Boston’s Dominican Consulate scandal reveals foreign relations morass

NEW YORK.- An institutional crisis has rocked the Dominican general consulate in Boston Thursday, when a vice consul arrived in its offices and told Dominico Cabral that his par in New York Eduardo Selman, had sent her to replace him in the post.

Ramona Antonia Abreu has been for many years an assistant to Selman, a senior member of the ruling PLD party.

The latest scandal is part of the ongoing morass affecting the Foreign Relations Ministry, that includes ballooned payrolls abroad, bickering over political designations and officials involved in serious crimes.

Unnamed PLD sources cited by newspaper Nuevo Diario said Thursday night that while Abreu, who is credited in the U.S. State Department, tried to take possession of the post without the Foreign Relations Ministry’s disposition, a group of more than 20 PLD rank and file, who oppose Cabral, entrenched themselves in one of the consulate’s hallways, prompting a call to police.

The source said the PLD members oppose Cabral’s permanence, accusing him of “usurper” of those functions.

The crisis exploded after which Cabral, abiding by a Foreign Relations disposition, refused to hand the Consulate over to the new general consul named by decree, Miguel Angel Andujar, allegedly a naturalized American citizen, for which he cannot be accredited by Washington until he resigns that status.

Abreu, who earns US$1,750 per month, was the administrative chief in Selman’s tenure. She reportedly arrived in the consulate with arrogant attitude, stating that she was going to replace Cabral, until the new official takes possession.