Is Leonel Good, Or Just Better Than Hippos and Other Animals?

Apr 26, 2002
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From '96-'00, I thought that Leonel was a great president. There seemed to be a level of sanity restored to the operations of the government during those years. No, there was not an end to corruption during the period, but it seemed to be noticably reduced.

But I have become more politically aware since Hippo took over. What choice did I have? Hippo's crew is at best incompetent and at worse dubious. Their greed for government funds seems to have no limits. Their actions have directly and negatively impacted my life.

I don't expect any Dominican government to be free of corruption, but Leonel seemed committed to lessening it or at least making it less obvious. And isn't less corruption better than more corruption?

I know that many of the posters here have a cynical view of Leonel too - at best viewing him as the lesser of two evils.

So my question is: Does Leonel simply look good in comparison, or was he a particularly good Dominican president?
 
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Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
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In a country where most presidents would rate around 4 in a scale of 10 Leonel's 6.5 suddenly tastes like heaven. He could have done better, he made some really lousy decisions and he stressed too much on the consumism that ultimately hurt us more than it did good (Nueva York chiquito anyone?).

But with His Baldness rating at an all time low 1.0 in my scale (or 7.5 if you go by the Richter scale) Leonel is the big winner.

YMMV
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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He's probably just the lesser of two evils, but I must say the one thing I like about him is that he seems to have a clear vision of what the country needs to develop. He's also supported education and most important of all made tried to maintain economic stability as much as possible. On the other hand I thought he had a golden opportunity to made some real significant changes in the way government conducts business and just caved in to interests. Maybe it is impossible not to cave in to certain interests in the DR, because if you don't that may get you in trouble or worse, killed. Maybe he just didn't have the support in congress, or whatever, but I thought he really should not have canned Guillermo Moreno (the most honest guy in his government) and let him put Balaguer and all the other corrupt politicians in jail.
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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Most political leaders are elected,as "The Lesser Of Two Evils"

Or in the DR,the "Lesser Of Three Evils"!Leonel improved the trafic flow in "La Capital"! He has a "BRAIN",he thinks before he speakes,I don't remember him "arresting",or threatening to arrest people for expressing their opinions!He was not the "Laughing Stock" of the "Americas"!I think you know where I stand! CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCccccccccccccccc
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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I think Leonel would be best for the country. He has 4 years of exerience in the job, a vision of where he wants the country to go, and is highly respected by leaders in other parts of the world.

I was very pleased when he won the first time and thought he did some excellent things to "modernize" the DR. But I have to say that I was disappointed with his handling of corruption, even his apparent tolerance of it.

If he doesn't win the election, that will not bode well for the DR. I don't think there is anyone else among the announced and likely candidates than can turn things around.
 

XanaduRanch

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Sep 15, 2002
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My Opinion Only

I have not been here as long as a lot of the other posters here so I may be off the mark. But these are my impressions FWIW.

When Hippo was elected I hadn't been here long enough to follow very closely, but I liked that he said exactly what he thought. I admire that in a politician. Then I realized that what he thought wasn't much at best and completely assinine at worst.

Of the major parties here they all seem like reflections of the others, with the possible exception of Leonel's group. They are at least center-left instead of far left, have some grasp of capitalism (other than how to use it to line their own pockets) and most uniquely a real honest-to-god idea of where they want the country to go. The rest seem simply to want to be in power just to be in power without a clue as to why.

Anyone who voted for the former president of the U.S. is familiar with that situation. Any day now I expect to hear a Hippo spokesman say that he is 'searching for his core values' so he can ennunciate his 'vision'. Arghh!