Operation Falcon: Major raids in Santiago, Santo Domingo and Punta Cana

[Dolores]

Hector Darío Feliz Feliz / N Digital

With the backing of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States, local prosecutors from the Attorney General Office (PGR) and the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) carried out a major offensive in Santiago, the National District, Santo Domingo province and Punta Cana early on 8 September 2021. The Operation Falcon is a major crack on drug trafficking in the country. The raids took people by surprise.

Commenting on Operation Falcon, President Luis Abinader said: “In this country there are no sacred cows.” He reiterated his commitment to end impunity for administrative corruption and organized crime. Legislator Hector Dario Felix Feliz and a government officer, Juan Maldonado Castro are investigated in the case.

Diario Libre reports that Operation Falcon reveals the level of involvement of politicians...

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[JD Jones]

They're working their way up the ladder. Excellent news!

 

[MariaRubia]

This is a massive piece of news. The more this happens, the more people realise that Abinader is serious about eliminating corruption. I wonder how much longer it will be before the drug barons find new routes which avoid DR entirely. I certainly believe that anyone in government who has their hand in the register is going to be getting seriously worried now.

 

[aarhus]

They're working their way up the ladder. Excellent news!

They are all PRD

 

[aarhus]

This is a massive piece of news. The more this happens, the more people realise that Abinader is serious about eliminating corruption. I wonder how much longer it will be before the drug barons find new routes which avoid DR entirely. I certainly believe that anyone in government who has their hand in the register is going to be getting seriously worried now.

wasn’t this the work of the US DEA ?

 

[JD Jones]

They are all PRD

Yep, there's a Deputy and a senator in the bunch too. One is even in more hot water because he tried to keep one of the suspects from being arrested. He got his Jeepeta confiscated as a result.

The folks arrested will be tried in Santiago.

The President has stated on various occasions there are no sacred cows in his govt, and this is further proof.

 

[aarhus]

Yep, there's a Deputy and a senator in the bunch too. One is even in more hot water because he tried to keep one of the suspects from being arrested. He got his Jeepeta confiscated as a result.

The folks arrested will be tried in Santiago.

The President has stated on various occasions there are no sacred cows in his govt, and this is further proof.

Doesn’t the MVP have control over his party.

 

[MariaRubia]

Doesn’t the MVP have control over his party.

I think none of his party realised that when he said he was anti corruption and was going to change things he really meant it. I imagine he has very few friends.

 

[NanSanPedro]

I think none of his party realised that when he said he was anti corruption and was going to change things he really meant it. I imagine he has very few friends.

You could be incredibly correct. That is dangerous for him.

 

[JD Jones]

I think none of his party realised that when he said he was anti corruption and was going to change things he really meant it. I imagine he has very few friends.

The interesting thing is all he did was give the reins to Miriam Brito and tell her nobody's sacred.

I guess some of them just assumed he'd have their backs if things got sticky.

 

[aarhus]

I think none of his party realised that when he said he was anti corruption and was going to change things he really meant it. I imagine he has very few friends.

Isn’t Abinader PRM. PRD is a different party. Who can confirm?

 

[NanSanPedro]

Isn’t Abinader PRM. PRD is a different party. Who can confirm?

Yes, Luis is PRM, Modern Revolutionary Party. Ex prez Danilo is PLD.

 

[aarhus]

Yes, Luis is PRM, Modern Revolutionary Party. Ex prez Danilo is PLD.

And who is head of the PRD then?

 

[NanSanPedro]

And who is head of the PRD then?

This website say Miguel Vargas. I've never heard of him. I'm hoping JD or someone else much more knowedgeable than I will chime in here.

 

[bob saunders]

Isn’t Abinader PRM. PRD is a different party. Who can confirm?

PRM morphed from PRD, different name but many of the same incestuous crooks.

 

[Lucifer]

This website say Miguel Vargas. I've never heard of him. I'm hoping JD or someone else much more knowedgeable than I will chime in here.

Miguel Vargas Maldonado, former Minister of Foreign Affairs (2016-2020), is the president of the PRD.

The PRD was founded by Dominican exiles, with Juan Bosch as their leader, in Cuba in late 1930s. After Trujillo was assassinated in ‘61, elections were held in early ‘62, which were won by the PRD. Bosch’s presidency only lasted 7 months, having been brought down by a coup d’état. When elections were held again in 1966, the PR, led by Joaquín Balaguer, claimed victory, and won again in 1970, as well as in 1974, when the PRD decided not to participate. Balaguer ruled for 12 uninterrupted years. (Orlando Martínez was of the opinion that, had the PRD participated in the ‘74 elections, they would have won, since the Santiago Agreement had united a cadre of strange political bedfellows: left-of-center PRD folks and ultra-right wingers, such as General Elías Wessin y Wessin).

With barely a year to go before the 1974 election, Juan Bosch left the PRD and formed the PLD.

The PRD finally won in 1978 (Antonio Guzmán), and in 1982 (Salvador Jorge Blanco).

Fast-forward to 1996.
PLD, with Leonel Fernández at the helm, rose to power.
The PRD and Hipólita Mejía won the 2000 elections.
PLD and Fernández were victorious in 2004 and re-elected in 2008.
The PLD and Danilo Medina won in 2012 and 2016.

Now it’s PRM’s turn. The PRM is an offshoot of the PRD, which was founded by Bosch, who also founded the PLD.
So, in the big scheme of things, these political parties are equines of a totally dissimilar hue.

-Lucifer Santana

 

[aarhus]

Miguel Vargas Maldonado, former Minister of Foreign Affairs (2016-2020), is the president of the PRD.

The PRD was founded by Dominican exiles, with Juan Bosch as their leader, in Cuba in late 1930s. After Trujillo was assassinated in ‘61, elections were held in early ‘62, which were won by the PRD. Bosch’s presidency only lasted 7 months, having been brought down by a coup d’état. When elections were held again in 1966, the PR, led by Joaquín Balaguer, claimed victory, and won again in 1970, as well as in 1974, when the PRD decided not to participate. Balaguer ruled for 12 uninterrupted years. (Orlando Martínez was of the opinion that, had the PRD participated in the ‘74 elections, they would have won, since the Santiago Agreement had united a cadre of strange political bedfellows: left-of-center PRD folks and ultra-right wingers, such as General Elías Wessin y Wessin).

With barely a year to go before the 1974 election, Juan Bosch left the PRD and formed the PLD.

The PRD finally won in 1978 (Antonio Guzmán), and in 1982 (Salvador Jorge Blanco).

Fast-forward to 1996.
PLD, with Leonel Fernández at the helm, rose to power.
The PRD and Hipólita Mejía won the 2000 elections.
PLD and Fernández were victorious in 2004 and re-elected in 2008.
The PLD and Danilo Medina won in 2012 and 2016.

Now it’s PRM’s turn. The PRM is an offshoot of the PRD, which was founded by Bosch, who also founded the PLD.
So, in the big scheme of things, these political parties are equines of a totally dissimilar hue.

-Lucifer Santana

It’s almost as if the PRD is just a franchise Miguel Vargas took over and kept when they started the PRM. He was a presidential candidate in 2008, I think it was, where he called himself the MVP. I remember the adds were funny with him playing baseball. He has been in and around government since Hippolito Mejia was president.

 

[JD Jones]

This website say Miguel Vargas. I've never heard of him. I'm hoping JD or someone else much more knowedgeable than I will chime in here.

Don't get me started on Miguel Vargas. Let's just say he's the best politician money can buy.

 

[MariaRubia]

I think it is difficult for people who come from less corrupt countries to understand the code of conduct that ran through all of government here, especially until you have lived in the country for years. Politicians just wanted to be politicians so they could roll in money. All of them were at it, no matter what party. Even if your party lost, your mates in the winning party would give you a botella - a salaried job you didn't need to turn up for.

My take on it is this. Danilo made some grand moves which looked like he was trying to change things, like building thousands of schools and building new highways but it turns out these were just new ways of milking cash from the system in a slightly less obvious way. Then comes Abinader who says he is anti-corruption and is going to change things, and I'm sure all the politicians thought "hey ho here we go again, what color do I want my Lamborghini". But then he started throwing the book at people in his own party and in the institutions like the electricity companies, and a lot of these guys are having a double-take. It remains to be seen if he will stick to it or if he will be eliminated one way or another.

Terrible time to own a Porsche garage though, I can't imagine they have many customers these days.

 

[Pikobello]

There is still enough money in the country to buy hundreds of Porsche, Lambos or Mc Laren.
Miguel Vargas has sentenced the PRD to death with his big ego, bien hecho...
But now we're really OT so the mods can open a new thread about the political history of the DR.