Embattled prosecutor likens Dominican Republic to bizarre town

Santo Domingo.- National District prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso on Wednesday voiced what many feel to be true, that Dominican Republic can only be compared with Nobel Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s bizarre town “Macondo.”

Today the official greeted her Twitter followers with: "How wrong was #Gabo, he believed that Macondo was in Colombia."

On Monday she railed against the country’s Judicial system, “which I’ve lived from within,” calling it corrupt and, especially the pressure she affirms having been subjected to, from the embezzlement case against former Public works minister Victor Diaz Rua.

The scandal broke after a closed hearing in the 4th Instruction Court Friday, headed by judge Margarita Cristo, accused by Reynoso of seeking to drop the embezzlement and money-laundering charges during his Diaz Rua’s tenure.

Cristo however on Tuesday announced that she will step aside in the case and that she filed contempt charges against Reynoso.

The Justice Ministry and the Supreme Court have both announced a probe into Cristo’s actions on the bench, including an alleged US$2.0 million bribe from convicted drug trafficking Jose D. Figueroa Agosto.

And while Justice minister Francisco Dominguez defends Reynoso’s “professionalism and honesty,” Supreme Court chief justice Mariano German didn’t cite Cristo by name, adding that he cannot issue a statement while the probe is taking place.