Dominican Govt. finally admits Green March’s weight

Santo Domingo.- After weeks of efforts to downplay it’s ever-expanding clout, Presidency spokesman Roberto Rodriguez Marchena on Friday acknowledged the Green March as “an expression of citizenship which has a dynamic influence on the  oversight and an energetic valor so that taxpayers’ money is well managed.”

Interviewed on Radio Z101FM, the senior official also acknowledged the citizens’ right to mobilize and demand that state funds don’t end up in anyone’s pockets. “We fully agree, as we have explained, that state money must be well managed. From the Government we are taking the measures that we have considered pertinent to reduce the discretion in the use of the public resources on the part of our officials.”

The Green March is a nationwide grassroots movement that seeks to punish corruption and end impunity. Its first protest took place January 22 in the National District.

Since then, various demonstrations have been taking place throughout the country in the wake of the scandal uncovered at the Brazilian multinational Odebrecht, which admitted paying bribes in Latin America, including US$92.0 million in the Dominican Republic, in exchange for major public works contracts.