The news story of the week, overshadowing President Balaguer’s Independence Day speech to Congress, was the condemnation by Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez of a possible U.S. intervention in the forthcoming presidential election via a network of observers. What made the matter even more interesting is that the Red de Observadores Electorales the Cardinal referred to is a by-product of a program under the supervision of another Catholic institution, the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, run by Monsignor Agripino Núñez. Furthermore, it has been noted that several of the leading members of Participación Ciudadana were better known for the leftist inclinations in the past.
Speaking at the National Pantheon, on the occasion of the 180th anniversary of the birth of patrician Ramón Matías Mella and 152th anniversary of independence on Monday, 26 February, Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez said that he had learned from trustworthy sources that the U.S. Embassy is seeking to assume a role in the forthcoming election that does not correspond with the accepted function of a diplomatic delegation. The head of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic said that the U.S. Embassy has had contact with other diplomatic legations, who are members of the international organizations funding the so-called Red de Observadores Electorales, seeking certain commitments.
This network of electoral observers, he said, will not limit itself to the simple function of observing a foreign election, but will trespass on those limits by divulging, in an untimely manner, information on the development and results of the election before the JCE makes its official pronouncement on the outcome. He condemned the fact that according to his information, the Red de Observadores Electorales will seek to create a difficult situation for the JCE and undermine the credibility of the verdict given by the “only competent authority” on the results of the election.
He called for Dominicans to be on the alert and observe both the behavior of the U.S. Embassy in the next few months and the conduct of those people that it endorses as observers. He said it is up to the JCE to clearly state the limitations of the electoral observers to avoid what he called the tragic-comedy of the last election in 1994.