The Dominican Republic Today:
Realities and Perspectives
edited by Emilio Betances and Hobart A. Spalding, Jr., Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, City University of New York, 1996, 205 pp., $43.95 (cloth).
These essays-three in English,
four in Spanish-grew out of the
Bildner Center’s Research Seminar
on the Dominican Republic, and
were presented in an April 1993
International Research Workshop at
the City University of New York.
While the the essays are a few years
old, they nevertheless serve as use-
ful background reading for the
Dominican specialist. As a whole,
they provide a coherent, theoretically
eclectic account of the political econ-
omy of the Dominican Republic just
prior to the pivotal 1994 elections.
The central issue confronting the
country’s political elite in the after-
math of the socioeconomic pact of
1990 was the viability of Balaguer’s
structural-adjustment program, par-
ticularly insofar as it rested on the
promise of-and need for–key
political reforms. Andr6s Dauhajr6,
Jr. defends the structural-adjustment
package of August, 1990, praising
its success in reducing inflation and
allowing the resumption of pay-
ments on the national debt, thereby
restoring the government’s credit
rating. A neostructuralist critique by
Miguel Ceara, however, questions
the longer-range viability of an eco-
nomic project aimed at tearing
down barriers to foreign investment
without meaningful political
reform.
In the period leading up to the
1994 elections, certain institutional
reforms-tax laws, labor code, pub-
lic administration-were in the leg-
islative pipeline. But the inefficien-
cy and corruption of the Balaguer
regime prevented such reforms
from taking place, as Jos6 del
Castillo points out, and the sharp
divisions in the center-left opposi-
tion didn’t help matters either.
The last three essays consider the
role of U.S. policy, the impact of
migration and the rise of “new social
movements” in the Dominican
Republic. Graham and Hartlyn
argue that U.S. policy in the Re-
public will follow the general pattern
of promoting political-economic
“liberalization” while exercising
restraint and neutrality vis-ti-vis
electoral competition. This hypothe-
sis probably holds as long as no
meaningful challenge to the prevail-
ing orthodoxy emerges. Patricia
Pessar discusses the role of return
migrants or ausentes in defining a
new balance of forces in Dominican
society–challenging the traditional
oligarchy while acting as a stabiliz-
ing factor in the realm of class rela-
tions. The emergence of local-level
popular organizations discussed by
Roberto Cassi may hold promise for
the emergence of a genuine grass-
roots challenge to the neoliberal
regime, but the depth of the eco-
nomic crisis, coupled with the nar-
row political self-interestedness of
the traditional left, have severely
restricted their impact.
This very useful, well-conceived
collection sets the stage for a clear
understanding of the conditions and
circumstances confronting the new
PLD government of Leonel
Fernandez.
Deadly Embrace: Nicaragua,
The World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund a video directed by Elizabeth Canner, produced and distributed by Compas de La Primavera, Buffalo Rd., Wentworth, NH 03282, 30 min., 1996, $30 plus $3 s+h (accompanying “Activist’s Guide,” $6).
This sobering video examines the
impact of neoliberalism and the new
economic order on Nicaragua, one
of the poorest countries in the hemi-
sphere. In 30 short minutes, the
video provides the history and
structure of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF),
discusses the consequences of
indebtedness, demonstrates the rela-
tionship between national debt and
poverty in Nicaragua (which has
one of the highest per-capita debts
in the world), and analyzes the
structural-adjustment policies which
the IMF imposes on debtor nations
in collusion with their central gov-
ernments. Nicaragua is the perfect
choice for exploring the nefarious
nature of the policies of the World
Bank and the IMF, institutions that
further the interests of private enter-
prises based primarily in the North.
The kind of development promoted
by these multilateral lending institu-
tions enriches the few at the
expense of the well-being and the
dignity of the many.
While it is not essential to have a
strong background on recent politi-
cal changes in Nicaragua, the film
makes much more sense if the
viewer is aware of the circum-
stances leading up to the Sandinista
revolution of 1979, conditions dur-
ing the 11 years of Sandinista rule,
and the Chamorro presidency of the
past six years. The accompanying
guide provides some of this infor-
mation, but only in a superficial
way. The consequences of structur-
al adjustment for the majority of
Nicaraguans do emerge clearly,
albeit in rapid-fire form. We learn
of restrictions on both credit and
technical assistance to small farm-
ers and businesses. We see factories
in the “free-trade” zones, producing
for U.S. retailers like Gap, Guess,
Sears, KMart and Dupont, with
dangerous working conditions and
wages of 63 cents an hour. We are
told of deep cuts in social programs
in areas like health care, education
and welfare, lay-offs of thousands
of public-sector workers (including
4,500 teachers since 1990), and the
privatization of state industries.
This is a passionate video with a
strongly held point of view:
Nicaragua’s poor have been devas-
tated by the new economic order.
-Erica G. Polakoff
