US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO1026

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001026 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, WHA/USOAS, EB/TPP/BTA, 
EB/IFD/OMA; 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON;LABOR FOR ILAB; 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD; TREASURY FOR OASIA-LCARTER 
STATE PASS USTR FOR VARGO, RYCKMAN, MALITO, CRONIN 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN OPPOSITION BRISTLES; FERNANDEZ BACKS OFF 
 
 
1.  The Dominican Republic,s opposition, uncoordinated and 
quiescent since its resounding electoral defeat last year, 
ended its truce this week and mounted its first serious 
attack on the policies of President Fernandez since he 
assumed office six months ago.  This awakening may not 
restore opposition unity or public support, but it suggests a 
bumpy road between Congress and the Palace on passage of 
urgent legislation. 
 
2.  Former President Hiplito Mejia on February 19 broke his 
silence and declared the post-inaugural truce to be over.  He 
criticized the government,s "failed" economic policies and 
called on his party to take a more aggressive stance. 
Mejia,s barbs, delivered at a sympathizers, rally in the 
interior city of San Francisco de Macoris, drew sharp replies 
from three senior government officials about the financial 
mess they had inherited from Mejia.  With this sortie, the 
PRD - - led by the former president,s "Institutional 
Current" faction - - tried to smooth over the party,s 
internal squabbles to target the common adversary.  He spoke 
again in Santo Domingo on February 24, announcing plans to 
tour the country and moderate among PRD factions.  Mejia,s 
hand in the party was strengthened by a Supreme Court 
decision February 23 declaring inadmissible a legal challenge 
to his leadership by PRD dissident leader Hatuey De Camps. 
 
3. The opposition in Congress quickly followed Mejia,s lead, 
or appeared to do so.  On February 22, 400 campesinos 
protested outside Congress over their evictions from lands 
granted them by the Mejia administration.  Inside, the PRD,s 
Senate majority refused to consider bills authorizing 
domestic bonds to fund reforms required by the IMF agreement. 
 The senators - - seconded by PRD secretary general "Fello" 
Subervi - - said they would block all government legislation 
until President Fernandez met with them to discuss their 
concerns, including dismissals of public doctors, 
agronomists, and teachers who had served under Mejia. 
Legislators of both opposition parties (PRD and PRSC) 
threatened to override a presidential veto of a bill 
providing equal allotments of public funds to the three big 
political parties. 
 
4. Faced with headlines about the Senate,s "rebellion," 
Fernandez withdrew the veto and signed the party financing 
bill into law.  He met with Senate President Andres Bautista 
(PRD) and Senator German Castro (PRSC) and promised to 
rescind the dismissals of doctors, to review other firings, 
and to name a commission to investigate the land tenure 
issue.  Both sides made conciliatory statements.  The 
president got mixed reviews for a sensible effort to work 
with the opposition-dominated Congress or, alternately, for 
being irresolute and weak.  The Senate kept up the pressure 
by canceling the scheduled February 24 session, and Senate 
Vice President Cesar Augusto "Yayo" Matias announced that the 
chamber would not approve a bond issuance worth RD $8.3 
billion (US $285 million) until the promises were fulfilled. 
 
- - (This piece and extensive other material can be consulted 
on our classified SIPRNET site 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  .) - - 
HERTELL