Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SANTODOMINGO590
2007-03-19 18:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Santo Domingo
Cable title:
DOMINICAN POLITICS III #20: ANECDOTES FROM "THE
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 000590
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, INR/IAA; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD;
TREASURY FOR OASIA-JLEVINE; DEPT PASS USDA FOR FAS; USDOC
FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION; USDOC FOR
3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN POLITICS III #20: ANECDOTES FROM "THE
PRE-CAMPAIGN"
Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Michael A. Meigs, Reason
C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 000590
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, INR/IAA; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD;
TREASURY FOR OASIA-JLEVINE; DEPT PASS USDA FOR FAS; USDOC
FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION; USDOC FOR
3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN POLITICS III #20: ANECDOTES FROM "THE
PRE-CAMPAIGN"
Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Michael A. Meigs, Reason 1.
4(d)
1. (U) This is the 20th cable in our series on Dominican
politics in the third year of the administration of President
Leonel Fernandez.
(U) The presidential election in the Dominican Republic will
not take place until May 2008; however, the Dominican
Liberation Party's internal primary race is heating up. We
therefore offer these anecdotes on what Dominicans politely
call "the pre-campaign."
FERNANDEZ WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION
-- (C) The "announcement watch" continues. No one doubts
that Leonel Fernandez is seeking a third term in office, even
though he has still not formally declared his candidacy. In
February, the political committee of Fernandez's PLD party
put his name on the slate of three "pre-candidates" for the
presidency for its May primary. His support committee has
put up a large number of campaign billboards in recent weeks,
many of them artfully designed to suggest spontaneous popular
support for him.
-- (U) All of this raises the question, When will Fernandez
announce? The answer may have come this week, as the
newspaper Hoy reported that the President will formally
declare his candidacy on March 25 at an event at the Palacio
de los Deportes. The Embassy is seeking confirmation of this
report.
PRIMARY CAMPAIGN OPENS
-- (C) The PLD's National Electoral Commission declared the
presidential "pre-campaign" open on March 13. Facing
Fernandez in the primary race are Danilo Medina, the
incumbent President's powerful former Chief of Staff, and
Jose Tomas Perez, a former Senator. A poll by Carlos Fara
and Associates showed Fernandez leading Medina by 89 percent
to 9 percent. Given Medina's longstanding position of power
in the PLD, the Embassy's contacts foresee a closer race that
this poll indicates -- while they still argue that Fernandez
maintains a sizable lead. As for Perez, he polled at just
over one percent, which supports our earlier speculation --
and it is only that -- that his candidacy was encouraged by
party leaders who believed that having a third candidate
would make the primary process appear to be more open and
democratic.
-- (U) The PLD primary vote will be held May 6 at voting
stations throughout the country. Some 1,159,000 party
members are eligible to vote in a process that will be
supervised by the Central Election Board.
CHURCH AND STATE
-- (SBU) The Bishop of La Vega, Antonio Camilo, caused a stir
this week when he criticized the practice of presidential
re-election. Camilo said that re-election had historically
been "fatal" for the Dominican Republic, a country that since
1930 has experienced the 31-year dictatorship of Rafael
Trujillo and the 22-year rule of strongman Joaquin Balaguer.
The Bishop argued the risk of the use of official resources
for political campaigns is high, and that when incumbents run
for office "a great deal of Government funds that belong to
the people are lost." Camilo also lamented the re-election
campaigns distract bureaucrats from their official duties,
saying that "we should call attention (to this problem),that
officials should be serving the country and attending to
their obligations in this nation that has so many needs."
-- (SBU) Camilo's comments drew an immediate response from
the Fernandez campaign, which had already been goaded by
anti-re-election arguments put forward by both its PLD rival
Medina and the opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party
(PRD). Ligia Amada Melo, PLD party leader and Minister of
Higher Education, accused the Bishop of being a supporter of
the PRD, citing the fact that Camilo did not oppose the 2004
re-election campaign of the PRD's Hipolito Mejia. Amada did
qualify her comments, saying that the PLD was not "fighting
with the priests"; rather, the party opposed the prelates
"getting involved in issues that do not concern them."
-- Drafted by Peter Hemsch
2. (U) This report and extensive other material can be
consulted on our SIPRNET site,
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/
HERTELL
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, INR/IAA; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD;
TREASURY FOR OASIA-JLEVINE; DEPT PASS USDA FOR FAS; USDOC
FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION; USDOC FOR
3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN POLITICS III #20: ANECDOTES FROM "THE
PRE-CAMPAIGN"
Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Michael A. Meigs, Reason 1.
4(d)
1. (U) This is the 20th cable in our series on Dominican
politics in the third year of the administration of President
Leonel Fernandez.
(U) The presidential election in the Dominican Republic will
not take place until May 2008; however, the Dominican
Liberation Party's internal primary race is heating up. We
therefore offer these anecdotes on what Dominicans politely
call "the pre-campaign."
FERNANDEZ WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION
-- (C) The "announcement watch" continues. No one doubts
that Leonel Fernandez is seeking a third term in office, even
though he has still not formally declared his candidacy. In
February, the political committee of Fernandez's PLD party
put his name on the slate of three "pre-candidates" for the
presidency for its May primary. His support committee has
put up a large number of campaign billboards in recent weeks,
many of them artfully designed to suggest spontaneous popular
support for him.
-- (U) All of this raises the question, When will Fernandez
announce? The answer may have come this week, as the
newspaper Hoy reported that the President will formally
declare his candidacy on March 25 at an event at the Palacio
de los Deportes. The Embassy is seeking confirmation of this
report.
PRIMARY CAMPAIGN OPENS
-- (C) The PLD's National Electoral Commission declared the
presidential "pre-campaign" open on March 13. Facing
Fernandez in the primary race are Danilo Medina, the
incumbent President's powerful former Chief of Staff, and
Jose Tomas Perez, a former Senator. A poll by Carlos Fara
and Associates showed Fernandez leading Medina by 89 percent
to 9 percent. Given Medina's longstanding position of power
in the PLD, the Embassy's contacts foresee a closer race that
this poll indicates -- while they still argue that Fernandez
maintains a sizable lead. As for Perez, he polled at just
over one percent, which supports our earlier speculation --
and it is only that -- that his candidacy was encouraged by
party leaders who believed that having a third candidate
would make the primary process appear to be more open and
democratic.
-- (U) The PLD primary vote will be held May 6 at voting
stations throughout the country. Some 1,159,000 party
members are eligible to vote in a process that will be
supervised by the Central Election Board.
CHURCH AND STATE
-- (SBU) The Bishop of La Vega, Antonio Camilo, caused a stir
this week when he criticized the practice of presidential
re-election. Camilo said that re-election had historically
been "fatal" for the Dominican Republic, a country that since
1930 has experienced the 31-year dictatorship of Rafael
Trujillo and the 22-year rule of strongman Joaquin Balaguer.
The Bishop argued the risk of the use of official resources
for political campaigns is high, and that when incumbents run
for office "a great deal of Government funds that belong to
the people are lost." Camilo also lamented the re-election
campaigns distract bureaucrats from their official duties,
saying that "we should call attention (to this problem),that
officials should be serving the country and attending to
their obligations in this nation that has so many needs."
-- (SBU) Camilo's comments drew an immediate response from
the Fernandez campaign, which had already been goaded by
anti-re-election arguments put forward by both its PLD rival
Medina and the opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party
(PRD). Ligia Amada Melo, PLD party leader and Minister of
Higher Education, accused the Bishop of being a supporter of
the PRD, citing the fact that Camilo did not oppose the 2004
re-election campaign of the PRD's Hipolito Mejia. Amada did
qualify her comments, saying that the PLD was not "fighting
with the priests"; rather, the party opposed the prelates
"getting involved in issues that do not concern them."
-- Drafted by Peter Hemsch
2. (U) This report and extensive other material can be
consulted on our SIPRNET site,
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/
HERTELL