Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04SANTODOMINGO537
2004-01-28 22:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Santo Domingo
Cable title:  

DOMINICAN WORK STOPPAGE, JAN 28-29: STREETS ARE

Tags:  PGOV ELAB ASEC DR 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 000537 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA, DRL, AND CA
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON
LABOR FOR ILAB
TREASURY FOR OASIA-LAMONICA
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2006
TAGS: PGOV ELAB ASEC DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN WORK STOPPAGE, JAN 28-29: STREETS ARE
DESERTED

REF: A. (A) SANTO DOMINGO 490

B. (B) IIR 6 827 0045 04 (NOTAL)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 000537

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA, DRL, AND CA
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON
LABOR FOR ILAB
TREASURY FOR OASIA-LAMONICA
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2006
TAGS: PGOV ELAB ASEC DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN WORK STOPPAGE, JAN 28-29: STREETS ARE
DESERTED

REF: A. (A) SANTO DOMINGO 490

B. (B) IIR 6 827 0045 04 (NOTAL)


1. (SBU) Most businesses were shuttered and schools were
closed for the January 28-29 national work stoppage in the
Dominican Republic, called by a coalition of community,
labor, student, and political groups to protest economic and
social policies. Banks and supermarkets were open but
neighborhood groceries ("colmados") were not. As of late
afternoon, streets in Santo Domingo were generally calm with
light traffic. There was virtually no public transport, other
than an occasional bus operated by the government public
transit company, usually with police riders aboard. The
ports were receiving and unloading ships but there was no
transport available to move containers out of port areas.


2. (SBU) As in the November one-day strike, police carried
out sweeps ahead of time to arrest likely troublemakers.
Police were deployed throughout the country, with their
presence heaviest in towns with a history of civil
disturbances. The military were in the barracks, except for
some heavily armed military patrols in at least three
northern towns including Puerto Plata, two towns in the
Southwest, and remote neighborhoods of the capital.


3. (SBU) A senior police official told us three persons were
arrested from January 27 to early January 28, by police
accompanied by a prosecutor's office representative, and were
immediately released. The official said about a dozen
persons have been detained for burning trees or disturbing
the peace.


4. (C) President Mejia sent an advisor to the Embassy at
mid-day on January 28 to assure the political officer that
authorities had "absolute control" of the situation. Mejia
addressed the nation yesterday evening to urge calm and to
deplore the "3 billion pesos" in economic activity likely to
be lost to the strike.


5. (SBU) Some of our contacts are apprehensive about
possible disturbances in the evening hours. Others consider
that the strike is likely to continue without event or even
to peter out tomorrow.


6. (SBU) Military and intelligence contacts say that violent
incidents have occurred in Salcedo and Navarrete in the
north, and homemade bombs have detonated in several interior
towns with minimal damage. Morning rotestors in two
neighborhoods of Santo Domingo burned two cars, knocked down
trees, and threw rocks. Burning tires were reported in a
dozen locations in the capital. An industrial free zone at
Las Americas International Airport near Santo Domingo closed
during the day upon receiving reports that sharp objects were
being strewn on the airport highway -- but in mid-afternoon
Embassy personnel found the highway open and unobstructed,
with no signs of protest.


7. (SBU) Our sources comment that if serious disturbances
occur, they are more likely to begin at nightfall. Security
forces withdraw patrols from rough neighborhoods at night,
although they will maintain perimeters.


8. (SBU) Opposition political party contacts deny rumors that
they are paying protesters to stir up trouble. Our contacts
believe that anti-Mejia political leaders would not engage in
such tactics, although neighborhood party members might. They
recalled the brief demonstrations at Santo Domingo university
UASD on the afternoon of January 23, during which masked
youths burned a vehicle and police responded with tear gas
volleys.


9. (SBU) On January 27, the day before the formal strike,
medical personnel at public hospitals shut down routine
outpatient care, with demands for a doubling of salaries;
GODR health officials said they had agreed to speed up
disbursements to the health sector but did not offer
increases. President Mejia said he would consider strikers'
demands for higher pay, provided they helped lobby Congress
for the increase. A GODR medical official told us the Mejia
administration has already taken measures to improve
equipment and working conditions at the hospitals. Private
hospitals and clinics used by Embassy personnel were not
affected by the strike.

COMMENT


10. (SBU) So far, the echoing silence of the work stoppage
has provided everyone evidence of a national consensus that
Dominicans are unhappy with economic conditions, inflation,
and electricity blackouts. The absence of organized protests
today contrasts eerily with Monday's well-attended PLD
cavalcade on the Duarte Day national holiday and with Tuesday
night's midnight parades across town by fans celebrating the
championship of Santo Domingo baseball team Licey. We expect
that the political campaigns will channel Dominican energies
over the months between now and the May 16 first round vote.
HERTELL