Crowds partial to the PLD showed up in large numbers for the Saturday, 15 March demonstration to protest economic measures of the present government. The ?March of Hope? started at Calle Pedro Livio Cede?o and paraded down the Avenida Duarte, creating a virtual sea of people. No incidents of violence were reported and newspapers touted the order that prevailed.
At around 7 pm, some three hours after its start, former President Leonel Fernandez spoke to the crowds from the Malec?n, where the march wound down. ?This is the most apparent and true demonstration that the Dominican people reject the economic policies of the PRD government; economic policies that have increased unemployment, poverty, hunger and the misery of the Dominican people,? said Fernandez.