José Joaquín Puello

José Joaquín Puello de Castro (c. 1806 – 23 December 1847) was a Dominican revolutionary and military general who served as government minister in the Dominican Republic. He and his brothers, Gabino and Eusebio, were some of the prominent black leaders in the Dominican War of Independence. He stood out as a strategist in the wars of independence. He contributed to the plans of the Trinitarios, managing to integrate other figures such as Juan Erazo, Juan Alejandro Acosta and others into the fight who later stood out in patriotic interest.

His participation in the proclamation of Independence on February 27, 1844, marks him as the officer who managed the black battalion that was camped on the left bank of the Ozama River on the eve of the assault on the Puerta del Conde, deciding its adhesion to the movement. Detached on the southern border, he stopped the advance of the Haitian troops in the Battle of Estrelleta, on September 17, 1845. Since then he served Pedro Santana as Minister of the Interior and Police for two years, when he was accused of leading a conspiracy against the government.

Those who accused Duarte of being a traitor to the country and exiled him, hatched the plot against General José Joaquín Puello, instigated by the French consul, Eustache de Saint Denys, inventing a conspiracy headed by him. Santana, upon learning of the accusation, decided to punish the person he had previously endorsed as interim Minister of the Interior and Police, making him a prisoner in the home of the President of the Republic, and then relying on article 210 of the Constitution of 1844, brought to trial in December 1847. Sentenced to death along with other of his relatives, General José Joaquín Puello was shot on December 23, 1847.