The transformations that began on August 16, 2020, are difficult to explain in the era of 140 characters. When President Luis Abinader and the Modern Revolutionary Party took over the reins of the state, the panorama was gloomy, of total uncertainty, to the point that the swearing-in itself was made in the middle of a state of emergency due to the covid-19 pandemic, that had practically paralyzed the country and the world.
The task, therefore, was twofold. On the one hand, a leadership was needed that conveyed hope, trust and faith in the future; and at the same time guarantee the health of the Dominican people and work to recover the national economy. The challenges were enormous.
Today, statistics indicate that the economy recovered in 2021, with a growth of 12.4% of the impact of the most important health crisis that humanity has experienced since the Spanish fever at the beginning of the 20th century. However, in February of this year, the first war conflict on the European continent since the Second World War began. Fact that upset the supply chain of the most important items of the world economy.
It is fair to take into account that even before the global problems impacted the Dominican economy, citizens faced the thirst for justice of a population tired of unfulfilled promises, which was plunged into a moral crisis due to impunity on the one hand, and the inequalities inherent in the Dominican economy, on the other. In that context, the political class is subjected to great questions, which represents a fundamental challenge for the tasks of the government.
After two years of early mornings without rest, of unprecedented teamwork, although many do not see it, any analysis made of today’s Dominican society will have to admit that we are changing.
The change is felt among the agricultural producers who have received part of the more than RD$55 billion pesos in loans granted by the Agricultural Bank; in small chicken producers who, through the Zero Rate Law, have been able to import inputs; The change has touched the collaborators of each of the 734 free zone companies that we have in the country, which have recovered pre-pandemic jobs and have exceeded them by more than 20 thousand new jobs; The change has impacted each of the employees of the hotel chains that chose the Dominican Republic to reopen their doors and that has been vital in the recovery of tourism that, so far this year, already exceeds 4 million inhabitants without still finish August. Change is lived too among entrepreneurs who own small businesses who have received unprecedented credits in Banreservas and other government institutions.
The impact of all the changes is also felt among the suppliers or contractors of the State who have accessed one of the infrastructure works without having to participate in any scheme of the past; You can also talk to any student in Elías Piña or Santiago Rodríguez, who was able to return to the classroom; The change has impacted a large number of Dominicans in the border provinces who today are guaranteed to work on their security, on the protection of their crops and livestock, and on the reduction of smuggling; The change reached the importers who today remove their merchandise in less than 24 hours from our customs, making their companies more competitive throughout the region. It is changing if we ask the children in Pedernales who several years ago were born condemned to poverty and today can dream of being managers of a hotel for the rescue of the province promoted by President Luis Abinader, they feel the change too. They feel it from the color of hope that shines in their eyes.
Let us ask for the change to the two million new beneficiaries of the National Health Insurance and the beneficiaries of the sanitized property titles that are delivered with all rigor. There is not a single Dominican who has not been impacted by the change led by Luis Abinader, because it ranges from an independent Public Ministry, through a revitalized economy, to a police reform in process, promoted despite all the risks. That is the change that we dreamed of when we founded the Modern Revolutionary Party and that today reaches the halfway mark in this first four-year term.
I remember in a political work meeting, an advisor said that in Pedernales there were not 30,000 votes, by which he meant that giving it the attention that the president has given it would not have political returns. But despite that, the president is putting more and more effort into developing Pedernales, teaching a principled vision in a ruler. A country vision that separates statesmen from mere politicians. That is reflected today in the development plan for the entire border area that in addition to being fair economically, at the same time it contributes to defending our sovereignty in the manner of the famous kibbutz in Israel.
As in any process of change, the past resists. In the coming years, Dominican society will face a crossroads where, on the one hand, we will have 20 years of the past and, on the other, the possibility that these changes, still incipient, will become the Dominican dream that we all deserve.
The men and women who accompany Luis will continue to push for change. And so I repeat at the top of my lungs: Change is underway, and we are going to continue with it. Let’s go!