Dominican leader announces sweeping plan against violence

Higuey, Dominican Republic.- President Danilo Medina on Monday said the population’s lack of opportunities and social cohesion are behind the wave of violence plaguing Dominican Republic, and announced the launch of a nationwide plan to fight it in all fronts in the next few days.

"For a long time I have a theory that to work against poverty is to reduce the social inequality that exists in the Dominican Republic. So I’m working in that direction, I’m convinced that improving social equality, building a more homogeneous society, we will also establish a climate of peace, and that will help create a society with much social cohesion," the president said.

He warned that domestic violence is a phenomenon of the times that "we must overcome" and agreed with the Higuey diocese bishop Nicanor Peña’s sermon to mark Virgin Altagracia Day, in which he criticized it and blamed if for the ills affecting Dominican society.

In that regard, Medina agreed with various analyses that place the country among the region’s and the world’s worst in inequality.