Report Card on Leonel

Golo100

Bronze
Jan 5, 2002
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So far, in 3 and a half months of his government, I give Leonel Fernandez at best a D minus for performance, which is slightly better than Hippo's last year which qualifies as the biggest "F' you can write on an 81/2X11 sheet of paper.

1)Finance Department: They have done little to help the economy. The dollar has stabilized due to Leonel's trust level, not because of specific actions.
2)Education:a failure. They have not even been able to organize a school breakfast. Schools are in shambles.
3)Labor: A failure. A policy has not been established and struggles continue with salary increases. Labor force is still deprived by high prices.
4)Central Bank:Another failure continues. High interest rates higher than ever, yet banks are reducing their interest rates on certificates as if the dollar is worth $15 to $1. But ask for a loan and they would think the dollar is $60 to $1. Central Bank continues to be a burden on taxpayers. They spend frivolously on parties, clubs, meals and other entertainment, while the rest of us eat crow. Do they have any policies that work, except Leonel's overrated credibility?
5)Public Works:What public works? Rather this should be called the "search and destroy department" in complicity with the Water Department. Just look at the entire Bella Vista community's streets which have been destroyed. The Duarte Bridge is still near collapse. Highways and streets are full of potholes. Tunnels have lost thousands of tiles and street lights. A total failure
6)Police and Armed Forces: The worst grade of them all. Besieged by corruption, graft, internal theft and even stealing citizens' properties flagrantly without shame. The police is an organized crime family. AMET's chief drives a stolen car, and he knows it.
7)Culture:Just think..the national theatre was closed for lack of air conditioning. That is the state of affairs all over. Total failure. Pity on the animals at our Zoo. The camels are in such bad shape they would not last an hour in the Sahara.
8)Interior: Minister Almeyda is the biggest jerk in office. This guy came up with the hare-brain idea of calling October 31 the last day to renew 300,000 guns in an office that can barely handle 300 persons a day. Being in their offices is as chaotic as Iraq's armed forces recruiting office. The worst civil ministry of them all.
9)The presidency: What do they do? Nobody knows. Leonel spends most of his time at the Global Foundation, when he is not receiving Botox injections in his new face.
Sorry, Leonel fans, but I am not very enthused about this government. Just look at their Attorney General and District Attorneys going in different directions. No credible indictments on corruptions have been put together.
When will this government take off? Any dieas?
TW
 

Spirit7

New member
Aug 26, 2004
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Easy Golo100!

All of these negatives you report on are all the complete and total result of the outrageously lousy government we had up to 2-1/2 months ago. To expect this new government to right everything in such a short time is not only unrealistic but would be impossible in this type of culture.

Even though I disagree with many of the appointments, actions and/or inactions of Leonel's government so far, I still believe it is too early to condemn him and he should get at least until the end of the year before we start criticizing. Many indicators are pointing to a much-improved economy at the beginning of next year and let's hope it's so for all of our good.

The main beef I have, which hits me directly in the pocket, is this driving desire everyone has to lower the exchange rate versus the dollar but forgetting that what they should be worrying about is LOWERING PRICES!
I don't care if the exchange rate is 10 to 1 if prices come down accordingly but, having to deal with this rate of 30 to 1 with prices the equivalent of 50 to 1, or higher in the case of vehicles, has lowered my income by 35%.

Everyone seems to forget that a good exchange rate is beneficial to the tourism and free zone industries as well as 'remesas' (funds sent by Dominicans overseas); the three mainstays in the DR's economy---to say nothing of those of us who get paid in good old Uncle Sam greenbacks!
 

liam1

Bronze
Jun 9, 2004
843
30
28
not to go off topic, just glad to see Golo100 is back. hope you'll be more active on the board. i really enjoy reading your posts.
 

Guatiao

El Leon de los Cacicazgos
Mar 27, 2004
474
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I think it's to soon to grade this current government, I just want to see the government spend less.
 

Formosano2000

New member
Mar 5, 2003
398
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Let's not jump the gun (yet!)

It's awefully unrealistic to expect LF (or any other mortal) to undo 4 years of damage in 3 months. What I think important are:

1. The good intention: This alone puts him light years ahead of HM, who never had real intention to fix anything for the benefit of average Dominicans.

2. Expectation management: LF has successfully projected (at least until now) an image that he is walking the walk. Sure, it's too early to see the results, but he has already started purging the police force, forcing them to return stolen vehicles, reduced public payroll and cracked down on tax evasion and turned up patrol to fight crime.

3. Regaining credibility: While no govenment is ever totally trustworthy, LF has brought back some modicum of credibility, which was completely bankrupt under HM. The fact that he has managed to shore up Central Bank reserve, lower exchange rate from 45 to 31, reduce interest rates, induce more foreign investment..etc in 3 months is no small feat. We should keep in mind that the success of economic policy of any nation depends largely on the public confidence. Alan Greenspan was successful and persuasive in his rate cuts/increases because the public believed in his rationale. No so with Malkum. This is the critical difference between US and DR, where RD$ dropped the further the PPH tried to talk it up. While in the US, when John Snow said there was room for US$ to devalue (or words to that effect), it soon did in the international market.


One crucial test is whether LF will manage to lower prices across the board to reflect the benefit of a stronger RD$, if not, I expect the economy to stagnate as purchasing buyer for Dominicans and foreigners alike continues to drop.
 

baileyboy

New member
Jun 27, 2004
392
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I agree with Foromsano2000, the country has gone thru 4 very long and very hard years with Hippolito. And to think that LF can fix everything over night is ridiculous. It most likely won't get fixed for maybe a year or even longer...people have to be patient. With so many things to fix, and get moving on the right track it will take time.....so to give a grade after 2 or 3 months is not fair.
lisa
 

Camden Tom

Bronze
Dec 1, 2002
736
39
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Jeepers....

I thought us Americans were guilty of expecting instant gratification. It took Bush 3 years to clean up the economic bag of $hit that Clinton handed to him.
 

mharshman

New member
Sep 23, 2003
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Formosano2000 said:
It's awefully unrealistic to expect LF (or any other mortal) to undo 4 years of damage in 3 months. What I think important are:

1. The good intention: This alone puts him light years ahead of HM, who never had real intention to fix anything for the benefit of average Dominicans.

2. Expectation management: LF has successfully projected (at least until now) an image that he is walking the walk. Sure, it's too early to see the results, but he has already started purging the police force, forcing them to return stolen vehicles, reduced public payroll and cracked down on tax evasion and turned up patrol to fight crime.

3. Regaining credibility: While no govenment is ever totally trustworthy, LF has brought back some modicum of credibility, which was completely bankrupt under HM. The fact that he has managed to shore up Central Bank reserve, lower exchange rate from 45 to 31, reduce interest rates, induce more foreign investment..etc in 3 months is no small feat. We should keep in mind that the success of economic policy of any nation depends largely on the public confidence. Alan Greenspan was successful and persuasive in his rate cuts/increases because the public believed in his rationale. No so with Malkum. This is the critical difference between US and DR, where RD$ dropped the further the PPH tried to talk it up. While in the US, when John Snow said there was room for US$ to devalue (or words to that effect), it soon did in the international market.


One crucial test is whether LF will manage to lower prices across the board to reflect the benefit of a stronger RD$, if not, I expect the economy to stagnate as purchasing buyer for Dominicans and foreigners alike continues to drop.
Purchasing already stagnating. Gringos wintering over in other islands this year, and property values have declined in 2 months by 30%.The stupidity of dropping the exchange rate so rapidly has just forced many people to look for better alternatives. I tell people not to come unless they are prepared to pay double for electricity and gas., and triple for gas oil for the planta , four times what they paid last year in restaurants and five times more at the hardware stores, and the list goes on and on.
 

Don Juan

Living Brain Donor
Dec 5, 2003
856
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Let's not be so quick to judge.

Leonel is doing what is logical under present circumstances. He's seeking to unravel the mess Hipolito left us with. First and foremost, our country needs to get its financial house in order and he's trying very hard to do so. Our nation is plagued with myriad other problems that will have to be tackled one by one in descending level of importance. Let's not try to second-guess him. This man is extremely smart and will get us there at least half way. Of that, we can all be sure.
 

mondongo

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
1,533
6
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Don Juan said:
Leonel is doing what is logical under present circumstances. He's seeking to unravel the mess Hipolito left us with. First and foremost, our country needs to get its financial house in order and he's trying very hard to do so. Our nation is plagued with myriad other problems that will have to be tackled one by one in descending level of importance. Let's not try to second-guess him. This man is extremely smart and will get us there at least half way. Of that, we can all be sure.

How does a massive tax increase help get the DR's "financial house in order?"

DR1 news reports today that Fernandez is to borrow US$370Million from Brazil, then turn around and hire Brazilian companies to build acqueducts? Can you say Eximbank, Brazil style?

Is this the time to begin borrowing ala Mejia? Have we not seen this story before?
 
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FuegoAzul21

New member
Jun 28, 2004
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leonel is kickin a** , look at all the moves he is making , these moves will result in good things and he will lead us back to Economic prosperity like he did before

VIVA LEONEL !!!!!!
 

Jon S.

Bronze
Jan 25, 2003
1,040
6
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FuegoAzul21 said:
leonel is kickin a** , look at all the moves he is making , these moves will result in good things and he will lead us back to Economic prosperity like he did before

VIVA LEONEL !!!!!!

Wow. You sure are blind. I don't even know what to say. His actions will not be a cure-all for the ills of the Dominican Republic. It's getting crazy down there and the fun is just beginning. It starts with the people and when the people change, so will the government. But we all know how that goes and alotta people like things the way they are, specially those who emigrate to the DR and like the concept of "big fish in a little pond". Don't mean to disrespect anyone here who benefits from that concept but just wanted to state the facts.
 
Apr 26, 2002
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mondongo said:
DR1 news reports today that Fernandez is to borrow US$370Million from Brazil, then turn around and hire Brazilian companies to build acqueducts? Can you say Eximbank, Brazil style?

Is this the time to begin borrowing ala Mejia? Have we not seen this story before?
But doesn't borrowing for truly worthy infrastructure projects make sense? I can't vouch for the mentioned acqueducts or whether the projects are real and will be completed, but assuming it's legitimate, why is it inherently evil?
 

Texas Bill

Silver
Feb 11, 2003
2,174
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I must agree with Porfi & Peter

in the foregoing exchanges.

To change the thrust of 4 years of irresponsible governing and it's insuing impact on the thinking of the Dominican people, is ,in and of itself, a tremendous undertaking. That, coupled with the economic shambles he was faced with, the solutions necessary to correct that and his efforts thusfar, I think Lionel has embarked on a path of recovery which will take time and effort to complete.
His questionable appointments not withstanding, it takes time for governmental non-professionals to acquire the knowledge and expertise to properly manage and produce effective results.
All in all, Lionel has, thus far, produced a renewed international confidence in the DR's ability to recover from the economic doldrums effected by the Hipoloto administration.
More borrowing is not necessarily a negative aspect to the desired recovery, provided the funds are used properly and effectively to enhance the infrastructure. Contrarily, it is a necessary evil which must be accomodated if the economy is to recover. Where would the manufacturing, the retailers, etc. be without electrical, water and other infrastructure services?? Hipolito's policy of letting the infrastructure go sour will require almost as many funds in the restoration mileau as would the original investment.
Although my personal purchasing power has diminished by over 30%, i think we will see adjustments in exchange rates in the future which will restore those rates to one more stable and favorable to the economy as a whole.
I join others in taking a wait and see attitude as to just how effective some of Lionel's efforts will be.

Texas Bill
 

mondongo

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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Porfio_Rubirosa said:
But doesn't borrowing for truly worthy infrastructure projects make sense? I can't vouch for the mentioned acqueducts or whether the projects are real and will be completed, but assuming it's legitimate, why is it inherently evil?

Porfio, I agree that worthy infrastructure projects make sense. My objections were two-fold:

1) (sorry about the pontification) In order to acquiesce to the foreigners who want their money back, Fernandez has adopted a general policy of increasing the governments income as a percentage of the economy. According to the Cenral Bank documents, the income of his governement is based less and less on the local DR$ based economy. The extra money collected from all the tax increases is not going to capital projects, but is likely to exit the DR. So my first argument is that we cannot afford it right now.

2) My second objection is the sheer size of these loans. To get an idea of just how big, consider what is happening in the US. Most would agree that President Bush cannot continue to run US$500Billion (4% of GDP) deficits much longer without eventually sparking inflation. Just in the first few months of his forst year, Fernandez has requested about US$500Million(3.5% of GDP) in loans. If he keeps this up, he will be no better than Mejia. Keep in mind that the interest rates the DR pays for its loans are 3-5 time more than what the US pays, so the above numbers are even worse than they appear.
 

mondongo

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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Just a note: when write about the DR economy, I don't just issue emotional responses. I tell you what I think based on facts and research. I can back up my pontification. I challenge others to do the same.
 

Escott

Gold
Jan 14, 2002
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I am sitting here shaking my head. I think I am finding myself agree with Mondongo.

Leonel hasn't done one thing positive for the country that I can see at this point. Getting a new set of loans doesn't qualify in my book either. I trust Leonel as much as I trusted Hippo.

You cannot borrow your way out of this problem. You need to tighten your belt.

Escott