Here's my 2 cents.
Luncheon:
Because it was a small group of people, President Fernandez was able to meet everyone, i.e. shake hands and a little small talk. After lunch, he spoke for about 20 minutes. Topics included: the effect his time in a multicultural school in nyc had on him, how he got into politics, a little but about the struggles of his party (always losing), and about economic research he's done with Harvard to improve economic conditions in DR.
He then took some questions and of course he got the Haiti question and his reply approximately was that the DR is still a poor 3rd world country, there are still many Dominicans unable to access a lot of what they are entitled to, that in any country the immigrant population will receive lower wages (Mexicans in the US, Dominicans in
PR), that he is the first Dominican president (after Trujillo) to visit Haiti and has a good relationship with current Haitian president, that he knows there are problems and they are trying. He stayed a little while after with members of the Harvard Haitian Alliance which I thought was pretty cool.
Lecture:
He talked about DR's history and economic development, how democracy has traditionally been associated with economic decline, 10 points to bridge the divide between the market and the state for countries (specifically Lat. Am. "leftist" countries) while using democracy. He also talked about the importance of negotiating when it came to CAFTA and other treaties, he also talked about trying to catalog all Dominicans across the globe in order to find out what they can do for the country and then try to use them (this response was about the brain drain concern and he mentioned getting help from a Dominican MTA official for help with the Sto. Dgo. subway). He also said that the increase in drug trafficking was a result of the US lack of Coast Guard surveillance because of the situation in Iraq; since drugs are connected to terrorism (i guess) he says that losing the war on drugs can mean losing the war on terror. A lot of the drugs from Columbia is staying in the country because they are better at keeping it from leaving the country/entering the states.
This is all I can recall at the moment. I had a pretty good time and thought many of his responses were pretty well thought. I didn't get a chance to ask about corruption but I am sure I would have gotten a "we know and we are trying to stop" response. I didn't like his focus on using only island born Dominicans as a resource; as a Dominican-American I am much more interested in using my knowledge for DR than for the US (DR needs > US needs imo). But I am sure they will take what they can get. I got the feeling they were confident about elections in 2008 but I would be too if my administration was synonymous with economic stability and growth.
