FBI “kidnapping” pits top Dominican Republic officials

Santo Domingo.- The months-long confrontation pitting two of the Dominican Government’s top officials escalated Monday morning, when Presidency Ethics Commission president accused Justice minister Francisco Dominguez of being behind the FBI’s “kidnapping” of two maids of the villa owned by prominent eye doctor Salomon Melgen, a major supporter of U.S. senator Robert Menendez.

Marino Vinicio Castillo said Dominguez “was responsible for the intromission when the FBI sequestered the two maids on Melgen, he’s also behind the fatidic police reform and victimizes (Presidency chief of staff) Gustavo Montalvo.”

He said Dominguez’s actions not only defy Montalvo but can also be compared with those of Julius Caesar and the dictator Rafael Trujillo. “Dominguez even tried to place the contractors of Justice Ministry works under his jurisdiction, just another revelation that he represents Dominican Republic’s elite.”

Drug war

Citing the spiraling number of deaths in Mexico’s narcotics war, Castillo warned of consequences Dominicans face if drug trafficking is allowed to contuse its current path.

He said Dominquez isn’t dealing with the issue and is “dedicating himself to lofty positions in society instead.”

Referring to Dominquez’s cousin and former president Hipolito Mejía, the prominent attorney called him “like the piogan (weevil) that plagues sweet potato crops.”