President Joaquín Balaguer and spent a further seven-year period in exile.

From outside the country, Wessin unsuccessfully ran for office as the vice-presidential candidate representing a coalition of both the left and right, including Bosch's Dominican Revolutionary Party. In 1978 Wessin was able to return to the Dominican Republic following a general amnesty of political exiles. Wessin also resolved his differences with his former rival, Balaguer, and campaigned for the president's re-election in 1986. As result, Wessin served as interior minister and later as armed forces' minister.

Wessin was born to Lebanese immigrant parents in 1924 in Bayaguana, Monte Plata province, northern Dominican Republic. He joined the air force and trained as a military pilot. His first political action as an officer was in 1961, following the assassination of the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Wessin, who at the time was commanding an infantry battalion, helped Trujillo's family flee the country.

Wessin died of a heart attack in Santo Domingo. He is survived by his wife, Livia Chávez, and two sons.

Elías Wessin y Wessin, Dominican general and politician, was born on July 22, 1924. He died on April 18, 2009, aged 84