US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO4531

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 004531 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (MCISAAC) 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADINSON 
TREASURY FOR OASIA AND LAMONICA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ENRG, MCAP, PGOV, PINR, PREL, EINV, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN TRANSITION 12-PRESIDENT FERNANDEZ NAMES 
ECONOMIC TEAM 
 
1. (U) This is number 12 in our series on the transition 
between the Mejia and Fernandez adminstrations. 
 
President-elect Fernandez- Two weeks from power. 
 
2. (U) Summary.  President-elect Leonel Fernandez on August 4 
announced appointments to his administration, mainly in 
positions related to economic affairs.  Four of the eight 
appointees had served in President Fernandez's previous 
administration from 1996-2000. Below is a list of the names 
and a short biography of each.  End Summary. 
 
3. (U) Eusebio Rafael Camilo Abreu (Superintendent of Banks) 
is a career Professor of Economics and Sociology at UASD.  He 
is a member of the National Committee of the Partido de la 
Liberacin Dominicana (PLD) and was appointed as a National 
Director of Planning (ONAPLAN) during the first Fernndez 
administration (1996-2000), serving for all four years.  More 
recently, Mr. Camilo has been a private consultant and member 
of the Economic Commission and Programming Commission for the 
Fernndez transition team. 
 
4. (U) Vicente Bengoa (Secretary of Finance) is an economist 
and former Superintendent of Banks during 1996-2000.  He has 
been a Congressional deputy for the PLD in the past, and 
recently headed the FILA (Frente Independiente Leonel al 
Poder) movement for the 2004 Presidential Election. 
 
5. (U) Juan Temstocles Monts Domnguez (Technical Secretary 
of the Presidency) is a chemical engineer and economist, who 
completed his formal studies in the Dominican Republic and 
Spain.  Monts was a founder of the PLD in 1973 and has been 
a member of its central committee and political committee. 
He served as a PLD deputy in Congress from 1986 to 1990.  He 
was the General Manager of the National Electrical Company 
(CDE) in the first Leonel Fernandez administration 
(1996-1998) and the main promoter of electric sector 
privatization and reform based on recommendations from the 
World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.  He was the 
Technical Secretary of the Presidency (minister of planning) 
for the remainder of the first Fernandez administration 
(1998-2000).  Monts was in charge of the PLD platform in the 
2004 election campaign and was appointed by President-elect 
Fernandez as the Coordinator of the Transition Commission. 
 
6. (U) Daniel Toribio Marmolejos (Manager of Banco de 
Reservas) is a professional economist educated in the 
Dominican Republic. He was a professor at the Universidad 
Autonoma de Santo Domingo and director of the National Fiscal 
Training Institute in the Secretariat of Finance. Toribio 
served as Secretary of Finance during the first Fernandez 
administration (1996-2000).  He later worked as a private 
consultant before being selected as a member of the 
Transition Commission by President-elect Fernandez on May 20. 
 
7. (U) Juan Hernandez (Director General of Internal Taxes) is 
an economist from PUCMM with post-graduate studies on tax 
systems.  In 1996, he was the General Director for the Income 
Tax Office, and in 1998, he became the first General Director 
for Internal Taxes.  In 1985, he served as Under Secretary 
for Finances. 
 
8. (U) Hector Valdez Albizu (Governor of the Central Bank) is 
an economist; not an activist for any particular party, he is 
basically a technician who started his career in the Central 
Bank in 1970 and rose to the position of Governor step by 
step.  In 1991, President Balaguer appointed him as the 
Central Bank,s representative on the Administration Council 
for the Banco de Reservas. He was named Administrator for 
this Bank, 1993-1995, and then Balaguer appointed him 
Governor of the Central Bank, a position which he continued 
to hold during the first Fernndez Administration (1996-2000). 
 
9. (U) Julio Ortega-Tous (Head of the President,s Council of 
Economic Advisors), an economist and sociologist, was Deputy 
Director of the External Debt Department in the Central Bank, 
Director of Foreign Investment, and Technical Manager of the 
Central Bank from 1993 to 1995.  Ortega-Tous was the National 
Director of Planning (ONAPLAN) from 1991-1993. During the 
first Fernndez administration (1996-2000), Ortega-Tous was 
Deputy Technical Secretary of the Presidency (1996-1999) and 
Ambassador to Canada (1999-2000).  Subsequently, Ortega-Tous 
worked as a Senior Advisor of the Banco del Progreso, a 
commercial bank. Ortega-Tous is currently President-elect 
Fernandez's coordinator of international economists. 
10. (U) Miguel Cocco (Director General of Customs) held the 
same post during the first Fernndez administration 
(1996-2000).  In August 1999, he experienced problems with 
his kidneys and sought treatment in the U.S. Cocco was an 
early follower of PLD founder Juan Bosch, and his brother, 
Manuel Cocco, has served as an economist in previous 
Dominican administrations. 
 
11. (U) Drafted by Mark Kendrick. 
 
12. (U) This report and others in our transition and election 
series are available on our SIPRNET site 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  along with 
extensive other material. 
MARSHALL