No Concrete Agreements with the Dominican Republic

It has been revealed that yesterday’s meeting at the White House between Presidents Barack Obama and Leonel Fernandez is part of a U.S. strategy to improve its ties with the region. There were no concrete agreements; the meeting was merely to review issues such as the Haitian crisis and the fight against drug trafficking and money laundering. Everything else was irrelevant; practically protocol.

In fact the two leaders addressed a wide range of bilateral and hemispheric affairs, and the White House clarified that the interview is part of Obama’s conversations with leaders of the continent “on the most important issues facing the people of the region.”

There are reasons for expectations however. Amid the many tensions and speculations that often characterize relations with Washington, D.C., which in this case has not even credited an ambassador to the Dominican Republic, interviews with U.S. presidents are also infrequent. However, this is also because there was talk to broach bilateral issues.

As might be expected, Obama acknowledged and commended the role of President Fernandez on the January 12 disaster in Haiti and the mediation to legitimize President Porfirio Lobo, including the agreement for the deposed Manuel Zelaya to be exiled in the Dominican Republic. The question is whether the compliment involves political returns.

On the issue of drug trafficking and money laundering, topics always discussed when Obama meets with leaders of the region, there was apparently nothing concrete. The same applies as to the production of the clean energy agenda, which as disclosed, was limited to classic cooperation and a greater effort.

Unfair accusations such as the treatment of people, for which the Dominican Republic could be sanctioned by the international community, was not cited among the issues discussed during their 30-minute interview, as marked by the protocol.

Considering the expectations, especially in concrete terms, this was an important meeting, one that takes into account that the United States is the main trading partner of the Dominican Republic, even though it has not done enough to help its neighbors improve their living conditions or their fight against evils such as drug trafficking and money laundering.