Election Fever Hits Bronx Dominicans

By Lennin Reyes

The Bronx Journal Writer

This is a major year in American politics due to redistricting and the presidential elections. Yet, in the Bronx, another country’s politics is dominating conversations. Instead of hearing about Obama or Mitt Romney, it is Danilo or Papá. While other Americans don either blue or red hats, Bronxites are torn between purple hats with gold stars and white hats with the phrase Llegó Papá (daddy’s here).

Bronxites are focused on the upcoming presidential elections in the Dominican Republic. Set for May 20, the 2000 rematch pits Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) candidate Danilo Medina against Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) candidate Hipólito Mejía.

The May 20 election has a big impact on Bronx Dominicans because those who can vote in their native country can vote from here as well. “Since the 2004 election (when Mejia lost to Leonel Fernandez), Dominicans from the exterior with dual citizenship are allowed to vote,” Orquidea Taveras of the PLD’s external sector said. This vote is crucial since New York City has 380,000 registered voters, with 41,000 in the Bronx and Westchester alone.

No wonder why New York is dubbed, “the fifth province,” for having the fifth-most populous number of Dominican voters, following Santo Domingo, the National District, Santiago and San Cristobal. Because of the high number of Dominicans in the exterior, Dominican government has a diputado de ultramar, or a congressman/woman serving that population.

The regional sectors of each party have done their part to get more voters to the 21 voting sites across the Bronx. “This process is done in three steps: voter outreach, propaganda, and personal visits,” PLD Bronx campaign coordinator Ramon Santana said. “First, we hit the road to tell people about the elections. Then, we advertise our candidate with radio spots and billboards on buses. Lastly, we reach voters door-to-door.” Adding to this process are political caravans and other events in support of the candidates.

These events provide a raucous atmosphere as arguments arise between supporters of each party. “Every Sunday since February, members of both parties are on opposite sides of 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue,” photographer Modesto De La Oz said. “While one side is chanting ‘Llegó Papá,’ the other is calling them ‘a bunch of ladrones and come-solos (thieves and lonely eaters).'” These arguments will only intensify as campaigns come to a close.

One reason for the heckling of Mejía is the fear of a repeat of his first presidential term from 2000 to 2004, when the Dominican Republic suffered a bank collapse and a rising cost of living. “We can’t look back at that time,” PLD member Melvin Trinidad said at an April 5 public gathering for Danilo Medina at the United Palace. “It’s time to look to a more prosperous future for the Dominican Republic,” Medina said.

However, Bronx Community College human services student Nallely Paulino, 24, said that the bank collapse was not entirely Mejia’s fault. “The bank collapse that occurred during Mejia’s term is similar to what Barack Obama’s going through now,” Paulino said. “One person cannot make the difference in four years.” Paulino also discussed the increase in crime during the past eight years under Fernandez. “I was able to go out without fear of being robbed or killed,” she said. “Now my grandmother calls me saying she got robbed on her own front porch!”

Some are hoping the PLD retains the presidency because of the vice-presidential candidate, Margarita Cedeño de Fernandez, the wife of the outgoing president. Medina supporter Rafael Coste, 20, feels this a continuation of an ongoing political trend across Latin America. “Brazil, Argentina, and Chile have women as their presidents,” Coste said. He hopes that conditions for the poor would improve under the Medina-Fernandez ticket.

But the PRD is also doing its part to woo the female vote. “We were the first to have a female vice president in Milagros Ortiz Bosch, and it was during Mejía’s first term!” PRD women’s sector coordinator Elida Martinez said. PRD Bronx campaign coordinator Pedro Julio Escoborg said that under Mejia, more women and youth have been employed to his administration. “He plans to have about 60 percent of his cabinet filled with youth and women,” Escoborg said.

While Danilo Medina and the PLD hope to retain the office with the addition of Cedeño as vice-president, his opponents in the PRD counter Medina with the uptick in crime and foul economy under the PLD in the last eight years. Whichever way the election goes, Bronx Dominicans will continue to talk until a winner is announced on May 20.