Dominicans have spent most of 2020 between a state of emergency and a curfew since March due to VOCID-19, a year that ended with 170,785 infected with the virus, with 2,414 people killed. for the same reasons.
However, the Dominican Republic was marked by more events than the deadly pandemic. Earlier this year, citizens faced a milestone in the nation’s history: the suspension of an electoral process.
On February 16, the municipal elections were postponed due to the failures presented by the automated vote, which were also used for the first time in a Dominican electoral process.
The decision was taken by the full Central Electoral Board (JCE), the then president, Julio César Castaños Guzmán, who stated that the problem was rooted in the ballots presented by some of the teams.
In fact the inconveniences started the night before, when JCE staff returned to the polls after 5:00 pm to try to “fix problems that arose with the electronic ballot,” after realizing the problem .
Already that Sunday delegates from opposition political parties denounced that the teams were having trouble loading the ballot completely.
According to reports, the provinces that presented the most complications were the National District, the rest of Santo Domingo, Santiago and Puerto Plata, places where from the early hours of that day presented long lines in the polling stations.
Due to these technical issues many people were unable to vote. This led to multiple protests in the Plaza de la Bandera, in front of the JCE headquarters.
The new municipal elections took place on Sunday, March 15, where the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) prevailed at the polls, a result that extended to the congressional and presidential elections, where this neophyte political organization not only passed to to control in the Congress, but also it took control of the presidency after the victory of Luis Abinader before the candidate of the Party of the Liberation Dominican (PLD), Gonzalo Castillo, in the elections of the 5 of July.
These results ended 16 years of PLD rule, following the administrations of Leonel Fernández and Danilo Medina.
Licey in the Middle
One of the most memorable tragedies of the year was the explosion of the gas packer Cooperativa de Producción y Servicios Multos “L’Ecónica” (Coopegas), in the community of Licey a el Medi, in Santiago.
This tragedy left at least 11 dead, and more injured. The fact shocked the country.
cyclonic season
Equally atypical was the usual hurricane season in the Dominican Republic, as although cyclonic activity in the Caribbean, Central America and North America broke records in terms of the number of phenomena of this nature. which affected the said areas, our island remained relatively unharmed.
This was reflected in the data provided by the National Meteorological Office (Onamet), where the entity indicated that no hurricanes directly impacted the island.
However, this did not mean that there was no damage. Multiple floods and five deaths were reported in several areas, mainly as a result of two tropical storms.
“We have had a direct impact with Laura and Isaiah, albeit as a tropical storm. In addition, there was an indirect influence of Hurricane Teddy (category 3) which generated dangerous waves on the north coast and distant indirect effects of Hurricane Eta (impact in Central America), with heavy rainfall on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic for the month of November, “said Onamet director Gloria Ceballos.
Join otoria tragedy was the one that occurred in the vicinity of kilometer 22 of the Duarte highway, where the collapse of a wall cost the lives of three people.
Two of these people died directly from the said accident, while the third was due to the fall of a tree, although all were caused by the winds of storm Laura during its passage through the country.
operation Antipulpo
One of the most recent cases was that of Operation Antipulpo, where the Public Ministry captured several people, including two brothers of former President Danilo Medina, for an alleged social fabric that defrauded the Dominican state by thousands of million in weight.
After an extensive hearing of coercion measures, Judge José Alejandro Vargas ordered the pre-trial detention of seven of the 11 defendants.
Among them is Juan Alexis Medina Sánchez, brother of former President Medina and alleged leader of the aforementioned social network, who is serving a three-month pre-trial detention at the Sant Cristòfol Correction and Rehabilitation Center.
He also provided the same measure for Francisco Pagán Rodríguez and Achilles Alejandro Christopher Sánchez, former director general and director of inspection, respectively, of the Office of State Construction Supervising Engineers (OISOE).
Perhaps he did it with the former director of the Reformed Company Heritage Fund (Fonper), Fernando Rosa Rosa; Julián Esteban Suriel Suazo, who was occupied with an illegal arsenal of weapons; José Dolores Santana Carmona and Wacal Vernavel Méndez Pineda.
By Carmen Magalys Medina Sánchez, sister of Juan Alexis and Danilo, Lorenzo Wilfredo “Freddy” Hidalgo Núñez, former Minister of Public Health, and Rafael Antonio Germosén Andújar, former Comptroller General of the Republic, sentenced him to three months of house arrest, with a bracelet if possible, or under the supervision of the Public Ministry.
In addition, Medina Sánchez and Hidalgo Núñez had to present a bail of 10 million pesos by contract and will remain with the impediment of leaving the country.
100 million
Similarly one of the most famous was the government gift of 100 million pesos received by about 70 artists, by the Government Social Policy Cabinet, and its director Francisco Antonio “Tony” Penya guaba.
The initial contract was that the artists would participate in virtual concerts in exchange for money received, a form of aid to the music industry that has been severely affected by the coronavirus.
But this announcement was received with criticism from the population, leading the Government to pull back this measure and terminate the contracts offered, although it could not recover the money invested, leaving everything as a “solidarity support”.
child marriage
As for the positive part he left in 2020, there is the approval of the bill that would amend the Civil Code and ban child marriage.
It was welcomed in the lower house of the National Congress during the session last Wednesday, December 30, so that only the Executive Branch needs to promulgate the abolition officially.