Francisco Antonio “Tony” Pena Guaba, son of the late PRD leader Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, called on that party to expel Guido Gomez Mazara, the government’s legal advisor and guiding light of the PPH (Proyecto Presidencial Hipolito, the internal campaign promoting the President’s re-election ambitions). In a fierce attack on Gomez Mazara, Pena Guaba called him “the rotten apple” that PRD youth should be ashamed of, and accused him of dividing the party, harboring personal aspirations and benefiting his circle of friends. In a letter to PRD president Hatuey Decamps, Pena Guaba says that Gomez Mazara’s expulsion would help reunite the party. Decamps has promised to study the accusations and said that he would present them to an internal disciplinary tribunal. Guido Gomez Mazara’s reaction was, on the surface at least, serene: “All I can say is that (Tony Pena) is a nice guy, talented, and highly educated?” He added that he would be incapable of suing any son of Pena Gomez, and that he particularly liked and admired Tony. Pena Guaba has recently returned from his post as Dominican consul in New York City, and is the current president of the PRD youth movement, JRD.
In his Diario Libre back page commentary, Adriano Miguel Tejada asks “why now?” saying that Pena Guaba went as far as to label Guido Gomez Mazara “the PRD’s Anti-Christ”. Tejada wonders: “could this accusation be a new sign that the PPH is splitting? All bets are on, but there are differences in range and boxing abilities between the two contenders”.