A recent investigative report in Diario Libre highlights the long list of close relatives of the president of the Chamber of Deputies Radhames Camacho Cuevas who are employed in government. Camacho is a member of the Political Committee of the ruling PLD party. He has done well for himself; in 8 years he has more than tripled his worth, according to wealth statements he has presented following civic society and press requests.
In a country where political patronage and wasteful spending is high, it is not unusual for several family members of an important politician to be on the government payroll. Diario Libre mentions that Camacho did not mention his wife in his statement of wealth. His wife is deputy minister at the Ministry of Education. His wife is on the Ministry of Education payroll with a monthly salary of RD$250,000. She posted her own statement of worth where she states that she has three residences worth RD$9 million, RD$2 million and RD$6 million, and bank account savings for RD$3.6 million and a loan for RD$4.8 million.
Camacho’s son, Guilver Radhames Camacho Brugos, is employed in the Dominican Telecommunications Institute making RD$60,000. Another of son Camacho, Jose Ernesto Camacho Burgos, is employed as a paralegal at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce making RD$50,000 per month. He is also on the payroll of the Dominican Port Authority as a consultant with a RD$30,000 monthly stipend.
Digna Camacho, the sister of Camacho, is on the payroll of the Ministry of Public Health where she makes RD$51,978. Deputy Camacho’s brother, Euclides Camacho Cuevas, is employed at the Central Electoral Board (JCE) with wages of RD$49,400. And his brother Wilson Camacho Cuevas is deputy consul in Anse-a-Pitre, Haiti with a wage of US$1,750. Two other sisters of the president of the Chamber of Deputies are on the state payroll as public school teachers with the Ministry of Education.
Recently, it was known that independently of his wife, Radhames Camacho posted his worth was RD$70 million, up by around 150% from what he posted when he was first voted a deputy in 2010 for the ruling party in 2010.
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Radhames Camacho presented his statement of worth on 28 September 2018. The law establishes he needs to do so 30 days after he was sworn in on 16 August 2016. He had not presented an update of his statement presented when he entered the Chamber of Deputies in 2010. El Dia reports that in 2010 he reported assets of RD$43 million to RD$75 million. But Diario Libre says he declared RD$28.2 million in 2010 and now says he has RD$70.7 million. He has savings in pesos of RD$17.1 million and US$141,423 in hard currency.
In his 2018 statement of worth, Camacho declared property for RD$30.7 million, including his residence for RD$9.6 and an office valued at RD$9.1 million. He reported he has four vehicles for RD$8 million. He also has bank deposits for RD$33.3 million and a loan for RD$4 million.
Prior to being elected a deputy for the ruling PLD party, Camacho was a public school teacher. And then from 2000-2004, he was named to the board of directors of the Dominican Institute of Social Security (IDSS). He was also appointed deputy of the Parlamento Centroamericano from 2004-2010. In the ruling PLD party, he is a member of both the Central Committee and the Camacho receives net RD$164,900 in wages and has expense account of RD$40,950 plus RD$75,000 a month. In addition he gets an incentive of RD$3,500 for each session he attends and an extra RD$2,000 for commission works.
Formerly of the PRD, in 22 September 2011 Camacho joined the ruling PLD to back Medina’s aspirations to the presidency in 2012.
A cartoon in El Dia on 12 November 2018 highlights that legislators and professors are just as profitable as careers in MLB baseball.
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Diario Libre
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El Dia
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Camara de Diputados
El Dia
12 November 2018
