VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #1596/01 3552247
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 212245Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0416
INFO RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0022

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001596 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PREL KCRM KCOR EAID DR PHUM
SUBJECT: GODR Commits to Anti-Corruption Initiative with 
International Donors 
 
REF: SDO 308, SDO 434, SDO 570, SDO 817 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  On December 17, Embassy Officers joined 
representatives of several international development organizations 
in a meeting with President Fernandez to discuss how the GODR might 
begin to tackle effectively the issue of corruption - as well as 
citizens' perception of corruption. The international donor 
community made a presentation that outlined the corruption problem 
the nation faces, the effects that corruption has on development 
and democratic institutions, and the actions that the Dominican 
Government is taking, with assistance from different donor 
organizations. The donors concluded by suggesting possible short- 
and medium-term steps that the President might undertake. In 
response, the President accepted the donors' offer of support for a 
Participatory Anticorruption Initiative, which would include 
conducting a corruption assessment and organizing a multi-sector 
dialogue to determine options and priorities. The international 
donors' initiative is welcome as endemic corruption in the DR 
adversely affects U.S. interests and programs ranging from support 
for democratic institutions to promoting economic growth to 
combating narco-trafficking (reftels A, B, C). End Summary. 
 
 
 
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Background 
 
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¶2. (U) In May and June 2009, as a series of corruption-related 
scandals were making headlines in the Dominican Republic (reftel 
D), USAID and the World Bank organized a working group among 
international donors in order to explore options how, as a 
community, donors might be able to take diplomatic action to 
promote greater attention to the issues of corruption, governance, 
transparency and accountability. On July 9, by happenstance if not 
in response to the bad press, Dominican President Leonel Fernandez 
Reyna for the first time called together different units in the 
GODR working on these issues and had them sit at the same table to 
coordinate efforts. Fernandez also asked international donors to 
attend that  meeting to discuss "what donors could do to help 
improve his government's image regarding corruption." (Note: The 
World Bank and UNDP were able to attend, but the Embassy and the 
EU, who were also invited to the meeting, did not due to the last 
minute nature of the invitation. End Note.) 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Subsequently, USAID met with the World Bank representative 
and agreed that, while the donor community would not want to help 
the government simply whitewash the issue of corruption, the 
president had opened the door for the donor community to take a 
more concerted action.  An "anti-corruption working group" was 
formed including the World Bank, UNDP, the EU and Spain. The 
Embassy participated as well, but let these international entities 
take the lead. 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) In a September 2009 meeting with the UNDP, President 
Fernandez requested that the donor community present a strategy for 
dealing with corruption. The anti-corruption donor community 
working group agreed that the donors could not present a set of 
proposed activities if the GODR did not take the lead in designing 
the strategy and identifying priority areas of work and that the 
subject meeting should present options for developing said 
strategy. Nevertheless, discussions within the group led to a 
consensus that the presentation include suggestions as to the sorts 
of steps that the President might take that would enhance 
transparency in the short-run at low/no cost.  For instance, the 
President might set an example simply by making public the 
expenditures of the Presidential Palace and/or of the First Lady's 
Office (which together account for some 12 percent of the GODR's 
budget). 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
 
Meeting with the President 
 
-------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) On December 17, Embassy Officers, along with the World Bank, 
UNDP, the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank 
(IDB), and the Spanish Embassy, attended a meeting with President 
Fernandez to present the donors' view on the issue of corruption 
and to gain the President's buy-in to move forward in designing a 
plan for developing a national strategy to combat corruption. Also 
attending the meeting were the President's Chief of Staff, legal 
counselor, the President of the National Commission on Ethics and 
Combating Corruption (CNECC), the Secretary for Economy, Planning 
and Development, the Attorney General, the Assistant Attorney 
General for Prosecution of Corruption, and the Director General of 
Public Procurement. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) The presentation by the donors discussed the corruption 
problem the nation faces, the effects that corruption has on 
development and democratic institutions, and the actions that 
government was taking along with the assistance being provided by 
different donor organizations. USAID-funded surveys of Dominican 
households were the sources of much of the data cited about the 
perception of corruption. It concluded with some possible short- 
and medium-term steps that the President might undertake. 
 
 
 
7 (U) The short-term steps included publishing data about how the 
GODR corruption hotline and website, "311" and "311.com" are 
functioning, ensuring full compliance with the asset declaration 
law by all government officials, and publishing online how the 
budgets of the Offices of the Presidency and the First Lady are 
expended. Medium-term initiatives included conducting a corruption 
diagnostic to identify where vulnerabilities exist and 
opportunities for reducing corruption, organizing a multi-sector 
dialogue to develop a strategy to deal with corruption and identify 
priority areas of intervention, and designing a plan of action to 
implement the strategy. 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) In response, the CNECC's President defended the government, 
stating that surveys measuring the perception of corruption were 
based on invalid premises, that the media blew the issue of 
corruption out of proportion, and that while corruption certainly 
exists, the great majority of government officials were honest and, 
indeed, were trying to limit corruption. While President Fernandez 
agreed with his chief anticorruption advisor, he accepted the 
donors' offer to support a Participatory Anticorruption Initiative, 
which would include conducting a corruption assessment and 
organizing a multi-sector dialogue to determine options and 
priorities. He also noted that publishing data on the GODR's 311 
corruption hotline could be useful, though he did not support the 
other suggestions made. 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) The World Bank, UNDP, IDB and USAID representatives 
acknowledged that perception of corruption may not be an accurate 
reflection of reality, however, the perception, accurate or not, 
undermined citizens' confidence in government and public policy. As 
a result, effective implementation is made more difficult, and the 
government's capacity to collect taxes and to have budget available 
for programs providing critical public services are reduced. 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) The President asked the donors to organize a corruption 
diagnostic to begin in January. He also charged Secretary of 
Economy, Planning and Development Temistocles Montas with working 
with donors to organize the multi-sector dialogue involving 
government, the private sector and civil society to provide inputs 
on a national anticorruption strategy and identify priority areas 
for action. 
 
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COMMENT 
 
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¶11. (SBU) The invitation by President Fernandez to the 
international donor community to him help address his government's 
"image" problem with corruption has fortuitously opened an 
opportunity for encouraging GODR action.  To date, the donor 
community has obtained what it desired from the President - an 
agreement to undertake a corruption diagnostic and a participatory 
process to develop a national anticorruption strategy.  However, it 
remains clear that the GODR's view of the seriousness of the 
corruption problem in the Dominican Republic does not coincide with 
that of the donor community (or the Dominican public). It remains 
to be seen the degree to which the President will a) vigorously 
work to develop mechanisms that will increase the transparency of 
the GODR, and b) be willing to take action against officials in his 
own government who are engaged in corrupt acts. Nevertheless, the 
green light obtained on December 17 is an important achievement 
that the USG and other donors will need to nurture so that the GODR 
takes the lead on subsequent anti-corruption steps. 
Lambert