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Luis Abinader: "In the new Cold War, we need a strategic relationship with the United States"

2020-12-26T17:16:46.963Z


The president of the Dominican Republic assures in an interview with EL PAÍS that he wants to give the country "a 'shock' of institutionality and modernity"


Shadows are beloved in the Caribbean.

Huts, houses, mansions seek to get away from the sun and its fires.

The National Palace of Santo Domingo is no exception.

The rectangular, cream-colored, neoclassical building is lined with shady corridors through which the history of the Dominican Republic has passed.

In them the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo (1891-1961) plotted his countless abominations and in one of his dependencies, President Antonio Guzmán grabbed his revolver at dawn on July 4, 1982 and shot himself in the temple.

He had 43 days left to hand over power and even today there is speculation about the motive for the suicide.

-President, aren't you worried about meeting a ghost around here?

-As my wife told me after spending the first night in the palace, the noise that the air conditioning makes is annoying more.

President Luis Abinader (Santo Domingo, 1967) strolls calmly through the shadows of the palace.

Elected in the middle of the pandemic, he has been in power for exactly four months and it is still more to come than past.

Champion of the fight against corruption, in his hands he has the future of a republic of 11 million inhabitants that, before the pandemic, experienced one of the biggest economic accelerations in America, but which still suffers from enormous pockets of poverty (30% population) and backlogs as excruciating as the total ban on abortion.

“Only by creating productive jobs can a country develop.

Then it is up to us to use the tributes to lift the most needy out of poverty.

We are a pro-business and pro-employment government ”, proclaims Abinader.

The interview takes place in the so-called White Room on December 16.

A space with drawn curtains where a huge orchid competes with two chandeliers.

It's a quarter to five in the afternoon, and Abinader has settled into an armchair.

In front of him his civil advisers sit solicitously;

behind him stands an oil portrait of Juan Pablo Duarte (1813-1876), one of the Fathers of the Nation.

The president responds slowly, barely gesturing and when he touches on a delicate matter he tends to raise his eyebrows.

Outside, it rains tropical slowly.

Question.

How is it defined politically?

Reply.

I am from the center.

Q.

And what is that?

R.

In Spanish terms, I defend a modern social democracy, where the government's resources are invested in those who need them most.

But without forgetting that you have to let the private sector work so that it has incentives and creates jobs.

The best social program is job creation.

Q.

And what is your economic plan to achieve it?

A.

The Dominican Republic has a very dynamic business sector and, in terms of free trade, we are a meeting point between America and Europe.

We have social peace and we offer an acceptable infrastructure, although it can be improved.

What are we missing?

We lack greater institutions and greater legal certainty, and that requires independence and the strengthening of the justice system.

We also need a more modern education and overcome the digital divide, that is why our Government is currently putting out to tender to deliver a computer to all public school students.

Likewise, we seek to improve competitiveness and we want to achieve what we have called “Zero bureaucracy, efficient government”, that is, that the permits that took two years are now achieved in four months.

This requires a government whose characteristic is transparency, non-impunity and the fight against corruption.

P.

Well, corruption is a systemic scourge in Latin America.

How do you plan to end it?

R.

Look, I'm going to anticipate a few years.

If I want to be recognized for something, it is for being an honest and reforming president.

We are making changes like never before in the Dominican Republic.

We have eliminated corrupted structures and opened transparency throughout the public administration.

I want to give this country a shock of institutionality and modernity.

P.

But you will agree that the fight against corruption is something that is going to take generations.

It is not resolved in a mandate.

A.

Yes, but we must also admit that we are living at a time when everything has accelerated.

Many, many countries have made an impressive leap in two decades or a decade and a half.

In any case, the measures must be started from now on.

Because although the covid crisis is the most urgent, we have many other crises and emergencies that came from behind.

Q.

And what is the current situation of the pandemic?

R.

We have the pandemic under control.

Our fatality rate is one of the lowest and the occupancy of the beds destined for covid is around 30%;

that of ICU beds, 50%, and ventilators, 40%.

P.

When will the return to normality?

A.

That will depend on when the world returns to normal.

We have a preliminary agreement with AstraZeneca-Oxford and we are awaiting any progress with the WHO.

We also have all the logistics prepared for the vaccination.

Q.

What has been the impact on the economy?

R.

We are going to end the year with a 6% drop in GDP and we think that next year we will be able to fully recover.

At the moment, with the exception of tourism, it is already in the process of growth, as indicated by the fact that the tax revenues for October and November were higher than those of 2019. With tourism, perhaps encouraged by the first vaccinations, we are seeing a rebound in reservations in the United States.

In that sense, I want to say that we are the only country that gives each tourist who arrives a covid insurance to assist them if the case arises.

Here, tourists will be safer than in their home countries.

Q.

The Dominican Republic, before the pandemic, experienced strong sustained growth (above 5%), but maintained its poverty and inequality rates.

How do you deal with this problem?

R.

Economic growth has not been proportional to the decrease in poverty.

That will be the great challenge for this Government when we emerge from the pandemic.

Our intention is to eliminate absolute poverty, which affects 6% or 7% of the population.

For this we need growth to become economic development, but direct social aid must also be provided to those who need it most.

Here, as in other countries, the face of poverty is that of a woman, especially that of a single mother.

So the statistics say.

P.

Statistics also say that among women there is almost three times more unemployment than among men.

Why?

A.

There are many reasons, for example, pregnancy in girls and adolescents is an anchor to development.

Government equity programs have also failed.

A policy is needed to develop gender equality, plans are needed to help women and give them much greater participation.

We hope not to fail.

P.

In the Dominican Republic abortion is totally prohibited.

Don't you think that this is an attack on the dignity of women?

R.

Look, I disagree, as is the majority of the population, not only in the Dominican Republic but in the world, with free abortion, but I do think that there must be grounds that allow the interruption of pregnancy.

That has been the official position of our party.

Q.

And what causes are they?

R.

Incest or rape, risk of the life of the mother or that the fetus has a malformation incompatible with life.

Q.

And is it going to be approved?

R.

That is now under discussion in the Chamber of Deputies.

Q.

What is the relationship of your Government with the Catholic Church?

R.

It is a very good relationship, and not only with them.

Here there are also other Christian churches that represent around 30% of the national population.

I was educated twelve years with the Jesuits ...

Q.

How do you position your country with respect to machismo?

R.

Progress has been made on the issue of equity, but there are still violent sexist behaviors that we have to eliminate.

This is a serious problem that requires a State policy.

We are one of the countries with the highest level of gender violence in Latin America and quite possibly we compete in the world.

P.

They also share an island with one of the poorest and most unstructured countries on the planet.

R.

For the first time in decades there is a Government with a defined policy towards Haiti and that is based on having migration control.

No civilized society can afford to have undocumented citizens on its territory.

And we are organizing that.

At the same time, we have good relations with President Jovenel Moïse and his government, but our interest is to channel all possible aid to Haiti through the international community, both in health and institutional terms.

We are going to draw attention to it, because if the international community can get tired, we cannot: everything that happens there affects us here.

And we are carrying heavy ...

Q.

That requires help in their development, right?

R.

The solution is that the international community can help not only to donate hospitals there, but also to manage them.

Q.

What do you expect from the future president of the United States, Joe Biden?

A.

The Dominican Republic has a special relationship with the United States.

More than two million Dominicans with their descendants live there.

It is our main commercial partner and our main source of tourists.

The relationship is strategic and in both parties we have friends.

I don't think there are major changes.

Q.

And do you think that with Biden the situation in Cuba will improve?

R.

I do not want to speculate.

That is an issue between both countries.

Our relationship with Cuba, regardless of any other country, will remain the same.

Q.

In what sense?

R.

We respect Cuba, its system and its self-determination.

There has always been a good relationship with the Cubans.

We have had many of his professionals in the country and we will continue to have them.

There is a lot of affection between both peoples.

Q.

Your predecessor tried an approach to China

.

What do you think?

R.

China is an important country and we will maintain a good relationship, but let's be frank: in this new cold war we must have a strategic relationship with the United States.

P.

And that does not imply an excessive dependence on Washington?

R.

Well, we are an hour and a half from Florida.

Geographically, politically and economically we are very close.

But we also have a diversified investment matrix.

For example, the Dominican hotel sector is practically Spanish.

Our idea is to strengthen that relationship with education and health.

I really admire the health system in Spain.

P.

Spanish investments have not risen for years.

R.

It is true that they have neither decreased nor increased in the tourism sector, but they could increase.

And we are going to do everything possible to get them to do so.

P.

December 1, 2021 will be the 200th anniversary of the first episode of the Independence of the Dominican Republic.

What feelings do you have about Spain?

R.

There are always mixed feelings on these issues, but you have to take the positives of the past and look forward with optimism.

Both countries can find many, many ways to benefit.

The important thing is that we now have a democratic, diverse, cultured, modern Spain that can help us.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-12-26

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