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Fernandez stepped down in 2000 due to a single-term limit that was later rescinded.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."
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all. Astronomers on Monday said that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That is essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time. “As it stands, proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated,” the Finnish-led team wrote in a study appearing in Nature Astronomy. While good news for the Milky Way galaxy, the latest forecast might be moot
RSS