337. Telegram 2015 From the Embassy in the Dominican Republic to the Department of State1
2015. Subject: Santiago Accord Pulls Out of Elections. Ref: SD 1982.
1. Three hours before the electoral period officially closed at midnight last night (May 14) the four Santiago Accord parties announced on Radio Comercial that they were formally withdrawing all of their candidates from the May 16 elections.
2. In his abstention speech, Presidential candidate Antonio Guzman Fernandez placed the blame for the Accord’s decision to abstain from elections squarely on the shoulders of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) and the Balaguer government, alleging that both failed to provide minimum conditions for the holding of free and honest elections.
3. Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) secretary general Jose Francisco Pena Gomez followed Guzman’s speech last night, reiterating the charges against the JCE and the GODR and asserting that the next government “will be illegitimate and will not deserve the backing of the people nor international public opinion.” Nonetheless, both Guzman and Pena instructed the Accord’s adherents to abstain from organizing or participating in any strikes, demonstrations, acts of violence, or confrontations with the armed forces or national police. [Page 897] The document containing the Accord’s withdrawal from elections was reportedly delivered this morning (May 15) to the JCE.
4. Last minute conciliatory efforts by coadjutor Bishop Hugo Polanco Brito and Listin Diario director Rafael Herrera failed to prevent the Accord parties from formally announcing their withdrawal. Nonetheless, there were indications from both sides of a willingness to continue the dialogue. Polanco Brito and Herrera reportedly spoke last night with Balaguer who, according to Herrera, indicated a highly conciliatory attitude and invited the Accord leaders to meet personally with him in a direct attempt to iron out some of the differences separating the two sides. The opposition apparently agreed to meet with the President sometime today but only after reaching some sort of prior agreement on a number of specific demands. In this regard, much of today (May 15) has been spent in negotiations between mediators Polanco Brito and Herrera and Accord representatives. According to several Embassy sources, the opposition is demanding a) postponement of elections for 20 days, b) release of political prisoners, 3 [c]) return of ex-General Wessin y Wessin, 4 [d]) abstention of Armed Forces from political activity, and 5 [e]) revocation of recent JCE modifications of electoral procedures.
5. Comment: Should the talks between the government and opposition break down, the JCE has publicly stated that elections will still be held tomorrow despite the absence of an effective opposition. (The miniscule Partido Democrata Popular (PDP) candidate Luis Homero Lajara Burges announced last night that he will not withdraw his candidacy. No one, however, seriously believes Lajara could receive more than 1 percent of the vote.) Despite last-minute indications of an official willingness to yield on many, if not most of the opposition’s demands, one of the major stumbling blocks appears to be the release of “political prisoners” and the return of ex-General Elias Wessin y Wessin. Perhaps of more significance in blocking an agreement, however, is the overt political activity (repeatedly denied by Armed Forces Secretary Emilio Jimenez) of the Armed Forces on behalf of Balaguer’s reelection.
6. Since it appears that both sides stand to gain by having the opposition participate in tomorrow’s election, and agreement between the GODR and the Accord is still possible at the eleventh hour, unless some legal means can be found to postpone the election, it is questionable that [garble] an agreement can be achieved with only a few hours remaining before the midnight deadline.
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Summary: The Embassy reported that the strongest Dominican opposition group, the Santiago Accord, was withdrawing its candidates from the May 16 elections, claiming that the conditions for a free and honest poll were not in place.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D740120–0198. Confidential; Immediate. Repeated to Port-au-Prince, CINCSO, and CINCLANT. All brackets are in the original except those added for clarity or indicating garbled text. Telegram 1982 from Santo Domingo is dated May 14. (Ibid., D740118–0820) In telegram 2057 from Santo Domingo, May 20, the Embassy reported on a Santiago Accord declaration issued after the election was held in which the opposition coalition protested against what it called the “illegitimacy, illegality, and the fraud which has taken place during this campaign.” (Ibid., D740125–0525) In telegram 2159 from Santo Domingo, May 24, the Embassy reported that the Santiago Accord had filed a legal challenge to the validity of the election, which, according to telegram 2343 from Santo Domingo, June 7, the Central Electoral Board rejected. (Both ibid., D740131–0994 and D740147–0088)
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