Taking a leaf out of Rudolph Guiliani’s book, President Leonel Fernandez has called for a war on crime, citing drug trafficking as the main cause behind the rising crime rate and public perception of insecurity. Speaking at the close of the VII congress of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Fernandez said that his government would not become an accomplice to the scourge of drugs and violence. He criticized what he called “a certain permissiveness” in the past and promised a “permanent fight against drug trafficking.” At the close of the party congress, Fernandez and Reynaldo Pared Perez were confirmed in their posts as PLD president and secretary general respectively.