transition
I think Balaguer was a great transition between hard dictatorship and the so called democracy we have these days... He, of course, kept a lot of the Trujillo's ways, especially in the beginning, but one must admit he did a good job, and since that DR is among the best latin countries... Now, I really don't think anybody can compare Balaguer and Hippolito, since the first was educated and some kind of an elitist, and the second mostly ignorant and populist, proud of his lack of knowledge...
-But then what is democracy worth in the third world ?
-Is it such a good idea to let the illitterate masses elect our prez' and other representatives ?