DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THE CARIBBEAN'S BOX FULL OF SURPRISES

...."The Dominican Republic to me is like a jigsaw puzzle, and I would just as soon sweep it under the rug".....this curious remark strange as it might seem, was attributed to none other than that legendary Texan who was occupying the White House in 1965, when LBJ himself ordered the invasion of Dominican Republic, in order to forestall what he claimed was "another communist government in the Western Hemisphere".  LBJ in his characteristic folksy style, was actually not very far from an accurate political analysis of this unique Caribbean nation which first felt its birth pangs in 1844.  Suffice it to say, that part of the complexity of being able to accurately describe Dominican history and politics, is the simple fact this nation shares an island with another nation, also known for its unique history in the region and indeed the world.  We will not attempt to compare Haitian and Dominican history here, a subject much written about even in contemporary times.

Our immediate task is the recent turn of events that in typically Dominican fashion, is again thrusting this key nation of the Caribbean into another of its historical junctures.  2016 is already shaping out to be a year, wherein the Dominican nation will not disappoint the region and perhaps even the world, regarding the possible turn of events that will unravel during D. R.'s presidential and general elections.  We can safely assume, that Dominican historical unpredictability could be looming again over the horizon, in keeping with LBJ's folksy and indeed instinctive remark.  For the first time in recent memory, it is quite possible that the current stranglehold that the ruling PLD party has on D. R., could very well  dissolve as result of the 2016 elections.  The PLD was comfortably betting until recently, on a weak and disorganized political opposition from its main opponent the PRD.  Those of us following the labyrinth of Dominican politics, still vividly remember when about two years ago, the opposing PRD's convention looked more like a Caribbean version of a Keystone Cops movie on steroids, rather than a serious political conclave.  Gone are the days already, when the main Dominican opposition party would conduct their conventions, ducking the incoming shrapnel of broken plastic chairs and tables flying through the air, improvised sidewalk boxing matches between factional participants, and even live rounds fired from side arms which would fortuitously land on some hapless PRD official,   whereupon with a leg drenched in blood he was carried away from the melee by his sweating and bruised comrades in the middle of Santo Domingo.  A Caribbean political  donnybrook of such magnitude was this PRD convention, that not even the feared Dominican national police dared intervene in, since they were well aware what could happen to them, should they unwisely attempt to referee such telluric turmoil.

The above surreal scene amusing as it may seem, we can now nostalgically look back upon and safely store in the historical vaults of D. R.'s recent political history, as we now see appearing briskly on the Dominican political scenario the fresh and sharp looks of a descendant of Lebanese immigrants, by the name of Luis Abinader.  An economist and entrepreneur, Mr. Abinader's impressive resume includes postgraduate studies at Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as Harvard and Dartmouth.  He heads the new and dynamic PRM or "Partido Revolucionario Moderno", which has a historical link to the older PRD party which was one of the oldest democratic parties in the Caribbean-Central American Basin, founded by Professor Juan Bosch in Cuba in 1939.  After forming the new PRM with other colleagues,Mr. Abinader's political career has dramatically soared to the point, where he appears now to be the undisputed presidential candidate not only from the PRM, but from an increasingly growing allied collective of opposition parties as well.  The core formation of this coalition centers around "La Convergencia", which was the PRM's original alliance with such parties as the "Partido Humanista Dominicano" or the PHD.



  

Mr. Luis Abinader, a U.S.-trained economist & experienced entrepreneur could very well be surging from Dominican Republic's political Pandora's box, looming large against the current stranglehold that the ruling & corrupt PLD party, has kept on this key Caribbean nation. 

Another twist to "La Convergencia" has been the inclusion of "La Multitud" social movement, which is a maverick political collective of mostly young Dominicans mainly from the Capital in Santo Domingo, but which has eventually spread throughout the country's geography.  La Multitud for instance has employed activist-type tactics to get its progressive message out to the masses, as well as training its own hard core& articulate militants, through weekly educational meetings announced through Twitter and Facebook.  Another popular and crowd drawing activity by La Multitud, has been their series of mock "popular trials", of openly known corrupt politicians from the ruling PLD party, transmitted at times via live Ustream, in turn "mirrored" by well known Occupy Wall Street interactive Livestream platforms, such as GlobalRevolution.tv in New York City & Occupy Toronto.   The working arrangement between La Multitud social movement and Abinader's PRM in turn, is known as "La Multitud en Convergencia".  La Multitud is led by the young Dominican economist  Hecmilio Galvan, well known in the eastern side of the island, and who himself aspires for a senatorial seat in his jurisdiction.  Mr. Galvan by the way is a very avid Twitter and Facebook fan, with ocassional incursions into Instagram, reflecting thusly the new wave of young Dominican techno-politicians.   

But the PRM and the "Convergencia" and "La Multitud" innovative coalitions, are not merely content in maintaining their electoral turf.  Mr. Abinader's peripheral and strategic vision ranges far beyond this centrist-progressive core.  We could safely predict that the ideological spectrum which will spread out from this central core, will range even towards the center-right spectrum which will eventually include the new and very active party of "Dominicanos por el Cambio" (DXC), led by renowned civil engineer Eduardo Estrella.  Mr. Estrella has also been a very vocal advocate of a united opposition front, looking towards the 2016 elections.  The DXC party is another of Dominican Republic's new and dynamic political parties, also endowed with young leadership.  Its high profile leader Mr. Estrella, has been one of the most vocal political figures in Dominican Republic, denouncing throughout different media forums the rampant institutional corruption of the ruling PLD party, which for instance shamefully culminated in the recent dismissal of corruption charges against PLD senator Felix Bautista by the country's supreme court.  These charges had been brought about by Dominican Republic's Attorney General Dominguez Brito, a tireless campaigner against corruption in his own right, but who is hamstrung by a system in which all three branches of government, are part and parcel of the ruling and corrupt PLD party, which in turn fosters this openly known atmosphere of impunity, in order to brazenly keep its stranglehold on this country.

Working against this unsavory backdrop of corruption and impunity, Mr. Abinader has moved forward with savvy vision, recently appointing a commission within the PRM, authorized into entering in further pacts with other political parties, which primarily come from other progressive sectors of D. R.  Frente Amplio and Alianza Pais, are two of those prominent progressive formations.  Alianza Pais is led by Dr. Guillermo Moreno, another fearless anti-corruption fighter in the Dominican scene, who has himself filed formal charges of corruption against former president Leonel Fernandez with the Santo Domingo prosecutor.  The charges were against Fernandez and his rather byzantine NGO known as "FUNGLODE", and its somewhat shady financial dealings.  For the benefit of our readers, FUNGLODE is no humble third world NGO, as it boasts upscale facilities in Manhattan, as well as in that sacrosanct swath of real estate known to us common mortals as, "K Street N.W.", Washington, D. C, the world's epicenter of influence peddling and lobbying.  

FrenteAmplio on the other hand, seems to draw on the strength of its grassroots social movement origins.  Mr. Fidel Santana is leader of Frente Amplio, and he comes from the veteran ranks of probably the most emblematic popular movement in D. R. known as FALPO.  FALPO's grassroots strength in turn is centered within the populous Cibao Region of D. R., located roughly in the north central part of the country.  It is open knowledge in D. R., that not a few of FALPO's protesters have died at the hands of Dominican national police during direct actions, in what best could be described as extrajudicial killings, inasmuch as many of these killings by the police have gone unpunished.  The modus operandi of these killings by the way, are not very different from those perpetrated by police against young African-Americans in the U. S. as in the recent cases of Ferguson, Missouri or New York, and again with similar attendant results of official impunity.

Regarding the history of this now growing PRM coalition, a leading intellectual of Dominican Republic, and currently a deputy in the national assembly representing the PRM, Hugo Tolentino Dipp, stated in a live TV interview about two years ago, that it would be inevitable that the opposition forces of Dominican Republic, would ultimately have to form what he termed a "united opposition front".  The conditions on the ground at the time of Mr. Dipp's virtually prophetic pronouncement, were nowhere then nearly as close to what they are today.  The ruling PLD party has been beset by institutionalized corruption, to a degree never seen in recent memory in D. R.  For instance, some educated estimates of senator Felix Bautista's alleged  amount of ill-gotten riches, while conducting with impunity all sorts of shady deals while in office, are placed in the hundreds of millions of dollars and upwards to a cool billion dollars.  Senator Bautista has been also suspected of illegally financing neo-Duvalierist Michel Martelly's presidential campaign in nearby Haiti, as well as Alejandro Toledo's presidential campaign in Peru.  For this latter case, senator Bautista is being investigated in that South American country. 

The above reasons, among many other examples of PLD corruption, are why streetwise Dominicans nicknamed these elected PLD officials as the "come solos", or figuratively those that "eat by themselves".  This folkloric description, defines the characteristic unchecked greed that permeates throughout the rank and file of the ruling PLD.  Indeed in a country where there is still rampant poverty and unemployment, and where by some estimates upwards of 700,000 youths neither work nor study, grotesque political figures like senator Bautista are indeed an obscene affront to a country, which is well known for its vast natural resources and rich agricultural production, to name just two strong areas of D. R.'s economy.  But income inequality with the incumbent and corrupt PLD, has soared in recent times, creating within their ranks a new socioeconomic strata of "nouveau riches", at the cost of course of the much larger masses of socially disenfranchised Dominicans.  To point out a salient evidence of this income inequality, the basic monthly salary of a Dominican national police officer is barely around $200 US dollars.  This in turn causes many national police members, to incur in illicit activities.  In this regard the Santo Domingo district public prosecutor recently declared, that statistics showed an inordinate amount of crime was being perpetrated by national police members.

The 2016 presidential elections in Dominican Republic will take place against this stark backdrop, of inequality, corruption and unresolved social problems.  On the one hand, we have the greedy and gluttonous "come solos" of the corrupt PLD party, having to themselves a cornucopian feast of gargantuan proportions, continually enriching themselves in an illicit manner just like senator Bautista, who incredibly enough everybody in the country knows he was a hapless "bodega" employee some years ago in the U. S. A., and now he parades himself like a peacock with brazen impunity in D. R., possessing ill-gotten riches which if scrutinized in any court of law worth its salt, it would be extremely doubtful that they would pass the litmus test.  On the other side of the ring, we have Mr. Luis Abinader, not just merely another pretty face, but a hard working entrepreneur and U.S.-trained economist, who has an incredible vision to lead a wide ranging coalition that spreads out from its centrist social democrat PRM party, out to the pragmatic right and left, including grassroots social movements as well.  This political conglomeration is unlike anything we have seen in recent memory in our hemisphere, but especially in the Caribbean-Central American region.  The historical exception perhaps could be the  experience of Salvador Allende's "Unidad Popular" electoral front, which  made history in our hemisphere in 1970, and which incidentally included Christian Democrats.  It took Allende three decades to lay the groundwork to assume power, according to Patricio Guzman's documentary on Salvador Allende Gossens.  Mr. Abinader and his PRM coalition however, have on their side the time compression and force multiplier effect of the social media era, coupled with the ripened historical conditions on the ground, of a country long fed up with institutionalized corruption and impunity, as well as unresolved socioeconomic dilemmas.  The corruption issue alone has become one of Dominican Republic's most prevalent woes, going into its 2016 electoral campaign.  Recently, the U. S. ambassador denounced the egregious climate of corruption in this country.  On the other hand, president Medina who is running for re-election under the utterly corrupt PLD party, has taken a lukewarm stance against corruption.  The 2016 general elections in all likelihood will decide, whether the people of Dominican Republic, will continue to tolerate or not the rampant corruption, which is eating away at the very core of its embattled society.  Who knows, maybe the words of that legendary Texan who occupied the White House in 1965, will be ringing in our ears once again in 2016.  But this time, instead of LBJ sweeping Dominican Republic "under the rug", perhaps Destiny and Providence will smile at her weary but brave people once again, and 2016 could very well become the year of its rebirth.