US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO794

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 000794 
 
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: 02/05/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, ELAB, ASEC, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN WORK STOPPAGE, JAN 28-29: FEW GAINS 
 
REF: SANTO DOMINGO 537 
 
Classified By: Economic & Political Counselor Michael Meigs.  Reason: 1 
.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: The Dominican Republic has returned to 
normal after a January 28-29 national work stoppage by labor 
and community groups and small leftist parties.  The stoppage 
was successful for the opposition in gaining widespread 
Dominican support and successful for the government in that 
violence was limited to eight dead in only scattered, 
isolated confrontations.  Many were arrested before or during 
the stoppage and detained for its duration; most have been 
released.  Some human rights abuses occurred.  The message is 
that Dominicans are glumly unhappy about deteriorating 
economic conditions.  The rising tempo of presidential 
election campaign activities should distract discontented 
citizens and encourage them to make their opinions known via 
the ballot box.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Productive activity and traffic returned to normal 
in the Dominican Republic January 30 after a two-day national 
work stoppage, in which most businesses and offices closed as 
most employees and customers stayed home.  The ad hoc 
"Coordination of Popular, Labor, and Transport Worker 
Organizations" declared the "huelga" a success in marking 
discontent with depressed economic conditions and the 
government's policies. The small panel of spokespersons told 
the media they would maintain a set of (unrealistic) demands, 
such as the immediate doubling of salaries.   President Mejia 
commented,"We all lose" from such actions, especially the 
neediest, because of the lost earnings. 
 
Confrontations 
- - - - - - - 
 
3. (SBU) The empty streets spoke more about citizen 
discontent than about organized resistance.  No marches or 
organized demonstrations occurred (in contrast to the 
enthusiastic parades on January 26 for the PLD and late 
January 27 for the victory of Santo DOmingo's baseball team 
Licey in the national series.)  In sporadic, uncoordinated 
actions in low-income neighborhoods of the capital and in 
towns in the eastern half of the country protestors burned 
tires, threw rocks, broke windows and set off homemade 
explosives.  Shots were fired.  The scattered violence 
petered out by the afternoon of January 30.  When heavily 
armed patrols of military personnel and police responded to 
protests, violent confrontations left casualties.  The 
National Police tell us 8 persons were killed (including one 
policeman) and 212 wounded.  Military intelligence say some 
shooting was provoked by local drug traffickers.  A National 
Police tally on January 30 included a breakdown of casualties 
by location: 6 dead (3 in the north, 2 in the southeast, and 
1 in the capital) and 43 injured (33 in the north, 5 in the 
capital, 4 in the southwest, and 1 in the southeast).  By 
comparison, the one-day national work stoppage on November 11 
left 8 dead. 
 
Arrests 
- - - - 
 
4. (C) Police reported that 325 persons had been detained 
during the two-day stoppage, mostly protesters involved in or 
on the margins of civil disturbances.   Military intelligence 
say some "huelga" organizers had been rounded up for 
questioning, but said they had all been released January 29 
and claimed the arrests had been carried out with a judicial 
warrant.  The military acknowledged that some human rights 
had been infringed, but provided no details.  President Mejia 
told the Ambassador on February 5 that 1500 arrests had been 
made in order to forestall violence.  According to the 
police, all the detainees but 7 had been released as of 
February 5, and it was possible the 7 might be released 
February 6. 
 
Human Rights Abuses 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
5. (SBU) The spouse of labor leader Ramon Perez Figuereo, an 
organizer of the "huelga," said on local television January 
28 that police had searched her house and sought to detain 
her husband without a warrant -- a practice forbidden under 
reformed procedural guidelines adopted by the justice system 
in 2003.    Embassy staff report that in some cases police 
disregarded the constitutional right to the inviolability of 
the home unless judicial formalities have been complied with, 
the right to freedom of circulation, and the legal 
requirement for arrest warrants. 
 
Organizers' Demands 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
6. (SBU) The political message was that many Dominicans are 
fed up with the current economic problems and government. 
Most people just stayed home from work.  Opposition 
politicians, church leaders, and some mainline business 
organizations and labor unions expressed sympathy or support 
for the work stoppage, but there were no organized 
demonstrations to air grievances or advocate policy changes. 
Some "huelga" organizers individually put forward radical 
demands of their own without gathering any mainline support. 
Among their calls were that the Dominican Republic not sign 
its pending IMF agreement or a free trade agreement with the 
United States; that prices of basic necessities and the 
dollar exchange rate be reduced by fiat; that wages be 
doubled; and that President Mejia resign. 
 
7. (SBU) The government and media commentators dismissed such 
demands and President Mejia rejected the demands as 
"blackmail."  The only group that might gain something is 
health workers, who staged a one-day advance strike at public 
hospitals January 27 demanding higher salaries and more 
equipment and supplies.  President Mejia agreed that a health 
workers' advocacy group could form a committee to suggest 
legislation to finance higher levels of health spending. 
 
Participating Groups 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
8. (SBU)  The umbrella "Coordination Council" member 
organizations included the relatively obscure "Collective of 
Popular Organizations," "Council of Popular Unity," 
"Coordinator for Unity and Struggle," and "Broad Front of 
Popular Struggle" (FALPO) led by Fidel Santana, "Committee 
for Defense of Barrio Rights," "National Coordinator of 
Peasant Women," and the National Confederation of Unified 
Transport Workers (CNTU) led by Ramon Perez Figuereo.  There 
were small leftist parties including the "Force of the 
Revolution" of Narciso Isa Conde, "New Alternative" of Ramon 
Almanzar, the Independent Movement for Unity and Change 
(MIUCA) of Virtudes Alvarez, the Communist Labor Party (PCT) 
of Manuel Salazar, the Patriotic Union (UPA) of Hector 
Sanchez, the Party of Dominican Workers (PTD) of Ivan 
Rodriguez, and the Force of Labor (Fuerza del Trabajo) of 
Jose Adon.  And there were community groups such as the 
"Committee of Popular Action of Capotillo," a low-income 
barrio in Santo Domingo; the Dominican Association of 
Teachers; and student and youth groups. 
 
Economic Cost 
- - - - - - - 
 
9. (SBU) Economic losses from the work stoppage are difficult 
to estimate, but were probably significant for a country that 
was already in an economic slump and serious financial 
difficulty.  The night before, President Mejia told the 
nation on television that lost production would total RD 3 
billion (about 60 million dollars).  No one publicly 
challenged that figure. 
 
More Work Stoppages? 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
10. (SBU) This action, like the November one, was carefully 
timed for a week including a national holiday (Monday was the 
national celebration of independence figure Duarte).  The 
"huelga" organizers announced follow-up meetings of the 
groups that supported the "huelga," on February 7, 15, and 
26, to assess results and discuss future protests.  A 
military intelligence contact expects future actions to vent 
discontent with the economic situation. 
Comment 
- - - - 
 
11. (SBU) One success, whether due to popular indifference or 
to actions of the security forces, was the limitation of 
violence.  Dominican history has included far worse episodes, 
particularly in the 1990s.  Perhaps the principal cost was 
the marked further deterioration of the country's image 
abroad.  In newspapers across the United States and in 
Europe, press accounts of deaths and wire service photos of 
armed police in action provided a handy lead for stories on 
economic problems, downgrades by the credit rating firms, and 
the noisy partisan disarray of the presidential election 
campaign. The tourism sector has so far been largely immune. 
However, the leading hotel development group now markets its 
destination as "Punta Cana" without mention of "the Dominican 
Republic." 
 
12. (SBU) The rising tempo of election campaign activities, 
driven by intense local political loyalties, will provide 
alternative opportunities for Dominicans to channel their 
frustrations and push for solutions via the ballot box. The 
coalition of strike organizers may put another stoppage on 
the calendar, but if so, it is likely to be overshadowed by 
the campaigns. 
HERTELL