Aerial images of the concentration, in front of the palace of the National Congress where the demonstrators, were opposed to a reform of the Constitution. Today / Arismendy Lora 07/12/2019
The streets surrounding the National Congress yesterday became a human sea that gathered to protest against the amendment of the Constitution, attending the call of the presidential candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Luis Abinader.
Everything seemed calm between the people who with signs in hand, to the rhythm of snare drums and bugles, shouted slogans against President Danilo Medina and the officials of his government, while hundreds of police officers commanded by General Máximo Báez Aybar, placed neatly behind the barricades, they remained stoic but alert to any situation.
The turmoil began to take over the atmosphere to the extent that jeeps, mostly black with tinted windows, arrived on scene with deputies inside. Some like Henry Merán and Orlando Espinoza, practically forced by the press, stopped to give their opinion, while other deputies of the dancer sector were booed by supporters of the PRM, who had already taken Paul Harris Street.
“We are going to continue this fight; this patriotic deed so that colleagues who at this moment exercise the Executive Power understand that what the people need is for the constitutionality and the rule of law to prevail in the Dominican Republic and any well-intentioned national or international opinion that seeks the democratic permanence of the institutions in the Dominican Republic and respect for the constitution, we see with great pleasure, with great satisfaction and we appreciate those contributions, “said Henry Merán. He also pointed out that the call of the Secretary of State of the United States, Michael Pompeo to President Medina, should not be considered as interference.
“As long as the congress is closed, I think that there are no conditions for a session to be held normally in the Chamber of Deputies. What I hope is that within a few minutes of the beginning of the session it will be suspended,” Espinoza said, and as he predicted, it happened.
The effervescence in the atmosphere continued to rise when the apostle José Cristopher, president of the Movement “Proyecto Visión Nación” appeared on the stage, throwing money at the crowd, as a simile of the bribes in his opinion they are receiving deputies and senators, who sell their conscience.
The spirits rose more when a group of PRM deputies singing the National Anthem, surprisingly left the Congress and mingled in the crowd to meet Luis Abinader, who was coming down the avenue Enrique Jiménez Moya, along with thousands of fans who shouted: “out they go!”
The speech of Luis Abinader. “Thanks for accompanying me to this civic day in defense of democracy, social peace and the defense of legal security,” were the first words of Luis Abinader, who described the voice of the people as the voice of God.
He called the congressmen not to obey what he described as an order against the constitution and the democratic order. He congratulated the PRM deputies for their firmness and said that the PLD has made a tradition of continuity and assured that what happens in Congress is the expression of a struggle for power. “There is nothing in that fight but a competition of continuing ambitions,” he said.
Abinader warned the PLD that he is not afraid to face Danilo or Leonel. “To either of them we are going to give a historic defeat,” he said.
More of the act
They will be thrown into the streets.
Abinader warned that if any of the chambers that make up the Congress comes to the constitutional reform project, they will be launched into the streets with their followers.
They brought a cow. One of the protesters drew a lot of attention, as they brought along a cow which wore a banner of protest.