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Familia dominicana frente a un puesto de mercado con productos básicos, en alusión al alto costo de la vida
Imagen alusiva generada para EPM sobre el costo de la vida en República Dominicana · Imagen generada — EPM

Leonel Fernández warns of popular anger over cost of living

Leonel Fernández warned in Gazcue, according to his statements, that there is practically a popular anger over the high cost of living, accused the PRM…

--- The context --- The Dominican Republic is debating the cost of living and access to basic necessities in public. Within that discussion, former president Leonel Fernández, who leads the Fuerza del Pueblo party, placed economic discontent at the center of his remarks during a party event in Santo Domingo, according to his own statements and a communiqué released by his organization about the activity held in the capital. Fernández said, in his own description, that during his party's tours through different provinces he repeatedly hears complaints about the high cost of living. According to what he stated, people are indignant and angry, and within that climate he placed what he described as practically a popular anger now present across the Dominican Republic, a characterization that belongs to him as a political actor. --- The facts --- Fernández made these statements during the inauguration of the Casa del Secretariado of Fuerza del Pueblo, a large office complex located in the Gazcue sector of the National District, where important national offices of the political organization will operate. There he warned, in reported terms, that there is practically a popular anger caused by the high cost of living in the country. According to a communiqué, the former president argued that this discontent stems from the difficulties families face in acquiring basic necessities and from what he considers a lack of response by the authorities. Within that framing, Fernández accused the government of the Modern Revolutionary Party of appearing insensitive and indifferent to the economic difficulties facing the population, according to his own expressions during the event. Fernández also referred to statements by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the country's progress in reducing hunger. In his account, the government interprets those results as if the food problem had disappeared, and he questioned the authorities for seeking backing in recognitions from international organizations to present a reality that, in his judgment, does not match the living conditions of broad sectors. --- The positions --- Fernández's position, as he stated it, is that this official interpretation contrasts with what he observes during his tours through different communities across the national territory. He warned, in his reasoning, that hunger is present in different parts of the country and that if a government does not recognize that hunger exists, it will not fight it, so in his view the problem would tend to spread further. He also referred to a recent presidential trip to Rome, where, according to his interpretation, international results on poverty reduction were presented and later used by the government to project an economic situation different from the one experienced by many families. Against that reading, he said Fuerza del Pueblo holds a different vision and argued that fighting hunger and poverty must occupy a central place in public policy. --- What remains unknown --- No government response to these statements is on record in what was released, nor are additional figures on specific prices or party measurements included in the event's account. It is also not on record whether the organization will present specific proposals derived from this diagnosis or when it will address the cost of living again on its upcoming tours through the provinces. --- Unanswered questions --- Will Fuerza del Pueblo present concrete proposals on the cost of living that Fernández described in Gazcue? Will the government respond to the accusation of insensitivity that the former president attributed to it during the inauguration? Will additional tours or verifiable data be released to support the contrast Fernández drew with international statements on hunger? --- EPM analysis --- The remarks combine two planes that reinforce each other: a claim about families' daily lives and the opening of a party headquarters designed for permanent national work. By speaking from the new Casa del Secretariado, Fernández linked his economic diagnosis, attributed throughout to his own reading of the tours, with the organizational capacity his party seeks to display in the capital. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the most relevant point of the event is the contrast of readings that was laid out and that will have to be settled with verifiable facts: Fernández attributes insensitivity to the government over the cost of living and questions the use of international recognitions on hunger, while maintaining that on his tours he finds families struggling to acquire basic goods. That dispute is not resolved with adjectives from any side, but with prices, access to food and concrete public responses that people can check in their daily lives and at their tables.
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