Johnny Ventura, the international merengue legend, is running for deputy mayor of Santo Domingo on the PRD ticket. While newspapers have interviewed him extensively for the launching of his auto-biography, there have been scant interviews regarding his new political role. Indeed, he has been taking a back seat to Dr. Jose Peña Gómez, who is running for mayor. Polls indicate that Dr. Peña Gómez is likely to be voted the next mayor of Santo Domingo. At the same time, political analysts forecast that Peña will barely be able to complete his first year, given his health condition. Thus, Ventura could be the next mayor of Santo Domingo. In an interview of 6 May in the Listín Diario, Ventura reminds Dominicans that when he gets to city hall, he will not be improvising. A lawyer and former congressman, he was a former substitute mayor for four years under the city administration of Dr. Peña Gómez, from 1982-1986. He said that he was at the job every day during that period. Johnny Ventura says that the mayor will determine his responsibilities. He says the deputy mayor will be the right-hand of the mayor. In case of the absence of the mayor, he will assume office. Ventura explained that after several years exclusively in show business, he became involved in politics in 1962, joining the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano. He said that back then only a few artists became involved in politics because most felt it would hurt their popularity. He said he has proven this is not so. "I think both activities can be carried out when you respect yourself as a professional artist and your public; and being concerned with the problems of the nation, you try to make contributions." Johnny Ventura is a close friend of another former mayor, Rafael Corporán de los Santos, a TV producer-variety show host-turned politician, who is hoping to repeat as mayor under the PRSC ticket. Dominicans are likely to vote for the party with chances of winning, thus Corporán’s votes could sway to Ventura or to the PLD’s Roberto Salcedo, another TV producer-comedian-turned politician. Ventura said that Santo Domingo’s problems are the result of the overall socioeconomic situation of the country. He says people abandon the countryside and move to Santo Domingo, seeking a better livelihood. This has caused the city to grow beyond the limits of the present city government’s administrative capacity. "That is why Peña Gómez insists on decentralization, and it is an idea that, thank God, is shared by the other candidates."
