US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO3004

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 003004 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/PPC AND DRL 
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 
DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI; SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN PRESIDENT-ELECT LOOKS FORWARD TO CLOSE 
RELATIONS WITH U.S. 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Hans Hertell. Reason: 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (SBU)  Summary.  Dominican President-elect Leonel 
Fernandez assured the Ambassador on May 19 that he 
anticipated close and collaborative relations with the United 
States.  Economic issues will occupy much of his time. 
Dominican relations with Cuba are a relatively low priority 
for him. Fernandez will discourage Venezuela's Hugo Chavez 
from using anti-U.S. rhetoric.  He will have "zero tolerance" 
for corruption and narcotics trafficking.  In his second term 
he will have a better understanding of what the United States 
has to offer. Fernandez asked whether the USG could provide 
expert advice on "governability."  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU)  On May 19 President-elect Leonel Fernandez received 
the Ambassador, DCM and EcoPol counselor at his offices at 
the Foundation for Global Development (FUNGLODE). Fernandez 
was friendly and appeared rested and relaxed. The meeting 
lasted for more than an hour (despite the crowd of party 
members, officials, and press waiting in the foundation and 
outside).  Fernandez thanked the Ambassador for helping 
assure the presence of a large number of international 
observers for the May 16 election.  He said that without 
their presence and vigilance, the governing PRD of President 
Mejia would have been able to use fraud and intimidation to 
push the elections into a second round. 
 
3. (C)  The Ambassador expressed USG satisfaction at the 
conduct of the elections and at the positive role played by 
observers.  He described events leading up to the emotional 
press comments in mid-evening of Msgr. Agripino Nunez, head 
of the Elections Monitoring Committee ("Comision de 
Seguimiento")(septel).  Fernandez commented that by evoking 
the three-month election stalemate of 1978, Nunez had helped 
forestall PRD meddling in the results of the first round. 
 
4. (C)  The Ambassador noted for Fernandez the concern of the 
USG about the possible evolution of Dominican relations with 
Cuba and with Venezuela.  He left Fernandez a copy of the 
executive summary of the recent Commission for Assistance to 
a Free Cuba. Fernandez commented that his energies would be 
devoted immediately to economic issues, in the hopes that a 
bad 2004 could be followed by a better 2005.  Relations with 
Cuba would be far down his list of priorities. "I understand 
your sensitivities about Cuba. The United States is the most 
important partner of the Dominican Republic."  As for 
Venezuela, he said he needs to engage Chavez because pursuant 
to the San Jose accords, Venezuela supplies almost all of the 
fuel for power plants in the Dominican Republic.  He hopes to 
secure the continuation or improvement of terms for purchase 
of Venezuelan petroleum. Fernandez commented that he would be 
suggesting to Venezuelan President Chavez that he refrain 
from anti-U.S. rhetoric. "He owes me one," smiled Fernandez, 
referring to his own mediation between Chavez and the Carter 
Center in early 2002. 
 
5. (C) Fernandez said that he would have "zero tolerance" for 
corruption and for any involvement with narcotics 
trafficking.  During his practice as a criminal lawyer, he 
said, he never accepted any clients accused of narcotics 
offenses.  He confirmed his interest in receiving briefings 
on law enforcement cooperation and appeared receptive to the 
Ambassador's offer to vet with U.S. databases the names of 
prospective nominees for sensitive positions.  Fernandez said 
that his administration would work closely on law enforcement 
matters with the USG.  He mentioned his concern about lax 
controls in airports and ports, and the Ambassador outlined 
for him the current DHS "90-day letter" notification to the 
Dominican authorities of the requirement to raise security 
standards at Las Americas Airport in Santo Domingo 
 
6. (C) He has no plans to travel to Washington, but he will 
go to the New York area during the summer to accept an 
honorary doctorate at the Stephens Institute of Technology. 
He expects to meet economist Jeffrey Sachs and hopes to call 
on New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. 
 
Economics and Governability 
 
7. (SBU) Fernandez stressed his interest in working with the 
econ staff of the Embassy and checked to see that the Embassy 
had received a copy of the report commissioned from the 
Economist Intelligence Unit.  The most pressing priority for 
him, he said, is taking action to reduce the quasi-fiscal 
deficit constituted as certificates of deposit at the Central 
Bank.  His advisors are suggesting early action to sell state 
assets so as to pay down the amount of debt outstanding. 
Fernandez mentioned assets acquired in the Baninter 
liquidation process but otherwise was not specific.  He 
believes that reducing the short-term debt burden will 
increase confidence and help increase the value of the peso 
in exchange markets with positive effects on prices. He made 
no specific comments about the IMF program or sovereign debt 
issues. 
 
8. (SBU) Fernandez spoke of plans to reinforce the "brand" of 
the Dominican Republic by organizing international broadcasts 
of baseball and cultural events (an idea drawn from the EIU 
study).  "It will be fun, being president."  He commented 
that in his second term he will have a much clearer idea of 
the possiblities of U.S. cooperation and support.  He wants 
to work closely with U.S. governors of states with 
significant Dominican populations (New York, New Jersey, 
Florida and Illinois) and with other large U.S. states 
(California and Texas). 
 
9. (U)  The President-elect mentioned a USAID-financed study 
on issues of "governability" done for President Sanchez 
Lozada of Bolivia by Dr. Eduardo Gamara of Florida 
International University.  Considering the delicate state of 
politics and the economy, he is very interested in finding 
out whether he can obtain USG technical assistance for a 
similar study. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
Taking Mejia's measure 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
10. (C)  Fernandez considers that despite his intelligence, 
President Meja is simply not a conceptual thinker. Mejia's 
intuitive, energetic populist character makes him vulnerable 
to  clever manipulators about him, such as economic advisor 
Andres Dauhajre, Junior. (In contrast, Fernandez has great 
respect for Mejia's Technical Secretary Carlos Despradel.) 
Fernandez believes that PRD manipulators were on their way to 
disrupting the vote count, a scheme that Mejia forestalled by 
conceding the election at 11:40 when only 2.8 percent of 
polling stations had succeeded in notifying results to the 
Central Elections Board (JCE). 
11. (C) He said he was surprised by Mejia's public comment 
yesterday that Mejia would not attend the May 28 regional 
summit in Monterrey and the suggestion that Fernandez or a 
Fernandez representative represent the Dominican Republic. 
Mejia is president for three more months, Fernandez stressed, 
and Mejia needs to fulfill his responsibilities. Fernandez 
takes the report as a sign that Mejia is worn down after the 
months of energetic campaigning. 
 
12. (C)  Fernandez emphasized that he has no intention of 
instituting legal action against Mejia.  "In the United 
States there is great respect for the institution of the 
Presidency," he commented, "and this recent history in Latin 
America of prosecuting presidents as soon as they leave 
office is wrong and undignified."  He expects to work with 
Mejia's officials toward a smooth transition.  Fernandez did 
not mention any further arrangments in this regard. 
 
13. (U)  In closing, Fernandez accepted the Ambassador's 
offer to host meetings between the incoming administration 
team and senior staff of the Embassy.  He again stressed the 
importance in his eyes of relations with the United States, 
recalling his previous remark that Dominican relations are 
based on key geographical points: Puerto Rico, Miami, New 
York, and Madrid. 
 
 
HERTELL