It would be hard to find someone so dedicated to a cause as retired general Juan Manuel Mendez Garcia, the head of the Center for Emergency Operations (COE). Mendez Garcia was just honored for his 20 years as the head of the Dominican agency charged with handling all of the emergency situations that occur on an island that sees so many different natural and human disasters.
The Dominican Republic has 14 major seismic fault lines, and at any time one of these might shake the nation. The Dominican Republic is also in the path of many of the worst hurricanes imaginable, and there is nowhere to go in order to avoid one of these. And then there are the Dominican holidays. These events, Christmas-New Years and Holy Weeks, ware nationwide event that see millions of people going from one place to another, full of rum and beer, and a devil-may-care attitude.
These are the moments when Mendez Garcia shines the brightest. Organizing over 40,000 volunteers, police and armed service units, Mendez oversees that the Dominican highway, beaches, and swimming holes are patrolled and the accidents prevented, victims are treated, and the number of fatalities go down almost every year. And he does it quietly. As an army officer, he was placed in charge of the COE. As a general he ran the center with recognized military efficiency. As a civilian, he reportedly has improved the coordination, and performance of the agency.
Not all has been praise, though. In 2020, investigative journalist Edith Febles questioned the procurement carried out at the COE that benefited the same companies. She denounced at the time that there was contracting to companies with unknown domiciles. At the time, Mendez said the contracting was cancelled.
Despite the procurement irregularities, Mendez would be kept in the position with the change of government, given his invaluable expertise in handling emergency situations.
Mendez also had a key role in the handling of the JetSet Club tragedy, in which around 270 people died when the roof collapsed.
Read more:
Listin Diario
El Nuevo Diario
El Dia
DR1 News
29 July 2025