It is a rare Dominican who does not have an opinion about him. It is the price of having been president of the Dominican Republic for three terms; the first 28 years ago. Some speak of Leonel Fernández (Santo Domingo, 70 years old) as the leader who brought modernity to the island and others fervently criticize the cases of corruption that plagued the political group that he led for decades: the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). . Doctor of Law and heir to the Dominican left, Fernández founded the People’s Force (FP) in 2020 with ideas that he describes as progressive, but with an openly anti-abortion speech and as forceful with Haitian migration as that of the current president, Luis Abinader : “They want to turn the Dominican Republic into a refuge camp, well no. “We have the right to say that the crisis in Haiti is not our problem.” Just 48 hours before the presidential and legislative elections in the Caribbean country, the polls give Abinader less than 25% and an overwhelming victory; a percentage that will make you raise your eyebrows several times during the interview. “People tell me: in the polls, Abinader. In the town, Leonel,” he says smiling.
Although during his first term (1996) he became one of the youngest presidents in the region, this Sunday he will return to the polls with the oldest being the favorites but “more than prepared” for a fourth round. “There are always unfinished tasks from the past and challenges from the future,” he says this Thursday in the library of the Global Democracy and Development Foundation. The priorities on this long list are to promote national agricultural production, focus higher education on current technological challenges and “seek a model that is more socially inclusive.” Although the island is the ninth fastest growing country in Latin America and the Caribbean, it has one of the highest inequality rates and one of the lowest minimum wages.
Minutes after the interview with EL PAÍS, the candidate waits smiling for the photos to be finished, while humming his campaign song: And where they go. “They already play them in the clubs, president,” one of his team tells him. “The Dominican is like that, he even dances to politics,” he responds, shaking his arms high. “We will put this at the inauguration.”
Ask. You governed the Dominican Republic three times. Why does it keep showing up?
Answer. Because there are always unfinished tasks from the past and challenges from the future. In our case they have to do with issues of electrification, drinking water, decent housing, roads, bridges… All of this that is in the dynamics of development of the towns, but at the same time we have the challenges of today that have to to do with artificial intelligence, robotics… We must look for a model that is more socially inclusive. We have a vision on how to do it that others don’t have. We need a new social and knowledge paradigm and greater progress and social justice.
Q. In the electoral debate, there was a lot of criticism of the three main candidates for the very similar speech between them. How is he different from Abinader?
R. The first thing is that our mandate has been successful, that of others not so much. Or to a lesser degree. We managed to multiply the Dominican GDP by three. Our model worked. Abinader’s current model does not work.
Q. Because?
R. Because the economy is not growing. He says it is growing at 6.5%. We say it is pure statistical manipulation; The real growth is 1.8%, if we give it the benefit that it did not govern months of 2020, it grew 3.8%. It has not created jobs, it promised one million, it generated 8,000. The differences between what was promised and what was fulfilled are great. On the other hand, in terms of infrastructure, there is no work that can be presented…
Q. So why do the polls give the People’s Force less than 25% of the votes? What is the self-criticism you do?
R. Surveys paid for by the Government give us that. The most independent ones are giving us 36% or 37%. We must understand that we come from a party that fragmented and that the Fuerza del Pueblo is relatively young and is fighting. I don’t think there are many precedents in Latin America of parties that have been formed recently and that quickly become an option for power. People on the street say: “In the polls, Abinader. In the town, Leonel.”
Q. One of the great flags of the Abinader Government is its economic growth. However, according to the IDB, 1% of the population controls 42% of the total wealth. Something you have criticized. How would you redistribute wealth in this very unequal society?
R. With a progressive model. Economic growth must be increased and the State can receive greater income in a model that does not affect those below. If not, let the one who can pay the most always pay. And in that context, we have to talk about a socially inclusive model, something that does not happen today. What grows in the Dominican Republic? Tourism, remittances abroad and exports in free zones… Only the external sector of the economy is growing. Let’s go inside. Local manufacturing? In decline. Agricultural sector? In red. Construction, mining, everything is bad. What works comes from outside, which does not depend on the actions of the Government. What depends on the Government is not happening. We are importing food into a country that produces it. He [Abinader] It does this to favor those who receive import licenses and to the detriment of the majority. That is our model difference: we believe in national production. Him in imports.
Q. Why do you say that Abinader has a copy and paste model?
R. Because Abinader tries to imitate us. He doesn’t have a vision of his own. When we created the Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA), within the framework of the high-tech development ecosystem, he says that he created ten. First, he is copying us. And second, what he does is say that he does more without understanding the concept, he lacks the vision.
Q. And you don’t have it?
R. I don’t see that he has it. It does not have an identity stamp. He’s eager to inaugurate things, like what he’s doing with the border wall. The project is to build 181 kilometers and was to inaugurate two kilometers of a first stage of 54. Who are you kidding?
Q. Amnesty International published a open letter that called the current immigration policy racist. How do you consider it?
R. You have to understand the situation. All migration policy is an expression of the sovereignty of a country and obeys its reality. With the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, Haiti entered a period of chronic political instability. Haitian territory is controlled by criminal gangs that kidnap, torture, murder… They release prisoners from prisons…
Q. Women, children and young people from the working class also migrate…
R. In Haiti there is everything. It’s no man’s land. There have even been kidnapped drivers of ours on Dominican buses that cross the border. There is no law or order, it is pure chaos. In a situation of this magnitude, the security risk increases. Especially when there are criminals on the loose, who they were in charge of getting out of prisons. Any country in the world would take measures to protect its citizens. The things that happen in Haiti generate terror in the Dominican Republic.
Q. Last year, the country deported 251,000 Haitians. Are they all criminals?
R. Anyone who is illegally in the country undocumented is deported.
Q. Social organizations denounce that there are no legal ways to request asylum either…
R. Of course, they give plenty of visas. That’s part of the problem. Even in times of the pandemic, with the consulates closed, many visas were issued irregularly. Mafias also operate, there is corruption, the border army is paid to illegally enter the country…
Q. Then his immigration proposal would be similar to Abinader’s.
R. No. It is that of the Dominican people. Faced with a situation of total collapse of the Haitian State, it is necessary to establish security mechanisms. When that subsides, then it will be examined. This is the reverse of what happened in 2010, when the earthquake occurred. Who was the country most supportive of Haiti? Dominican Republic. But they are different things; One thing is a natural catastrophe and another is something created in the country itself. They must be detained at the border so as not to have to deport them later.
Q. Would it strengthen it more?
R. Definitely. And then, when the international community shows sensitivity to what is happening in Haiti and contributes to maintaining order and a democratic transition, things will change. What we have seen is the interest of countries outside the Dominican Republic to take charge of Haitian territory. They want to turn the Dominican Republic into a refuge camp, well no. We have the right to say that the crisis in Haiti is not our problem.
Q. One of the arguments that conservative sectors give to maintain the absolute criminalization of abortion in the country is the 2010 Constitution that recognizes life from conception. A Constitution promoted by you… If you were president, would you approve the three causes?
R. The fact that the abortion ban was established was a decision of the Dominican people. I didn’t decide it. Now, the causes. Do they have to be included in the Penal Code? The Constitutional Court would have the last word.
Q. Meanwhile, the State is the one that continues to assume that the woman who wants to terminate a pregnancy due to rape or incest is a criminal.
R. But it is not necessary to have grounds exonerating liability. There is a legal figure that is force majeure and where doctors, who know the protocol, can decide if they see a danger. And they are protected.
Q. However, we hardly know of cases in which this figure of which he speaks is used. In February, Adilka Feliz, legislative assistant to Yvan Lorenzo, a senator from her former party (PLD), died because she was denied an abortion. Annually, nearly 90,000 women perform unsafe abortions on the island. Isn’t the State ignoring the sexual and reproductive rights of women?
R. If there were no medical possibility when the mother’s life is at risk… I would understand.
Q. And in the case of rape, what legal figure fits?
R. I believe that it would have to be certified that the violation occurred and optional measures would have to be taken before pregnancy.
Q. So you wouldn’t decriminalize it?
R. Abortion is prohibited, it continues to be criminalized and that would continue.
Q. Do you think they will go to the second round?
R. Various polls give 47% to Abinader and say that it is most likely that there will be a second round. The sense of experience tells me that a strong vote has been consolidated in our favor.
Q. However, Abinader considers himself the winner and has even proposed a national pact with the opposition. Would he sit at that table to approve necessary reforms on the island?
R. When we call it.
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