Democracy In The Dominican Republic

Democracy In The Dominican Republic

By:


A Slow Start for Democracy Joaquin Balaguer, president at the time, tried to hang on to power, as did the Trujillo family, but without success. Elections were held in 1962, which were won by the radical Juan Bosch, of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), formed in exile. His policies included land reform to redis tribute estates confiscated by Trujillo and moves to combat unemployment and poverty, but despite an austerity pro gramme to put order into the country's finances, he was greatly mistrusted by the oligarchy, the Church and the USA. Coming so soon after the 1959 Cuban revolution, any left wing leader in the region was doomed to failure and a military coup ousted him after only seven months.

A succession of governments failed to bring stability and as the country descended into civil war, the USA landed 23,000 troops in 1965, later backed by other forces from the OAS. Thousands of lives were lost before new elections were held in 1966. They were won by Balaguer, returned from exile at the head of his right wing Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC).

Balaguer, who had been part of the Trujillo adminis tration since 1930, went on to win elections in 1970, 1974, 1986, 1990 and 1994. The results were increasingly disputed until in 1994 his rival, Jose Franciso Pefia G6mez of the PRD, alleged outright fraud. Pefia G6mez suffered racial abuse during Life goes on the campaign because he was black and allegedly Haitian.

Balaguer was forced to hold new elections in 1996 in which he did not stand but succeeded in getting his candidate elected. The 1980s and 1990s were a period of extreme hardship for the Dominican people, with poverty exacerbated by the world debt crisis. An IMF structural adjustment programme brought strikes and violence as high inflation, unemployment and corruption continued unabated. State utility companies were in disarray, the sugar industry was bankrupt and spend ing on health and education was minimal. Nevertheless, Balaguer spent heavily on grandiose construction projects.

In 2000 a frail Balaguer stood for election for the last time, aged 93. Hip6lito Mejfa, of the PRO, gained most votes in the first round, and after negotiations with Balaguer, all other candidates withdrew, allowing Mejia to be elected. Initial enthusiasm for the new president soon waned and by 2003 he was mistrusted by a large majority. A banking fraud scandal led to the collapse of several financial institutions and the value of the peso plummeted. This brought inflation, a spiralling budget deficit and the rigours of an IMF economic programme. As ordinary people struggled to cope, evidence mounted of corruption among the president's cronies as elections approached.

Roads are not so good across country, particularly where there are mountains, so it is easier to return to Santo Domingo if you are travelling from the north coast to the east or west. If you want to travel from, say, Samaria to Barahona or Punta Cana you will need to allow a full day of driving to cover the 400km (250 miles) for either journey.

Depending on the length of your stay, you could allocate two or three days in the capital, a few days on the beach and a few more days up in the mountains, allowing time for excursions from your base.

Around 4 million people live in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, a sprawling, scruffy city fanning out from the River Ozama. Most of the growth has occurred since the 1960s. Prior to that the main districts were the colonial zone and, just to the west of it, Gazcue, which was considered the modem city with upper middle class villas. The wealthier areas of the city are now all west of the river, while to the east growth in cheaper housing has been so The expansive Playa Grande on the north coast strong in recent years that the area has been reclassified as the Province of Santo Domingo.





About the Author:

Jason Roberts writes for cheap airport car hire spain



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags:

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Travel-and-Leisure Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.