US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO4514

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 004514 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR AND WHA 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON 
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: 08/04/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, ASEC, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN TRANSITION 11: STUDENTS PROTEST 
VIOLENTLY AGAINST MEJIA 
 
 
Classified By: Acting DCM Mary B. Marshall for Reason 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (U) This is no. 11 in our series on the Dominican 
Republic's transition to a new administration: 
 
STUDENTS PROTEST VIOLENTLY AGAINST MEJIA 
 
2. (U) Police estimated that 200 students protested violently 
at the inauguration by President Mejia of a new central 
library at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), 
the nation's largest institution of higher learning, on 
August 3.  The students said they opposed inaugurating a 
library that lacks books and computers.  The previously 
announced demonstration turned violent after the ceremony, 
when protesters pelted the President's departing motorcade 
with rocks and other objects and the presidential security 
detail responded with warning shots.  Protesters also 
destroyed a commemorative plaque crediting the Mejia 
administration with the building.  There were no injuries or 
arrests, according to police, but vehicles were damaged. 
University authorities subsequently suspended a professor and 
seven students, expelled two more students, and threatened to 
prosecute a non-student participant.  They closed the main 
campus through August 4; classes are scheduled to resume 
August 5. 
 
3. (C) Embassy contacts in the Military Adjutants Corps -- 
which provides presidential security -- told us the 
President's advisers had recommended he skip the 
inauguration.  However, Supervisor of Public Works Hernani 
Salazar, a close adviser to Mejia who had pushed for the 
library's completion, urged the President to attend.  Our 
contacts acknowledged that the adjutants had failed to 
perform an advance site inspection with enough lead time to 
cancel the President's appearance, once the demonstrators' 
presence became obvious.  They said some of Mejia's advisors 
tried to blame President-elect Fernandez's PLD for inciting 
the protest, but said that in fact a student federation had 
organized it. 
 
4. (U) Editorials in two leading dailies denounced the 
student violence.  News commentator Ana Mitila Lora, while 
agreeing with this point, attributed the disturbance to 
rising public irritation over widespread and extended power 
blackouts and the nation's other serious economic problems, 
and President Mejia's apparent reluctance to address them 
during the transition to the administration of 
President-elect Fernandez, scheduled to take office August 16. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment:  Sporadic protests, mostly against the 
electricity crisis, have occurred over the past few weeks and 
have provoked a few violent incidents, mostly in low income 
neighborhoods.  The UASD protest is another symptom of the 
public's displeasure with the outgoing administration. 
However, it does not appear to signal any new trend of 
escalating disturbances.  The upcoming inauguration, and 
public expectations of the new administration, should -- at 
least temporarily -- calm the waters.  Whether the public's 
patience holds over the next few months remains to be seen. 
End comment. 
 
6. Drafted by Bainbridge Cowell. 
 
7. This and other reports in our election and transition 
series can be read on the SIPRNET at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/ index.cfm, along 
with extensive additional material. 
MARSHAL