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Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (October 24, 1891–May 30, 1961) was a dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until 1961, occupying the Presidency of the Republic from 1930 until 1938 and again from 1942 until 1952, but always holding absolute power over all Dominican territory. His tyranny, historically known as "La Era de Trujillo" or "The Trujillo Era", is considered one of the bloodiest of the 20th century. Popularly, he was known as "El Jefe" or "The Chief", or by some derisive nicknames as "The Goat" or "Chapitas", the later because of his indiscriminate use of medals, referring to the use of bottlecaps (chapitas) as toy medals by Dominican children.