Women who had gathered yesterday outside the Santo Domingo home of former President Joaquin Balaguer in hopes of receiving a Mothers Day gift were cursed, pushed, and beaten by security personnel and police when they attempted to get beyond the high fence that surrounds the house. The scramble to penetrate the security perimeter was catalyzed by the awareness that the supply of gifts typically electrical home appliances had run out. The women, described in the press as "young, old, pregnant and poor," had clogged the sidewalk in front of the villa on Maximo Gomez Avenue where Balaguer has resided for most of the past half century and where, by tradition, the Balaguer family the ex-president, his sisters and nieces have distributed gifts to children at Christmas, and to mothers on Mothers’ Day. Inside the house, Balaguer was hosting a Mothers’ Day reception for PRSC stalwarts. Each time the gate opened to permit one of his guests to pass, some of the frantic women attempted to enter as well. At one point, Margarita Peynado, the wife of PRSC vice presidential candidate, Jacinto Peynado, had to be "rescued" by Balaguer’s security chief and one of Peynado’s own bodyguards from amidst a howling, pushing, cursing mob that sought to squeeze through the main gate with her. Standing under a broiling afternoon sun, loud discussions erupted among the women as to who was a legitimate Balaguer supporter. Some were heard accusing others of not having voted for him in the presidential election held earlier this month and to be therefore ineligible to receive a gift. As security became tighter, impatient women removed their shoes and clambered over the top of the seven-foot iron railings. Once on the other side, however, they were met by security forces who beat, kicked, and pulled them by the hair. After police reinforcements had been summoned to clear the area and restore order, the women left tearful and empty-handed.
