How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I see the picture of our president with eyes that follow me around the room, and I am thinking he is trying to catch me doing something wrong. Before, I always thought our president was like God, watching over everything I did. (1.3.107)
When Mate finds out that the president isn't such a great guy (what with all the murdering he's been doing) she finds it hard to believe. For her, he was so powerful that she thought of him as godlike, all-powerful. And when the all-powerful turn out to be evil, it's a pretty frightening prospect.
Quote #8
Then there had been the silence that always followed any compromising mention of the regime in public. One could never be sure who in a group might report what to the police. Every large household was said to have a servant on double payroll. (2.5.94)
"Double payroll" comes up regularly in the novel. It's the idea that a person can be working in one job, collecting a paycheck there, but reporting everything they see on the job to Security and getting another paycheck there. Trujillo maintained his power by employing spies everywhere.
Quote #9
Mamá wanted to get me a medical excuse from Doctor Lavandier. After all, migraines and asthma attacks weren't against the law, were they?
"Trujillo is the law," Papá whispered, as we all did nowadays when we pronounced the dreaded name. (2.6.54-55)
One of the most despicable abuses of power that Trujillo committed was the way he forced young girls into having sex with him by instilling them with fear of their families being punished if they refused. When he explicitly invites Minerva to a party, Mamá knows exactly what it means and wants to protect her daughter from the bad dude. The dad is more practical though, seeing Trujillo's desire as synonymous with the law—there's no escape.