Yearbook 2007
Dominican Republic. According to
CountryAAH, President Leonel Fernández won the
primary elections on May 6 with 72 percent of the vote,
which means he can stand for re-election to the ruling party
Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) in May 2008.
Fernández won many votes for having overcome the high
inflation that the previous administration left behind. His
opponent Danilo Medina is Fernández's closest associate but
the nomination campaign became bitter and in many respects
resembled a fight between two different parties.

In April, President Fernández announced a plan to reform
and modernize the armed forces. Among other things, a new
national security and defense directorate will be
established and, more controversially, the military will
have increased influence over issues related to national
development. In part, the measures came as a result of
pressure from the United States, which has long complained
that the military in the Caribbean and Central American
countries are not equipped to meet the new global security
threats from terrorism and narcotics. For the Dominican
Republic, the commander of US Southern Command, Admiral
James Stravidis, during a visit to the Dominican Republic,
promised to help improve border control of Haiti, which is
known as a transhipment station in the international drug
trade.
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