US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO537

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 000537 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA, DRL, AND CA 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
TREASURY FOR OASIA-LAMONICA 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2006 
TAGS: PGOV, ELAB, ASEC, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN WORK STOPPAGE, JAN 28-29: STREETS ARE 
DESERTED 
 
REF: A. (A) SANTO DOMINGO 490 
     B. (B) IIR 6 827 0045 04 (NOTAL) 
 
1. (SBU) Most businesses were shuttered and schools were 
closed for the January 28-29 national work stoppage in the 
Dominican Republic, called by a coalition of community, 
labor, student, and political groups to protest economic and 
social policies. Banks and supermarkets were open but 
neighborhood groceries ("colmados") were not. As of late 
afternoon, streets in Santo Domingo were generally calm with 
light traffic. There was virtually no public transport, other 
than an occasional bus operated by the  government public 
transit company, usually with police riders aboard.  The 
ports were receiving and unloading ships but there was no 
transport available to move containers out of port areas. 
 
2. (SBU) As in the November one-day strike, police carried 
out sweeps ahead of time to arrest likely troublemakers. 
Police were deployed throughout the country, with their 
presence heaviest in towns with a history of civil 
disturbances.  The military were in the barracks, except for 
some heavily armed military patrols in at least three 
northern towns including Puerto Plata, two towns in the 
Southwest, and remote neighborhoods of the capital. 
 
3.  (SBU) A senior police official told us three persons were 
arrested from January 27 to early January 28, by police 
accompanied by a prosecutor's office representative, and were 
immediately released.  The official said about a dozen 
persons have been detained for burning trees or disturbing 
the peace. 
 
4.  (C) President Mejia sent an advisor to the Embassy at 
mid-day on January 28 to assure the political officer that 
authorities had "absolute control" of the situation.  Mejia 
addressed the nation yesterday evening to urge calm and to 
deplore the "3 billion pesos" in economic activity likely to 
be lost to the strike. 
 
5.  (SBU) Some of our contacts are apprehensive about 
possible disturbances in the evening hours.  Others consider 
that the strike is likely to continue without event or even 
to peter out tomorrow. 
 
6. (SBU) Military and intelligence contacts say that violent 
incidents have occurred in Salcedo and Navarrete in the 
north, and homemade bombs have detonated in several interior 
towns with minimal damage.  Morning rotestors in two 
neighborhoods of Santo Domingo burned two cars, knocked down 
trees, and threw rocks.  Burning tires were reported in a 
dozen  locations in the capital.   An industrial free zone at 
Las Americas International Airport near Santo Domingo closed 
during the day upon receiving reports that sharp objects were 
being strewn on the airport highway -- but in mid-afternoon 
Embassy personnel found the highway open and unobstructed, 
with no signs of protest. 
 
7. (SBU) Our sources comment that if serious disturbances 
occur, they are more likely to begin at nightfall. Security 
forces withdraw patrols from rough neighborhoods at night, 
although they will maintain perimeters. 
 
8. (SBU) Opposition political party contacts deny rumors that 
they are paying protesters to stir up trouble.  Our contacts 
believe that anti-Mejia political leaders would not engage in 
such tactics, although neighborhood party members might. They 
recalled the brief demonstrations at Santo Domingo university 
UASD on the afternoon of January 23, during which masked 
youths burned a vehicle and police responded with tear gas 
volleys. 
 
9. (SBU) On January 27, the day before the formal strike, 
medical personnel at public hospitals shut down routine 
outpatient care, with demands for a doubling of salaries; 
GODR health officials said they had agreed to speed up 
disbursements to the health sector but did not offer 
increases.  President Mejia said he would consider strikers' 
demands for higher pay, provided they helped lobby Congress 
for the increase.  A GODR medical official told us the Mejia 
administration has already taken measures to improve 
equipment and working conditions at the hospitals.  Private 
hospitals and clinics used by Embassy personnel were not 
affected by the strike. 
 
COMMENT 
 
10. (SBU)  So far, the echoing silence of the work stoppage 
has provided everyone evidence of a national consensus that 
Dominicans are unhappy with economic conditions, inflation, 
and electricity blackouts.  The absence of organized protests 
today contrasts eerily with Monday's well-attended PLD 
cavalcade on the Duarte Day national holiday and with Tuesday 
night's midnight parades across town by fans celebrating the 
championship of Santo Domingo baseball team Licey.  We expect 
that the political campaigns will channel Dominican energies 
over the months between now and the May 16 first round vote. 
HERTELL