DOMINICAN WORK STOPPAGE, JAN 28-29: FEW GAINS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 000794

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: 02/05/2009
TAGS: PGOV ELAB ASEC DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN WORK STOPPAGE, JAN 28-29: FEW GAINS

REF: SANTO DOMINGO 537

Classified By: Economic & Political Counselor Michael Meigs. Reason: 1
.5 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: The Dominican Republic has returned to
normal after a January 28-29 national work stoppage by labor
and community groups and small leftist parties. The stoppage
was successful for the opposition in gaining widespread
Dominican support and successful for the government in that
violence was limited to eight dead in only scattered,
isolated confrontations. Many were arrested before or during
the stoppage and detained for its duration; most have been
released. Some human rights abuses occurred. The message is
that Dominicans are glumly unhappy about deteriorating
economic conditions. The rising tempo of presidential
election campaign activities should distract discontented
citizens and encourage them to make their opinions known via
the ballot box. End summary.


2. (SBU) Productive activity and traffic returned to normal
in the Dominican Republic January 30 after a two-day national
work stoppage, in which most businesses and offices closed as
most employees and customers stayed home. The ad hoc
"Coordination of Popular, Labor, and Transport Worker
Organizations" declared the "huelga" a success in marking
discontent with depressed economic conditions and the
government's policies. The small panel of spokespersons told
the media they would maintain a set of (unrealistic) demands,
such as the immediate doubling of salaries. President Mejia
commented,"We all lose" from such actions, especially the
neediest, because of the lost earnings.

Confrontations
- - - - - - -


3. (SBU) The empty streets spoke more about citizen
discontent than about organized resistance. No marches or
organized demonstrations occurred (in contrast to the
enthusiastic parades on January 26 for the PLD and late
January 27 for the victory of Santo DOmingo's baseball team
Licey in the national series.) In sporadic, uncoordinated
actions in low-income neighborhoods of the capital and in
towns in the eastern half of the country protestors burned
tires, threw rocks, broke windows and set off homemade
explosives. Shots were fired. The scattered violence
petered out by the afternoon of January 30. When heavily
armed patrols of military personnel and police responded to
protests, violent confrontations left casualties. The
National Police tell us 8 persons were killed (including one
policeman) and 212 wounded. Military intelligence say some
shooting was provoked by local drug traffickers. A National
Police tally on January 30 included a breakdown of casualties
by location: 6 dead (3 in the north, 2 in the southeast, and
1 in the capital) and 43 injured (33 in the north, 5 in the
capital, 4 in the southwest, and 1 in the southeast). By
comparison, the one-day national work stoppage on November 11
left 8 dead.

Arrests
- - - -


4. (C) Police reported that 325 persons had been detained
during the two-day stoppage, mostly protesters involved in or
on the margins of civil disturbances. Military intelligence
say some "huelga" organizers had been rounded up for
questioning, but said they had all been released January 29
and claimed the arrests had been carried out with a judicial
warrant. The military acknowledged that some human rights
had been infringed, but provided no details. President Mejia
told the Ambassador on February 5 that 1500 arrests had been
made in order to forestall violence. According to the
police, all the detainees but 7 had been released as of
February 5, and it was possible the 7 might be released
February 6.

Human Rights Abuses
- - - - - - - - - -


5. (SBU) The spouse of labor leader Ramon Perez Figuereo, an
organizer of the "huelga," said on local television January
28 that police had searched her house and sought to detain
her husband without a warrant -- a practice forbidden under
reformed procedural guidelines adopted by the justice system
in 2003. Embassy staff report that in some cases police
disregarded the constitutional right to the inviolability of
the home unless judicial formalities have been complied with,
the right to freedom of circulation, and the legal
requirement for arrest warrants.

Organizers' Demands
- - - - - - - - - -


6. (SBU) The political message was that many Dominicans are
fed up with the current economic problems and government.
Most people just stayed home from work. Opposition
politicians, church leaders, and some mainline business
organizations and labor unions expressed sympathy or support
for the work stoppage, but there were no organized
demonstrations to air grievances or advocate policy changes.
Some "huelga" organizers individually put forward radical
demands of their own without gathering any mainline support.
Among their calls were that the Dominican Republic not sign
its pending IMF agreement or a free trade agreement with the
United States; that prices of basic necessities and the
dollar exchange rate be reduced by fiat; that wages be
doubled; and that President Mejia resign.


7. (SBU) The government and media commentators dismissed such
demands and President Mejia rejected the demands as
"blackmail." The only group that might gain something is
health workers, who staged a one-day advance strike at public
hospitals January 27 demanding higher salaries and more
equipment and supplies. President Mejia agreed that a health
workers' advocacy group could form a committee to suggest
legislation to finance higher levels of health spending.

Participating Groups
- - - - - - - - - - -


8. (SBU) The umbrella "Coordination Council" member
organizations included the relatively obscure "Collective of
Popular Organizations," "Council of Popular Unity,"
"Coordinator for Unity and Struggle," and "Broad Front of
Popular Struggle" (FALPO) led by Fidel Santana, "Committee
for Defense of Barrio Rights," "National Coordinator of
Peasant Women," and the National Confederation of Unified
Transport Workers (CNTU) led by Ramon Perez Figuereo. There
were small leftist parties including the "Force of the
Revolution" of Narciso Isa Conde, "New Alternative" of Ramon
Almanzar, the Independent Movement for Unity and Change
(MIUCA) of Virtudes Alvarez, the Communist Labor Party (PCT)
of Manuel Salazar, the Patriotic Union (UPA) of Hector
Sanchez, the Party of Dominican Workers (PTD) of Ivan
Rodriguez, and the Force of Labor (Fuerza del Trabajo) of
Jose Adon. And there were community groups such as the
"Committee of Popular Action of Capotillo," a low-income
barrio in Santo Domingo; the Dominican Association of
Teachers; and student and youth groups.

Economic Cost
- - - - - - -


9. (SBU) Economic losses from the work stoppage are difficult
to estimate, but were probably significant for a country that
was already in an economic slump and serious financial
difficulty. The night before, President Mejia told the
nation on television that lost production would total RD 3
billion (about 60 million dollars). No one publicly
challenged that figure.

More Work Stoppages?
- - - - - - - - - - -


10. (SBU) This action, like the November one, was carefully
timed for a week including a national holiday (Monday was the
national celebration of independence figure Duarte). The
"huelga" organizers announced follow-up meetings of the
groups that supported the "huelga," on February 7, 15, and
26, to assess results and discuss future protests. A
military intelligence contact expects future actions to vent
discontent with the economic situation.
Comment
- - - -


11. (SBU) One success, whether due to popular indifference or
to actions of the security forces, was the limitation of
violence. Dominican history has included far worse episodes,
particularly in the 1990s. Perhaps the principal cost was
the marked further deterioration of the country's image
abroad. In newspapers across the United States and in
Europe, press accounts of deaths and wire service photos of
armed police in action provided a handy lead for stories on
economic problems, downgrades by the credit rating firms, and
the noisy partisan disarray of the presidential election
campaign. The tourism sector has so far been largely immune.
However, the leading hotel development group now markets its
destination as "Punta Cana" without mention of "the Dominican
Republic."


12. (SBU) The rising tempo of election campaign activities,
driven by intense local political loyalties, will provide
alternative opportunities for Dominicans to channel their
frustrations and push for solutions via the ballot box. The
coalition of strike organizers may put another stoppage on
the calendar, but if so, it is likely to be overshadowed by
the campaigns.
HERTELL