Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

PresidentJoaquin Balaguer visits military installations.
Courtesy United States Department of Defense
of a less personalist, more institutional, reformist presidency
fell short as well under the impact of the country's economic
crisis. The situation was a result of the world oil crisis, executive-congressional
deadlock now driven by intraparty factionalism,
and the reassertion of patrimonialism from the
presidency.
By the end ofJorge Blanco's term, the PRD was a factionalized
organization that had been forced to oversee a brutal economic
adjustment and that was facing widespread accusations
of corruption and mismanagement. Although civil liberties
had generally been respected, there were no significant
advances in democratic institutionalization or participation
nor were there reforms of a social or economic nature during
the PRD years. Rather than leaving a legacy of lasting political
and economic changes implemented by a social-democratic
party, the PRD rule had continued patronage politics. Jorge
Blanco's government faced wrenching economic problems,
and its attempt to stabilize the economy involved extensive
negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF—see
Glossary) and other international creditors. The situation led
to bitter party wrangling and the eventual division of the PRD.
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