Plots, intrigue, and abortive insurrections continue under…

Plots, intrigue, and abortive insurrections continue under Heureaux's rule, but he faces no serious challenges until his assassination in 1899.

He continues to govern in mock-constitutional fashion, achieving reelections through institutionalized fraud, even as repression worsens.

Like Santana and Baéz before him, Heureaux seeks the protection of a foreign power, principally the United States.

Although annexation is no longer an option, the dictator offers to lease the Samana Peninsula to the United States.

The arrangement is never consummated, however, because of opposition from the liberal wing of the Blue Party and a number of concerned European powers.

In spite of protests from Germany, Britain, and France, in 1891 Washington and Santo Domingo conclude  a reciprocity treaty that allows twenty-six United States products free entry into the Dominican market in exchange for similar duty-free access for certain Dominican goods.