President Hip?lito Mej?a told reporters that he endorsed a military communiqu? issued last Friday. ?Do you think that he [the minister of the Armed Forces] would proceed without my permission?? President Mej?a asked a reporter who inquired about the statements made.
On Friday, the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic called a press conference to express their compliance and support to the government of President Mej?a. The publication came on the eve of the much-anticipated signing of an IMF agreement. The previous IMF agreement to be formalized was signed during the PRD government of President Salvador Jorge Blanco and led to riots in the streets to protest the harsh conditions imposed on the Dominican people.
Political commentator Pedro Catrain, interviewed by Hoy newspaper, explained that since the inception of his government, President Hip?lito Mej?a has given a military slant to his style of government. Catrain says that this nevertheless contradicts the historical tradition of the PRD, once recognized for having removed politics from the Armed Forces in 1978, under then-President Antonio Guzm?n. President Mej?a was Minister of Agriculture during that administration.
Catrain says that such a press conference as was held on Friday is unecessary at this time, when the signals that the government should be sending are ones of confidence, of a return to institutionalism and the correct application of the law. He said that the press conference was untimely and merely adds another ingredient of uncertainty to the intricacies of the present situation now afflicting Dominican society.
As reported in Hoy, news commentator Juan Jos? Ayuso said that if the Armed Forces and the Police thought it absolutely necessary to ratify their loyalty and unconditional support to President Mej?a, they could have done so by throwing him a party, by giving him another winged-horse statue or by appointing him Chief of the Armed Forces of the air, sea, land, underground and outer space.
In addition to the press conference called on Friday, 20 June, the Armed Forces published half-page statements in the printed press. In these statements, the Armed Forces called on citizens to ignore the irresponsible voices of speculation and instead contribute with faith and good will to the efforts underway, aware that now more than ever the military and its disciplined, efficient subordinates are ready to follow the law, and brave all dangers and threats that may affect Dominican families, regardless of where they come from or where they may be found.
The communiqu? is signed by Lieutenant General Jos? Miguel Soto Jim?nez.