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DE RUEHDG #0765/01 1911853
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O 101853Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3010
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 000765 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: DR ECON KDEM PGOV
SUBJECT: REFERENDUM PROCESS COMES TO DOMINICAN POLITICAL 
SYSTEM 
 
¶1. (U)  Summary:   On July 9, the Dominican Congress approved 
a constitutional amendment confirming the ability of 
municipalities to hold plebiscites.  That same evening, the 
mayors of three municipalities in which an historic 
referendum was held last May thanked and bid farewell to the 
Canadian Ambassador who had played a key role in supporting 
the plebiscite.  The referendum allowed people in three towns 
to vote on development plans that had been formulated through 
a process that brought together the private sector, local 
officials and non-governmental organizations.  The Canadian 
Embassy gave technical assistance for the plans' development 
and helped organize international observers the day of the 
referendum.  According to results from the Dominican Central 
Elections Committee (JCE), the "yes" vote won by a large 
margin in all three locales (Maimon, Fantino and Cotui), with 
overall turn-out reaching 13 percent.  While the process was 
not perfect, it marked a modest advance for Dominican 
participatory democracy.   That exercise, and the new 
constitutional provision, will likely bolster use of 
plebiscites in the future.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2. (U)  After several months of consultations and 
preparations, development plans for three municipalities in 
the heart of the Dominican Republic were subjected to a 
referendum, in accordance with a 2007 law (176-07).  The 
Canadian Embassy, which had provided technical assistance 
during the preparation of these plans, invited Post to send 
observers.  The Embassy sent one officer each from ECOPOL, 
Consular Affairs and USAID.  These joined Dominican and 
international observers (from Colombia, Bolivia, the OAS and 
elsewhere) in the municipalities of Maimon, Fantino and 
Cotui.  These municipalities have voter roles of just over 
13,000, 17,000 and 40,000, respectively. 
 
¶3. (U)  The voters in these areas were asked to vote simply 
"yes" or "no" on five-year development plans drawn up through 
a series of meetings involving the towns' mayors, educators, 
other local officials, private sector representatives, 
religious groups and other non-governmental organizations. 
The plans were completed in December 2008.  Participants in 
the process formed working groups to identify specific goals 
for the next five years in such areas as environment (e.g., 
reforestation of 40 percent of the river basins around 
Maimon), health (e.g., reduce drug use by 20 percent in 
Maimon) and education (e.g., reduce illiteracy in Maimon by 3 
percent). 
 
¶4. (U)  The impetus for action in these specific 
municipalities apparently came from past and possible future 
mining activities in the area.  There is a ferronickel mine 
near Maimon, although it closed a few months ago due to the 
fall in global prices for nickel.  There is also a gold and 
copper mine near Cotui, and Fantino - according to a local 
businesswoman - is on the receiving end of waters that flow 
from the mines and levels of poverty and unemployment are 
significant. 
 
 
Referendum Day 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (U)  Voting was held from 9 am to 4 pm on Sunday, May 3 in 
all three municipalities.  The votes were counted in each 
voting center (usually a school) and the results scanned for 
tabulation by 5:00 pm.   In Maimon, a kick-off press 
conference including the Mayor, an observer from Bolivia 
(where plebiscites have been used for decades), a Canadian 
observer and other dignitaries, took place at 10:30 am.  Also 
facing the cameras was the Mayor of Piedra Blanca, a nearby 
town planning to create and vote on its own development plan. 
  The message from the panel was that the referendum process 
represents a step forward and a means for ensuring that local 
resources are used as the people want, not just as 
politicians chose.  At the same time, the banner behind the 
assembled speakers clearly said "Si" (yes) and featured the 
logos of the "Fundacion Falcondo" (associated with the mining 
company Falconbridge) and Barrick Gold (a Canadian-based 
global mining company) - entities with some interest in the 
minerals near the three towns, as well as the plebiscite 
process. 
 
¶6. (U)  Poloff and Consoff observed people arriving at voting 
centers, showing their identification  cards ("cedulas") and 
being directed to the appropriate room to vote.  While the 
process generally seemed to work smoothly, in some classrooms 
the cardboard "booths" did not completely shield the voter as 
he/she marked the ballot.  Although officials in the actual 
voting rooms did not wear "Yes" buttons, a noticeable number 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000765  002 OF 002 
 
 
of organizers sported such buttons in and around the polling 
locations.  There was little evidence of a "no" campaign. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Brochures which seem to have been used to inform 
the public and get out the vote were available.   However, 
officials did not have available copies of the plans or 
summaries thereof, except in Maimon.    When asked, several 
voters said that there had been an information campaign about 
the referendum, but that they did not have many details 
regarding the development plans.  In Maimon, one organizer 
and school teacher enthused about the plan said that it would 
allow for more investment in education, not least technical 
training. "It is good to read and write, but vocational 
education will help people get jobs," she noted.  In the same 
town, however, one man who claimed to have been the President 
of the local council (but not the Mayor), appeared at schools 
to denounce the process.  He claimed that the referendum law 
only allowed for four (4) year plans, and that the process by 
which the plan was formulated was not very representative, 
involving just the Mayor and certain "economic interests." 
On the  other hand, the school teacher had also referred 
vaguely to "interests" that opposed the plan. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (U)  The referendum was peaceful and the organizers, 
including the Dominican Federation of Municipalities 
(FEDOMU), did a good job facilitating  the process.  It was 
heartening to see a good number of civically-minded 
Dominicans striving to make a new, grass-roots exercise 
function well.  Within days of the referendum, the JCE 
reported that overall turn-out was just over 13 percent - 
slightly higher than Latin America's norm of 12 percent for 
plebiscites. 
 
¶9. (SBU) However, the involvement of the mining companies in 
the referendum process  was reinforced at the July 9 farewell 
for Canadian Ambassador Fortier.  That event was clearly 
sponsored by Barrick and the Ambassador said she was, 
"Pleased (that) the first companies to accept the challenge 
(of partnering with local institutions) were the companies 
Barrick Gold and FALCONDO, which have a track-record of 
corporate social responsibility."  These companies supported 
the referendum process, even if they did not promote a "yes" 
vote.  (Again, however, their logos appeared on a least one 
banner proclaiming "Si.")   As USAID later noted, the 
overwhelming "yes" vote (96 percent overall), suggests that 
there were flaws or limitations with respect to popular 
participation. 
 
¶10. (U) Passage of a constitutional provision should 
reinforce use of law 176-07, as well as the 
"decentralization" process in the Dominican Republic 
generally.   The town of Piedra Blanca is considering 
following the example of its neighbors.  Another opportunity 
to watch the use or abuse of the referendum process may arise 
in the capital.  Prominent Reformista Party leader - and 
Santo Dominigo region legislator - Victor "Ito" Bisono called 
for a referendum to be held in the National District of 
Santiago and Santiago Province.    These areas have drawn up 
development plans, but until Bisono's call, it did not appear 
that these would be subject to public approval.  Bisono's 
statement also criticized the Council for the National 
District (or "ADN"), for handling urban development monies in 
a non-transparent way over the course of many years.   Bisono 
hopes citizens will demand a referendum, to help ensure that 
funds are accounted for and used to help poorer areas of the 
national capital area. 
 
¶11. (U) Meanwhile, the three municipalities remain 
underdeveloped despite the richness of the land (in terms of 
minerals, agriculture and tourist potential) around them. 
The summary of the development plan for Maimon, for instance, 
contains many good ideas.  Yet it remains to be seen whether 
these projects will actually be funded and implemented.    As 
the Canadian Ambassador put it on July 9, "The focus now 
turns to local governments; it falls to them to demonstrate 
their commitment (and) to implement the plans approved by 
their communities through the plebiscites(.)"  End Comment. 
BULLEN