Challenges abound for Leonel Fernandez as he returns to the presidency this week, aiming to lead the Dominican Republic out of its worst economic crisis in decades by asking its people to accept painful economic sacrifices.
Fernandez, who as president from 1996 to 2000 presided over relative stability, trounced outgoing President Hipolito Mejia in May 16 elections by promising a return to progress.
PHOTO: AFP
His new government is inheriting some US$6 billion in foreign debt, worsening power outages and a desperation among the poor that is driving thousands to risk illegal voyages by boat to the wealthier US territory of Puerto Rico.
US authorities have intercepted more than 7,000 Dominican boat people in the last 10 months. Last week, authorities rescued 39 Dominicans who drifted for 10 days after their motorboat broke down on the way to Puerto Rico. Forty-seven others disappeared at sea -- many of them jumping overboard in desperation -- and eight died of dehydration after being rescued.
Economists say Fernandez will face unpopular decisions in trying to address 16 percent unemployment, 32 percent inflation and a Dominican peso that has lost half its value against the US dollar in two years, doubling prices in the Caribbean nation of 8.8 million.
"This crisis will last at least two years and will be painful," said Miguel Ceara-Hatton, an economist with the UN Development Program in Santo Domingo.
Economists say a turnaround requires steep tax hikes and cuts in spending, meaning fewer social services, government jobs and subsidies for electricity and gas.
Fernandez's aides say he was to present a blueprint for such changes in his inaugural address following his swearing-in yesterday.
More than a dozen heads-of-state and ex-presidents were to attend, including Brazilian President Ignacio Lula da Silva, former US President Jimmy Carter and the Spanish prince and princess, Felipe de Borbon and his wife Letizia Ortiz.
Fernandez stepped down in 2000 due to a single-term limit that was later rescinded. He left office amid a scandal involving US$100 million allegedly embezzled from a government fund. He denied wrongdoing, but his successor Danilo Medina was easily defeated by Mejia in 2000.
Many Dominicans say they are frustrated with Mejia, who in defense said he faced a tourism lull after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and a 2003 bank scandal that cost the treasury US$2.2 billion.
"I just hope Fernandez can bring a different attitude," said Juary Rodriguez, 32, a mechanic. "Mejia has given up."
Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand. The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on. In this
Indonesia yesterday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape. Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022. It
Near the entrance to the Panama Canal, a monument to China’s contributions to the interoceanic waterway was torn down on Saturday night by order of local authorities. The move comes as US President Donald Trump has made threats in the past few months to retake control of the canal, claiming Beijing has too much influence in its operations. In a surprising move that has been criticized by leaders in Panama and China, the mayor’s office of the locality of Arraijan ordered the demolition of the monument built in 2004 to symbolize friendship between the countries. The mayor’s office said in
‘TRUMP’S LONG GAME’: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that while fraud was a serious issue, the US president was politicizing it to defund programs for Minnesotans US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday said it was auditing immigration cases involving US citizens of Somalian origin to detect fraud that could lead to denaturalization, or revocation of citizenship, while also announcing a freeze of childcare funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some daycare centers. “Under US law, if an individual procures citizenship on a fraudulent basis, that is grounds for denaturalization,” US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Denaturalization cases are rare and can take years. About 11 cases were pursued per year between 1990 and 2017, the Immigrant Legal Resource
RSS