Dominican stand-up comedian Carlos Sanchez used his minutes on the stage of the Plaza de la Bandera concert-demonstration on Thursday, 27 February 2020 to urge young people not to become apathetic again. He also demanded the country have an attorney general who is independent from the Presidency. “As long as we do not have an independent public ministry, we will not have justice and corruption will find a way out,” he stated. “It is not a problem of corruption, but that there not be consequences to corruption,” he stated. “We need guarantees that if there is corruption, it will be punished, regardless of the government that may come,” he demanded. He described as despicable (‘bazofia”) current attorney general Jean Alain Rodríguez.
But then he stated what would become one of the most controversial phrases making social media and headlines after the Independence Day demonstration. “There is something that has to be clear. If they are who win the election as the polls indicate, we have a warning to make, this afternoon at 1:15 pm,” he said. “They can eat with yucca the alliance they have made with the People’s Force, directed by a man who is responsible for many of the things we are undergoing today.” Next, he was more direct and pointed out: “The People’s Force is led by a man who is the great culprit of many of the things we are complaining about today, that man’s name is Leonel Fernández.”
Carlos Sánchez recalled that four years ago (after the 2016 presidential election) there was no explanation for the failure of the scanners.
Afterwards, there was criticism that Sánchez crossed the apolitical line for the Plaza de la Bandera demonstration. But others came to his defense, such as Ines Aizpun, in an editorial in Diario Libre. She stressed in her editorial on Saturday, 29 February 2020 that the demonstrations were all about defying old politics. “Carlos Sanchez said what many citizens are demanding. That the past and its players not be forgotten,” she wrote.
She said the quest is for strong institutions, judicial security and an end to justice managed from the Presidency. Time to retire a political class at several levels that is depredatory and where impunity prevails, she concludes in her words backing Carlos Sanchez.
During the protest, no flags of any political organization were displayed to maintain the civic and independent character of the demonstration. No political candidate was allowed on stage.
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Diario Libre
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
2 March 2020