what's your opinion?????

Tallman1680 · #1 11-01-2006, 01:43 PM

Does anyone here think that a Dominican that was raise and educated in the United States would do a good jod in DR as a politician??? (Senador or Diputado), looking at what our current presidente is doing in his goverment??
And if so do you think people would vote for him/her????

Chirimoya · #2 11-01-2006, 02:32 PM

It worked for Leonel!

A.Hidalgo · #3 11-01-2006, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

It worked for Leonel!

Yep, twice. First presidential period 1996 to 2000.
Second period from 2004 till 2008.

Texas Bill · #4 11-02-2006, 07:47 PM

It would certainly break the current "mindset" of Dominican Politics by introducing more sophistication to the mix.

Texas Bill

Don Juan · #5 11-03-2006, 07:18 PM

That depends on what you'd call a "good" politician. Trujillo was good at staying in power and stabilizing the country. there was real relative prosperity back them and the people actually loved him. Was he good?..... Hmmmm.-- Now, there's Hugo Chavez. A populist that is good to & for the poor underclass. For the most part, he is loved in Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and possibly, Nicaragua. Is he "good"? That's debatable. Neither had/has a formal education in the US.

If you were to define "good" in the sense that he/she knows how to make the right decisions that benefits the greater number of people, then I'd have to agree that a foreign education probably matters a great deal in formulating what is best for the people thereby earning the title of "good".

I think Leonel Fernandez is good. But not necessarily because he has a degree from a major university in US and seemingly, knows what he's doing, but because most people feel he genuinely cares about them.

Now let's consider Bachelet, the newly elected president of Chile. She studied in the US, has a degree and, it is reported, speaks several languages fluently.... But will she have the cunning of Trujillo? Be a populist like Chavez? ..Have the intuitive knowledge of Fernandez?.. That remains to be seen. Lots of heads of state have been good for and to their respective countries, but not always for the right reasons.....

miamor · #6 11-03-2006, 08:57 PM

I assume you said United States raised & educated as an example of any G8 country. I wouldn't think it would matter if the person was a Dominican who was raised and educated in England or France or Canada. If your question is can a Dominican raised and educated in a G8 nation be a good DR politician, then the obvious answer is - that depends on the person and their motives and who is behind them pulling the strings, just like any other politician in any other country.

The out of country education seems to work for Leonel, but Balaguer studied in France and Mejía went to North Carolina State so I don't think it has to do with where politicians are raised and educated.

Rick Snyder · #7 11-04-2006, 10:46 PM

Tallman 1680,

I’ve been meaning to comment on your thread but have been busy of late but have some time now to comment.

As your question rightfully questions that which pertains to Dominicans I will state that my answer relates to people from all corners of the globe.

A Dominican doesn’t need to be raised in the US to be exceptional at his profession but it may help. I think that it is imperative that he have some if not the most of his schooling in the US or any other country other then the DR. This is not meant to be a reflection on the school system here but rather as an indicator as to how much time the individual has been out of his country therefore allowing him to live with and experience the customs, culture and procedures of another country or countries. Having the experience to see another way of doing things affords him the opportunity to adapt those things that he believes are good and correct and discarding those that he feels will be detrimental in conducting his duties. Just going to visit another country doesn’t allow you the time to learn these different customs and procedures and therefore requires a length of time being spent in a foreign country. That is why being raised in another country or spending maybe 4 years or more going to school in that country will allow you sufficient time to acquire those procedures and customs that will serve your purpose.

The history of the DR is filled with such people that traveled abroad to study then came back to their mother land and have proven to be valuable assets to the Dominican Republic. An example of this would be that of Juan Pablo Duarte who was born in 1813 and was sent to England in 1828. After studying he toured France and Spain and returned to the DR in 1833 and the rest is history. There was also Buenaventura Báez who studied in France and returned, Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal who studied in France and returned and a host of others. People such as Juan Bosch who went elsewhere to live in exile returned to help try to better the DR and brought back with them many things that they had learned in other countries.

When you are born and raised in one country without ever having the benefit of experiencing how things may be done differently or better then you are destined to repeat the “same-old-same-old”. That is why I think LF is having such a hard time bringing about change. He is surrounded by so many “same-old-same olds” and it’s an uphill battle for him because they know no other way and are very content with the only way they know.

A similar situation would be that of democracy. This is a new thing to this country and over 90% of the population has no idea as to what it is due to never having experienced it before.

As to your question concerning voting in this country let me say this. I think as long as the politicians continue handing out sheets of metal, bags of concrete 100 and 500 peso notes and such things it will never matter if the politician can read and write, where he was raised or educated he will get elected. This is due to the lack of education and the DR being in such a state of indigence.

Rick

suarezn · #8 11-05-2006, 05:54 AM

Hey Tallman have you met Talldrink? Maybe you guys can hook up and have tallkids...Sorry couldn't help myself.

On a more serious note...

I do believe that visiting/living in other countries definitely opens your mind and gives you exposure to other ways of doing things which is a good thing. Would that make you a "good" politician in The DR? That all depends on the person as it has already been mentioned here. First thing is that for you to qualify for certain positions you must have been born in The DR (Not sure if diputado is one of them), but definitely President and Senator.

In Leonel's case he was born in The DR then moved to The US. He was educated in The US only through high school. He then moved back to The DR and went to college at UASD. I think this gave him a limited vision of what life can be outside of The DR (thus his insistence in trying to turn DR into a small version of NY City) while at the same time giving him a good understanding of how politics work in The DR (UASD was at the time THE center of political subversion, learning, etc...). He understands that even if you do have the vision of seeing The DR become a "Nueva Yol Chiquito" you have to pay the piper and play ball with the people who really control The DR (A few families, military, etc). I believe he would like to fight corruption, but knows he can't go too far before he starts losing the support of these factions. He's studied Balaguer and Machiaveli and he's becoming very good at playing the game...

I think a person who only has the US experience would not make a very successful politician in The DR. You have to live it and learn it on the ground down there, not just the theory...You can have the best of intentions, but in the end if you don't give out funditas and envelopes stuffed with pesos you're probably not going to win anything.

I can tell you that the first battle you'd have to fight will be that your opponent will paint you as someone who comes from the outside and doesn't really understand the Dominican plight...someone who grew up with all the comforts of life (even if you didn't), thus doesn't know what is like to be poor, what is like to live without electricity and water, what is like to not have enough food to feed your kids, etc, etc, etc...

I think anyone who comes from outside The DR and wants to run for any office has to first live down there 24X7 for at least 8 years and become very involved with the community, and with whatever political party you align yourself with...

Tallman1680 · #9 11-05-2006, 03:14 PM

The reason why I am asking this questions is because I am planning to move to DR and run for Diputado in 2010, I am US citizen born in the Dominican Republic I live there (DR) until I was 15 and live in a very poor neighbohood (Los Minas) in the capital,my family was without electricity and water, etc....
I am now 29, I graduated from both High School and college here (USA) I hold a business adm. and marketing degree from Berkeley college, I been involve in polical groups here but I feel that many Dominicans would't vote for a candidate like me because of where I was school and raise.
I would like to run for Diputado for Santo Domingo Este.

A.Hidalgo · #10 11-05-2006, 07:24 PM

You are a brave man. Why not try public office here in the states, or you feel you can shake up and contribute something to the political system in the DR.