The government of Luis Abinader has implemented a series of incentives and subsidies for the price of energy, so that the population does not fully bear the brunt of the extremely severe energy inflation that began a year ago and whose consequences have been amplified by the war in Ukraine.
Former president Leonel Fernández and his party, Fuerza del Pueblo, are employing the same strategies as European formations led by Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, or Matteo Salvini, to name a few, or the Trumpist populism of organizations like the Proud Boys in the United States.
Populism is the expression of the failure of politics, and Leonel Fernández proves to be a disconnected politician who lives cut off from the genuine reality of the people, even though, after 12 years in power, he should know what it means to lead the Dominican State.
At the beginning of July, Leonel couldn’t be more populist by declaring that his party, Fuerza del Pueblo, would oppose the readjustment of the electricity tariff every three months. The former Dominican president stated that this measure would be detrimental to small and medium-sized enterprises.
However, besides the fact that this pact was signed by the PLD when he was president of that party, it shows that Leonel is unaware of the reality that Dominican families and businesses experience. What would Leonel think if the tariffs were revised daily, as is the case in most countries around the world? In other words, the former president has no idea and has learned nothing from his recent trip to Spain, during which he held several meetings, including the reception he received from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, the political party of President Pedro Sánchez. Leonel must have been impressed by the kindness of Hanna Jalloul, the PSOE’s International Policy Secretary, but he clearly learned nothing.
Populism consists of saying what people want to hear, whether it’s true or not, and especially promoting its spread if it’s a lie. This is what Leonel Fernández has become, a shameless populist capable of even renouncing the pacts signed by the party he governed and presided over.
The propaganda surrounding Leonel Fernández is linked to the impossibility of presenting real arguments to undertake democratic opposition work.
In a situation of global inflation, against a backdrop of global energy crisis, the priority is to find a way for the people to suffer as little as possible from the games of the powerful, whether they be warlike or economic. In a global crisis situation, on issues that matter and concern all citizens, class politicians are not accompanied by media sycophants or speakers manipulated by satiated bellies to access power by any means. Politicians know when to stop playing party games and step forward to make state policy. Leonel demonstrates the Hubris syndrome, and it is very dangerous for the Dominican people.
Country Price Kwh
Germany $ 0.335
United Kingdom $ 0.331
Spain $ 0.320
Italy $ 0.240
Portugal $ 0.231
Japan $ 0.226
France $ 0.185
Brazil $ 0.185
USA $ 0.162
Panama $ 0.156
Chile $ 0.144
Colombia $ 0.134
Canada $ 0.113
Costa Rica $ 0.105
Dominican Republic $ 0.094
Mexico $ 0.083
China $ 0.081
Argentina $ 0.046
The global energy crisis affects all countries in the world. The difference lies in how each government addresses it and, above all, in the resources available to their country in terms of raw materials. Obviously, a state that is a producer of oil or gas is not the same as a state that has to import oil or gas. A country with energy independence is not the same as one that lacks it.
In this latter case, of course, the price of different types of energy will always be more expensive in a normal situation, especially if there has been a global crisis.
The problem is that numbers do not lie unless people try to manipulate them for personal, political, or commercial gain.
The Dominican Republic is not a producer of oil or gas. Moreover, like practically all islands around the world, it does not have energy independence. This is why citizens of island states suffer much more from the energy crisis, as prices are higher than in continental countries due to the simple distribution of transportation costs.
This is where leaders must prove whether they work for the people or for other interests. In Spain, for example, when a former Minister of Economy was questioned during a parliamentary committee about certain movements authorized by the government, his response was, “It’s the market, my friend,” which allowed many unjustifiable things from a social and popular viewpoint to be justified.
In a global crisis situation like the one we are currently experiencing, those in power, except those directly involved in the causes, know they are not responsible for consequences such as high inflation or lack of supply. However, opposition parties, with their unscrupulous opportunism, their communication strategies resembling a con artist, and their constant manipulation of facts and figures, will try to gain what they failed to win at the polls. Furthermore, and this is very dangerous for democratic systems, they increasingly resort to the propaganda systems of Nazi Joseph Goebbels or Stalinist Georgi Aleksandrov, meaning they win over the public through the principles of lies applied in the harshest authoritarian regimes in history. This is what is currently happening in the Dominican Republic.
Abinader, everything by the people and for the people
The head of state of this Caribbean country, Luis Abinader, who came to power in August 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, has already demonstrated his intention to adhere to the commitments of a new form of government based on the primary pursuit of citizens’ well-being.
Abinader applied a vaccination system for which he was internationally recognized at significant events such as the Davos Forum in Switzerland or the Summit of the Americas organized by US President Joe Biden. However, this vaccination strategy had a direct return in economic and social terms since the Dominican Republic regained its dominant position in the tourism sector ahead of Latin American and Caribbean countries, offering international visitors safe environments where they can enjoy their vacations without infection risk, even with new coronavirus variants slowing down recovery in other American and European countries.
These safe environments created by Abinader also contributed to opening new air routes from countries that had no visitors until the arrival of the current Dominican president. Furthermore, routes from the United States and the European Union have been expanded.
The Dominican exception
In the summer of 2021, a global energy crisis began, leading to a trend of rising electricity and fuel prices. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and subsequent sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have exacerbated this inflationary situation.
The increase in the various consumer price indices in all countries of the world is attempted by all governments with more or less success. The reality is that the cause of this inflation is the price of energy, which is exploited, for example, by large oil companies to artificially inflate the current situation.
In Spain and Portugal, for example, to lower electricity bill prices, an agreement was reached with the European Union to limit the price of gas, a significant factor in energy production in power plants. This is known as the “Iberian exception.” However, in Spain, this measure only concerns households subscribed to a regulated tariff and not those who pay their bills through the electricity market.
An exception also occurs in the Dominican Republic, which has faced energy and fuel prices that many countries note as strategies implemented by Abinader for his people’s benefit.
However, the current opposition shows pure populism by turning the people against their own government amid a global crisis affecting everyone. The electricity price in the Dominican Republic is among the lowest in Latin America and, of course, much lower than in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada, France, and Germany, to name a few.
It should be noted that the average electricity price worldwide is $0.130 per kWh. Thus, Luis Abinader’s administration has set household electricity rates below the global average.
However, the Dominican president was also bound by a pact signed in 2018 between political parties during the Liberation Party of the Dominican Republic (PLD) government to implement an electrical transition until a reference tariff was achieved. This pact, however, was not honored by the PLD, which preferred to continue its populist policies aimed only at retaining government power in 2020.
Abinader is a president who respects what was agreed upon at the state level, and as Milton Morrison, general director of Edesur Dominicana, stated, “President Luis Abinader is only upholding a pact that should have been implemented in 2018 by the PLD government, which preferred to engage in politics and not apply it, to avoid facing the Dominican people.” Leonel Fernández, Fuerza del Pueblo, and the PLD are disqualified because they signed the dismantling of the electricity tariff the Dominican people are living with.”
