The new mayor of Puerto Plata, Diomedes Garcia (Roquelito) said on Monday, 27 April 2020 that his office did not send out an invitation to participate in the crusading for God’s support against the coronavirus led by self-proclaimed prophet Migdomio Adames, ¨el Peregrino¨. On his Instagram page, the new mayor denies having sent out the invitation. Adames first became known when he carried his cross from his hometown in Elías Piña on the border of Haiti to Santo Domingo to campaign for the reelection of President Danilo Medina in 2014. At the time, the Constitution banned Medina from running for reelection.
Puerto Plata Mayor García is criticized for lending a sound-blasting vehicle that was used for his political campaign for the procession through the city of Puerto Plata on Sunday, 26 April. The city government vehicle escorted the cross-bearing Adames and the religious fanatics that followed him as he walked along the Malecon to a city beach where he would plant the cross.
The caravan began in Santo Domingo, and passed through Villa Altagracia where it was received by a Catholic priest Padre Chelo, moving through Bonao and Santiago where it did not draw many followers, as reported. When it arrived to Imbert, in Puerto Plata, the caravan gained followers. There, Adames spent the night at the firefighters station. He had the support of the mayor of Imbert, a ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) politician.
Videos show Adames escorted by Dominican transit (Digesett) motorized agents, the National Police and even a large 911 Emergency System fire truck. The videos also show numerous police mingling with the crowds at a time when there is an executive order for social distancing. Most that attended the religious procession were not wearing masks. This is in contrast with the firm position of the Police and military to arrest all who do not wear masks in a public space.
Nevertheless, on Monday morning, in his daily press conference, the Public Health Minister Dr. Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas centered all the blame of the congregating of what he estimated were around 5,000 people for the caravan on the mayor of Puerto Plata. He said the mayor turned the procession into a political event. The mayor had been sworn in on Friday, 24 April.
On Friday and Saturday, Dr. Sánchez Cárdenas had coincidentally been in Puerto Plata to meet with representatives to coordinate measures to reduce the spread of the disease in the province. “All the work we had carried out that weekend was thrown overboard,” he complained during the press conference. “If there was weakness on behalf of the officers that should have avoided this by using public force, we do not deny that, and the police is taking measures,” he said. He said new measures will be needed for the province after the agglomerations. He asked that penalties be applied.
During the press briefing on Monday, 27 April, Dr. Sánchez Cárdenas was asked why the police or the firefighters did not disperse the crowds. The public health minister said that the firefighter truck was under the responsibility of the new mayor of Puerto Plata. Nevertheless, he acknowledged the lack of action by the police and the military. The Puerto Plata police commander was suspended pending an investigation.
“To our surprise, the entire citizenry was able to see the great disorder amid the declared state of national emergency,” said the minister. He said the event was “sponsored and mobilized by those who today are denying participation and involvement in the mass rally.” He referred to newly appointed Mayor Roquelito García, who represents the opposition party, the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). He called the event “a political activity.”
He complained that on Friday and Saturday, the Ministry had dispatched vehicles to neighborhoods in Puerto Plata to distribute the message of the need to wear facial masks when out in public and avoid agglomerations. “What happened there was a lack of respect to the people of Puerto Plata, the authorities and the health mandate,” he said. “We reject this and ask that Puerto Plata take drastic measures against this “vagabundería” or disorderly charlatanism.
Interestingly, on that Sunday, right after the activity, ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD)’s presidential candidate, Gonzalo Castillo’s sanitization trucks were prompt to cover up the path of the caravan, disinfecting the area in a well publicized effort to capitalize on the damage caused by the throngs of people led by the vehicle of the newly appointed opposition mayor.
The governor of Puerto Plata sent out a press release saying that he was not aware of the event until the procession was in the city of Puerto Plata. Governor Iván Rivera Bastardo sent out a press release also accusing Mayor Roquelito García of being responsible for allowing the activity that violates the social distancing rule in effect nationwide. News sources say that the Ministry of Interior & Police authorized the caravan. The Minister of Interior & Police has denied the authorization. The Medina administration had just inaugurated a multi-million dollar new surveillance center, the C5i.
The caravan had been a trending topic all day on Sunday, but throughout the week social media had already shared the pilgrimage videos. It took Adames six days on foot to reach Puerto Plata. Yet no authority seemed to notice until the damage was done.
The coordinator for the High Commission for the Prevention of Coronavirus, Gustavo Montalvo also put the blame on the local authorities in Puerto Plata. He said this time there would be no penalization. Instead, Public Health Minister Dr. Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas was sent back to Puerto Plata on Tuesday, 28 April to prepare measures to respond to a possible outbreak of the disease in the province. These include an epidemiological cordon of the province with increased restrictions for a week in circulation.
Journalist Diana Lora on “Esta Noche con Mariasela” variety show on the evening of 27 April also observed: “Everyone failed. The municipal authorities, the religious leadership that opened their doors, the leadership of the authorities… The National Police that is so prompt to arrest the most humble on the street for not wearing a mask and yet allowed this manifestation. And those that were there.”
Carolina Santana also commented on Esta Noche con Mariasela:
“This shows that the rope breaks where it is thinnest. Hapless people are arrested for not using masks, but a procession is allowed because it is escorted by the authorities. One has to ask about whether such negligence is fortuitous as the procession proceeded municipality by municipality. It is particularly interesting that all this negligence is salvaged with the intervention of the presidential candidate of the government who then took charge to clean up Puerto Plata.”
Investigative journalist Alicia Ortega on her 27 April “El Informe con Alicia Ortega” remarked:
“It is unwonted for throngs of people, many without masks, to defy calls to avoid contagion. It is unwonted that no competent authority prevented so many people from following a pilgrim on his way to stamp a cross on a beach. This is an irrational and irresponsible act of the participants who did not meditate on the risks they were taking for themselves and others. How can one act with such degree of insensitivity to the thousands of healthcare workers that are risking their lives. “
Ines Aizpun, in an editorial for Diario Libre writes:
“You can’t go out, open your small business, work at whatever comes along… but if you go out and do the most grotesque parade in years, they’ll even escort you.”
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Puerto Plata Digital
Hoy
El Caribe
Hoy
Puerto Plata Digital
Ministry of Public Health press conference 27 April 2020
Diario Libre
Esta Noche con Mariasela
Diario Libre
28 April 2020