El Caribe newspaper reports that, only five days after
\nPresident Hip?lito Mej?a was met with clanging empty pots in the La Ci?naga slum
\narea, where he chose to begin his campaign for re-election, he was subject to a
\ncritical sermon by the priest of his native Gurabo community in Santiago while
\non his second campaign event this Sunday. The priest spoke up, despite being
\nface-to-face with the President during the mass held at the church. Present were
\nkey officials of the Mej?a government, accompanying him on his visit to
\nSantiago.
\nDuring the sermon, Priest Milton Amparo Tapia of San Bartolo Gurabo Church
\nstated that the Mej?a administration had been the worst Dominican government in
\nthe past 42 years.
\n?The people are desperate, tired and fed up with the economic situation and the
\ninflation levels,? he said, adding that between all the jokes made by the
\nPresident, poverty, inflation and unemployment have increased. He also mentioned
\nthe continual rises in the price of fuel, basic foodstuffs, medicines, power and
\ntolls.
\nThe priest did not limit his disapproval to current economic woes, as he went on
\nto say the current government has shown totalitarian and dictatorial tendencies,
\nintolerance with the press and all those who have been critical of Mej?a. He
\nsaid proof of this could be seen by the monument lifted in Constanza to honor
\nthe military of the Trujillo dictatorship and also by the transfers of funds
\nfrom the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Armed Forces.
\nThe sermon also attacked the law promoted by the PRD-majority Senate that calls
\nfor the construction of a statue to former President Joaqu?n Balaguer with the
\nreference of him as ?father of Dominican democracy.? As reported in the List?n
\nDiario, Tapia said the President forgets that Balaguer, despite his overwhelming
\nloss to the PRD in 1978, conditioned the relinquishment of power on his party?s
\nretaining control of the legislative and judicial branches of government, the
\nfraudulent elections under his control and the violence of the then-named ?banda
\ncolor?? that killed many who opposed the Balaguer regime during its first 12
\nyears.
\nWhile the priest spoke, President Mej?a observed with fixed eyes, but the priest
\ncontinued to read on.
\nHe said that to the government, anyone who complains is a ?tiguere?, and thus
\nthe people have only been able to express their discontent via the Internet and
\npolls such as the legendary survey in which the people of Monte Cristi said they
\nwould rather vote for the devil than for Hip?lito. He mentioned that the
\nprofessional organizers of strikes are on the government?s payroll and no longer
\npromote such action.
\nPresident Mej?a commented on the sermon: ?He is of the same group as Rogelio
\n[Cruz], but in addition is enrolled in the PLD. The paint of the church is
\npurple. I knew he was going to speak that way, but I went, and I stayed, even
\nthough the letter he read was disrespectful.?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
El Caribe newspaper reports that, only five days after President Hip?lito Mej?a was met with clanging empty pots in the La Ci?naga slum area, where he chose to begin his campaign for re-election, he was subject to a critical sermon by the priest of his native Gurabo community in Santiago while on his second campaign … <\/p>\n