US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO1557

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 001557 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/PPC, WHA/EPSC; 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON;LABOR FOR ILAB; 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD; TREASURY FOR OASIA-LCARTER 
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 POLITICS #16: MEJIA'S FUTURE IN THE PRD 
 
1. (SBU) This is # 16 in our current series on politics in 
the Dominican Republic: 
 
MEJIA'S FUTURE IN THE PRD 
 
Former President Meja last month declared the post-inaugural 
truce to be over, blasted 
President Fernndez,s economic policies, and called on his 
opposition PRD to take a more 
aggressive stance.  Despite that, he has so far declined to 
grab for the reins of his 
party.  Since last month when his longtime collaborator 
Senator Hernani Salazar 
suggested publicly that Hipolito seek the party presidency, 
he has repeatedly asserted 
his disinterest. He has declined to back any of the 
candidates registered for election 
in the April convention. 
 
A grain of salt may be in order.  By one count, President 
Hipolito Meja told the press 
42 times in 2002-03 that he would never run for re-election. 
 
Close associates say Meja is traveling the country talking 
with local PRD chiefs, 
aiming to act as a "moderator" among factions and aspirants. 
But many Dominicans 
miss his quick patter and earthy one-liners. 
 
The six-month break in Meja,s garrulousness may be related 
to accusations of wrongdoing 
in his administration.  Attorney General Domnguez Brito has 
so far initiated 
investigations or lodged charges against at least 16 Meja 
associates, including 
former interior minister Pedro Franco Badia.  Most are in 
connection with abuses 
of the "Plan Renove" program to renew the public transport 
fleet. 
 
Mainline daily "Listin Diario" on March 9 ran on the front 
page the photo shown at 
the top of this article. Shortly after his election in 2000, 
Meja attended a dinner 
hosted by construction impresario Bladimir Garca.  Garca 
was arrested last week in 
New York by federal agents and is accused of overseeing the 
cocaine trafficking business 
of the recently extradited Quirino Paulino. 
 
The message: many are wondering which of Meja,s associates 
may eventually be implicated 
and who was getting laundered narcotics earnings.  Some think 
that Meja was benefiting 
from dirty money, but we have yet to see any specific 
evidence. 
 
Lesser PRD notables have submitted their candidacies for 
election as party president 
or secretary general, but Hipolito Meja in enveloped by a 
cloudy crystal ball.  Many 
PRD officials, including mayors and legislators, owe him for 
jobs or favors obtained 
during his administration.  At the same time they recognize 
the liabilities of his l 
egacy, particular the nation,s debilitated finances and the 
accumulating indications 
of corruption among his associates.  Many would prefer that 
he be more seen than heard 
at party assemblies, on the shelf next to former president 
Jorge Blanco.  Meja,s 
demands for evenhandedness in investigations have called more 
attention to the charges. 
 
Meja is not eligible for another presidential term, under 
the very amendment rammed 
through Congress by his party to enable him to run in 2004. 
That change allowed a 
(sitting) president to present himself once for re-election 
to a consecutive term. 
It now blocks Meja and yet opens the way for Fernndez to 
run again.  The numbers 
after the 2006 legislative elections would have to be very 
heavily PRD to change that 
amendment, for Fernndez would exercise his veto. 
 
Unlike Jorge Blanco, Hipolito Meja will not be content to 
play elder statesman. 
Quick-witted and compulsively outgoing, he will continue to 
stump around the country, 
reinforcing the many personal ties that brought him before to 
the presidency.  In 
the process he may influence the choice of new leaders.  In 
staying active he will 
preserve future options. One associate has suggested Hipolito 
could run for a Senate 
seat in 2006.  From there, if the PRD remains strong, he 
might have one short step 
to becoming Senate president, the nation,s senior 
legislator. 
 
The Embassy maintains friendly relations with Meja.  As 
president he cooperated with 
us in international organizations, in Iraq, and in signing a 
free trade agreement, 
and he set an important precedent for democracy by conceding 
in defeat and congratulating 
his opponent.  He remains the pre-eminent figure in the 
Dominican party with the 
largest membership.  Jorge Blanco is a relic and the only 
other PRD leader with 
equivalent name recognition, Hatuey Decamps recently 
"decamped" to found his own party. 
Remaining PRD elders are tarnished or ineffectual. 
 
Meja will play hard against Fernandez and the PLD, asserting 
that investigations of 
Meja administration officials are political vendettas. 
Attorney General Dominguez 
Brito may have trouble making charges stick, particularly 
given the PRD sympathies 
of many judges.  And in any case, Meja has moved right back 
to where he likes to 
be -- belligerently in the public ring.  He just hasn,t 
thrown his hat in, yet. 
 
2. (U) Drafted by Bainbridge Cowell. 
 
3. (U) This piece and others in our series can be consulted 
on our classified SIPRNET site 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  along with 
extensive other material. 
HERTELL