Leonel Fernández Reyna: The Politic, The Author, The Intellectual

[bob saunders]

Listened to him answering questions on a forum last night. He is a very good speaker, very articulate, confident, and responded to all questions by actually answering the question, certainly not like the majority of politicians. He certainly isn't perfect but he beats number 2 by a long shot. Do you really think Dominican politicians are more corrupt than American...etc. Only more blatant about it.

[Chirimoya]

Originally Posted by cobraboy

Leaders are in short supply.

Thanks, I get it now.

[A.Hidalgo]

The following were reader's comments to the article written about Stephen Brager a senior official from USAID agency. I found what these two individual said interesting and a reflection of what many think about corruption in the Dominican Republic. Btw I personally do not care much of what American agencies say about the Dominican Republic, but about corruption this is spot on.

One comment....

Written by: juanb, 10 Apr 2008 9:16 AM
From: Dominican Republic
This is the single greatest threat to our country. Corruption permeates all parties, all governmental institutions, everything. There must be some accountability if we are to grow to be the great nation that we can be. While I believe Lionel to be above the fray (he is not taking anything for himself), I do not believe that as yet he has done anything to stop the pervasive corrupt practices of those beneath him. I fervently hope that in his second term that the elimination of ALL corruption becomes a priority.

then a response....

Written by: josean, 10 Apr 2008 12:06 PM
From: United States
This is an extraordinary statement:
"While I believe Lionel to be above the fray (he is not taking anything for himself)"
That statement will haunt you for eternity!
Lie-onel is the “smartest president” in the history of the republic the only person out of 9,000,000 Dominicans who God has ordained with the brilliancy to lead us. Yet he has been impotent against corruption, what utter nonsense.
He has had two terms in office and the corruption is worse. He brought back the same thieves from the 1996-2000 term and he expects change.

my bold

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/loc...eir-day-to-day

[bob saunders]

Written by: josean, 10 Apr 2008 12:06 PM
From: United States
This is an extraordinary statement:
"While I believe Lionel to be above the fray (he is not taking anything for himself)"
That statement will haunt you for eternity!
Lie-onel is the “smartest president” in the history of the republic the only person out of 9,000,000 Dominicans who God has ordained with the brilliancy to lead us. Yet he has been impotent against corruption, what utter nonsense.
He has had two terms in office and the corruption is worse. He brought back the same thieves from the 1996-2000 term and he expects change END OF qUOTE
This josean is a very negative and contrary person- I've read many posts my him and he is negative to the extreme and posts opinions like they are facts-just like the above post. Corruption did decrease dramatically from 1996-2000, and after 4 years of Hippo there was a lot of damage to recover from. Is there still corruption of course but I haven't had to grease any palms during Lionel's terms, and I can't say that about the 4 year disaster of PRD.

[aegap]

yup, back in Hipolito's days, every thing had to be greased.

Copy of birth certificate? "grease, or you might have to go to Santo Domingo to get it because we may not have it"

New Passport? "grease, or we'll find something wrong with your birth certificate"


Migración? "umm, this passport looks suspicious. How much are you willing to pay?"

Picking up your luggage? "grease, or we might just find something suspicious in it"

From my perspective, the difference now is almost like night and day.

[DOMINCAN BOY]

Originally Posted by bob saunders

Listened to him answering questions on a forum last night. He is a very good speaker, very articulate, confident, and responded to all questions by actually answering the question, certainly not like the majority of politicians. He certainly isn't perfect but he beats number 2 by a long shot. Do you really think Dominican politicians are more corrupt than American...etc. Only more blatant about it.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/loc...ecutes-its-own

[NALs]

Here is a video in two parts regarding extreme poverty in a marginal slum of SDQ, migration of Haitians with a slight emphasis on pregnant Haitian woman that migrate to the DR to give birth and receive adequate medical care, and poverty in traditionally ignored parts of the country. It ends with a mention the initiatives that have been taken by the current administration in conjunction with the United Nations to combat this problem.

For those of you that are very easily moved by seeing images of extreme poverty or problems in general, be advised that some of the images may be too strong.

The Dominican Model: Lessons Learned from the MDGs (Part 1)

The Dominican Model: Lessons Learned from the MDGs (Part 2)

-NALs

[RonS]

Thank you NALs! It is sometimes easy to forget the magnitude of the problems facing any Dominican President. It is understandable that Leonel can become frustrated and make the statement that there is a crisis of thought when the opposition political leadership presents no alternative policies designed to address the macro economic, social and political challenges facing the country. These challenges were not created overnight and the solutions cannot be either. We should all, Dominicans, expats, and concerned foreigner visitors, resolve to do what we can to take whatever steps that may be necessary to mitigate these problems, and to find ultimate solutions.

[TimH]

I prefer the crooks from the last government over the actual rulers of the country.
The majority of people had a better quality of life four years ago. I prefer open corruption when there is dealt with a few pesos once in a while then the current open secret that the corruption in this country is as strong as ever only the amounts that one has to pay for favors are so much higher. In the meanwhile the government officials and their helping hands exploit openly the population and pay themselves enormous sums never seen before. A regular worker will not see the amount of money in 30 years that a politician (only publicly) takes every month.
At the same time the outside debt more than doubled in less than four years.
I could go on and on now but it seems there are too many blind people around who fall for an actor again. Four years ago I also believed in Leonel's words but today's Leonel is different from the president 96-00.

[bob saunders]

[quote=TimH;631093]I prefer the crooks from the last government over the actual rulers of the country.
The majority of people had a better quality of life four years ago. I prefer open corruption when there is dealt with a few pesos once in a while then the current open secret that the corruption in this country is as strong as ever only the amounts that one has to pay for favors are so much higher. QUOTE]

Bullsh!t, as my wife would say "everyone was eating a cable 4 years ago" As someone who deals daily with the government for taxes, social security, medical, school district....etc. This government has their act together much better than the previous. We have complished many things quickly with minumum of red tape without greasing palms. This was impossible under the PRD.