Businessman wins Dominican presidency in virus-marked vote

[Judi Lynn]

MartÍn JosÉ Adames AlcÁntara, Associated Press
Updated 7:45 am CDT, Monday, July 6, 2020

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A businessman who has never held elected office has won the presidency of the Dominican Republic, according to results Monday, ending a 16-year run in power by a center-left party.

Luis Rodolfo Abinader had won about 53 percent of Sunday's vote with most of the polling places reporting, topping Gonzalo Castillo of the Dominican Liberation Party, which has governed since 2004. Trailing far behind was three-time President Leonel Fernandez.

Castillo acknowledged “an irreversable tendency” in favor of Abinader and congratulated him, as did outgoing President Daniel Medina, who was barred by term limits from seeking a third four-year term.

The elections took place as the new coronavirus pandemic was sweeping across the Caribbean nation of some 10.5 million people. Abinader himself spent most of the past month in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 and the vote itself had been postponed from May due to the disease.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Businessman-wins-Dominican-presidency-in-15388299.php

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Amid Ukraine swirl, Giuliani’s work for candidate in Dominican Republic caused unease



Rudolph W. Giuliani, right, greets Dominican presidential candidate Luis Abinader during a news conference in Santo Domingo in February 2016. (Erika Santelices/AFP/Getty Images)
By
Joshua Partlow and
Josh Dawsey
Feb. 20, 2020 at 8:20 a.m. CST

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The politics of this Caribbean island nation do not frequently capture the attention of the stewards of America's foreign policy, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo phoned down last summer with a clear message.

Dominican President Danilo Medina’s supporters were pushing to change the country’s constitution to allow him to run for an unprecedented third term. In a call with the president, Pompeo emphasized the importance of “adherence to rule of law and the constitution,” according to a State Department readout.

That message was echoed a week later in person by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani.
“If you want to change the constitution, change it for the future,” Giuliani told reporters during a July 2019 visit to Santo Domingo. “Don’t make it look like you’re changing it for you. Don’t change it for this election.”

Giuliani was not in the Dominican Republic as Trump’s representative. He was speaking as a paid consultant to an opposition presidential candidate, Luis Abinader, a businessman who had been protesting the possibility of a constitutional change allowing the incumbent to run again.

. . .

Giuliani’s presence in Santo Domingo annoyed rival Dominican presidential candidates who felt Abinader was trying to buy his campaign an American seal of approval, according to candidates and their advisers. And it concerned officials in the presidential palace who scrutinized Giuliani’s comments for signs he was speaking for Trump, according to a person familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal talks.

. . .

“Why in the world would you care about my work in the DR except to once again try to suggest falsely that there is some question about it?” he asked in a text message. “Don’t you have anything better to do? Whatever I did in DR was perfectly lawful and appropriate.”

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-ukraine-swirl-giulianis-work-for-candidate-in-dominican-republic-caused-unease/2020/02/19/82794c22-4c21-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html