Leonel Fernández

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For the Guatemalan Olympic sport shooter, see Leonel Fernández (sport shooter).

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In this Spanish name, the family name is Fernández.
Leonel Fernández
A portrait shot of a middle-aged man smiling somewhat and looking straight ahead. He has light brown skin, slightly African/Negroid facial features, curly dark hair. He is mustachioed and wears a suit and tie.
Leonel Fernández, 2009
50th & 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
In office
16 August 2004 – 16 August 2012
Vice President Rafael Alburquerque
Preceded by Hipólito Mejía
Succeeded by Danilo Medina
In office
16 August 1996 – 16 August 2000
Vice President Jaime David Fernández Mirabal
Preceded by Joaquín Balaguer
Succeeded by Hipólito Mejía
Second Gentleman of the Dominican Republic
In role
16 August 2012 – 16 August 2020
Vice President Margarita Cedeño de Fernández
Preceded by Martha Montes de Oca (as Second Lady)
Succeeded by Position Vacant
President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations
Assumed office
20 November 2018
Preceded by Park Soo-gil South Korea
Personal details
Born Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna
(1953-12-26) 26 December 1953 (age 70)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Political party People's Force (since 2019)
Other political
affiliations		 Dominican Liberation Party (1990–2019)
Spouse(s) Rocío Domínguez Quezada (m. 1987; div. 1996)
Margarita Cedeño Lizardo (m. 2003; div. 2022)
Relations Piedad Quezada, Mayor of Jarabacoa (ex-mother-in-law)
Children 3, including national deputy Omar Fernández
Alma mater Autonomous University of Santo Domingo
Signature Leonel Fernández
Website www.leonelfernandez.com

Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna (Audio file "En-us-Leonel Fernandez from Dominican Republic pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg" not found) (born December 26, 1953) is a Dominican lawyer, academic, and was the 50th and 52nd President of the Dominican Republic from 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2012. Since January 2016, he is the President of the EU–LAC Foundation.[1]

Fernández became the first elected president of the Dominican Republic under his political party, the Dominican Liberation Party (Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, or PLD), although party founder Juan Bosch was also sworn in as president in 1963 after the first democratic elections held in roughly four decades in the country. Fernández's administrations have focused much on technological and infrastructural development and macroeconomic and monetary stability. He has served as the party president of the Dominican Liberation Party from 2001 until his resignation on October 20, 2019.[2] He later joined the People’s Force and was nominated as it’s party’s presidential nominee.[3]

He is a native of Villa Juana, Distrito Nacional and lived for much of his childhood and early adulthood in New York City.

Leonel Fernández is the President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations and a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Early life

Fernandez is the son of sergeant major José Antonio Fernández Collado and Yolanda Reyna Romero. His family moved to New York City in the United States. They lived most of the time in the Washington Heights neighborhood,[4] a dense Manhattan neighborhood dominated by Dominicans.

After he finished high school, Fernandez returned to his country and started law studies in the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo.[5] He joined the Dominican Liberation Party when it was founded in 1973 by former Dominican President Juan Bosch, leaving the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) to do so. Fernández was known as a close pupil of Bosch. He accompanied him as a vice-presidential candidate in the 1994 presidential election.[5]

First presidential term (1996–2000)

File:Lf yo 1996 3.jpg
Leonel Fernández in 1996

The 1994 presidential election results, which resulted in a reelection of President Joaquín Balaguer, were widely opposed by runner-up opposition leader José Francisco Peña Gómez and his party.[citation needed] In the meantime, the international community rose their concerns on the tightening of the political tensions and fear the country was on the verge of a civil uprising. Upon an official agreement widely known as "Pact for Democracy" ("Pacto por la Democracia" in Spanish) a special election was scheduled for May 1996 and President Balaguer acceded to not run in this election as part of the arranged treaty.[6] PRSC opted to present Vice-President Jacinto Peynado as their candidate,[7] however PRSC supporters feared he wasn't properly endorsed by their historical leader, therefore creating a vast independent mass of electors.[6]

In the first-round election on 16 May 1996 Fernández received 38.9% of the votes in the first round achieving second place behind José Francisco Peña Gómez and PRD.[citation needed] Peynado obtained 15% of the votes, the lowest outcome in Balaguer's party history which initiated a long-term downfall. After 2010 Presidential election, PRSC lost briefly its official recognition as a majority party, but regained it after an alliance with PLD was announced by Leonel Fernández for 2010 mid-term elections, in where both parties achieved 100% of Senate positions and obtained over 2/3 of the seats on the Chamber of Deputies.[citation needed] In the run-off election, held on 30 June 1996, the "Patriotic Front" integrated, and Fernández thus secured 51.2% of the votes to win the election.[citation needed] He was sworn in as President on 16 August 1996, succeeding Balaguer.

During his term in office, Fernández's political agenda was one of economic and critical reform. He helped enhance Dominican participation in hemispheric forums, such as the Organization of American States and the Summit of the Americas.[citation needed] The Dominican economy enjoyed an average growth rate of seven percent, the highest in Latin America for that period, and was among the highest in the world along with South Korea's and the People's Republic of China's.[citation needed] Inflation was stabilized in the low single digits, also among the lowest of Latin America.[citation needed]

Fernández also began a visionary plan to run the Dominican Republic. When developers proposed the country's first modern port during his first term, he said that "We could be the Singapore of the Caribbean".[8] In Santo Domingo and Santiago, which comprised 40% of the country's population, he favored "mega-projects", building numerous highways and tunnels which improved transit across the greater extent of these cities and created OMSA (Metropolitan Office of Autobus Services in English). His administration also gave incentives for foreign direct investment.

In 2000, Fernández was unable to run for a consecutive term as the 1994 constitution prohibited it. His party held primaries to elect a presidential nominee, which were won by Danilo Medina with 52% of the votes against Vice-President Jaime David Fernández Mirabal.[9] Medina, who was sworn as the PLD candidate for the 2000 presidential election,[10] was defeated by the PRD candidate, Hipólito Mejía.[11] Mejia did not satisfy the 50% rule to avoid a feared run-off election, but Medina, who placed second, recognized Mejia's win immediately.[12]

Second presidential term (2004–2008)

File:Leonel Fernandez First Cabinet 2004.jpg
Fernández swears in his first Cabinet of government 2004-2008
File:President George W. Bush meets with President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic in the Oval Office.jpg
George W. Bush welcomes Fernandez to the White House
File:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva & Leonel Fernández - 2007Jun20 Brazilia.jpg
Fernández Reyna with Brazil's President Lula da Silva, First Ladies Marisa Letícia Rocco and Margarita Cedeño

Fernández was elected to a second term of office in the presidential election held on 16 May 2004 with an absolute majority and the second highest percentage ever in Dominican history of 57%. He was sworn in on 16 August 2004. His victory was due in large part to the collapse of the Dominican economy. This collapse has been attributed to skyrocketing oil prices and a slumping international economy post-9/11, excessive borrowing under the Mejía administration and the failure of three banks in the country: Banco Intercontinental (Baninter), Bancrédito and Banco Mercantil. In an effort to avoid further economic chaos, the Mejía administration effectively underwrote all three banks, repaying their customers but generating even greater public debt. Some of the bankers involved have been or are on trial, yet the extent of their fraud is hard to measure as their widespread largess with officials within both the Fernández and Mejía administrations has made it nearly impossible to achieve a true accounting of what conditions led to the bank's demise.

According to local sociologist José Oviedo, "The country trusts him with the economy, but he doesn't seem to pay that much attention to social issues." The economic prosperity which his government prided itself on seemed to fail in reaching enough people.[8] According to The Wall Street Journal,[13] the economy situation worsened during his last term.

The presidents of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela shook hands during the Rio Group summit, and agreed to end the dispute caused by a Colombian raid against FARC on Ecuadorian territory, for a special request from summit host Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez at 7 March 2008.[14] Such Honored act let Fernández received World Peace Culture Award on 6 April 2008.

Third presidential term (2008–2012)

Barack and Michelle Obama during a reception at the Metropolitan Museum in New York with Fernández and Margarita Cedeño de Fernández

During the Mejía administration, the constitution was changed to again allow the immediate re-election of presidents. Although Mejía was ultimately unsuccessful in his bid for re-election, this opened the door for Fernández to attempt a similar run. On 7 May 2007, despite great controversy over whether the PLD party should support the concept of re-election, Fernández won the PLD primary election with a 72% voting percentage against his former Chief of Staff and confidant, Danilo Medina.

As a result, Fernández became the official PLD candidate for the presidency in the May 2008 General Election.

Fernández was declared the victor of the 2008 election, defeating six others, including the PRD candidate and former president Mejía's right-hand man, Miguel Vargas, and the PRSC's candidate, Amable Aristy. Fernández defeated Vargas 53% to 41%.[15] Vargas accepted the defeat the same day, 16 May.[16] Fernández was sworn in for his third term on 16 August 2008, with the traditional ceremony at the National Congress.[17] An ongoing international economic crisis which occurred during this time did not prevent the Dominican Republic from remaining the fastest growing economy in Latin America, with a growth rate of 3.5 percent in 2009 and a projected growth rate of 6.5 to 7 percent in 2010.[18]

Civil Society Engagement

In 2000, Leonel Fernandez founded the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), headquartered in Santo Domingo, as a think tank as well as a resource and training center. In 2002, he founded a sister organisation, the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, dedicated to promoting collaboration between organizations in the United States and the Dominican Republic.

On 20 October 2018, the 42nd Plenary Assembly of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) unanimously elected him president of the global body for a 3-year renewable term thus succeeding to South Korea's senior Ambassador Park Soo-gil and former International Atomic Energy Agency Director General, Hans Blix.

File:President Fernandez on Election Day.jpg
Leonel Fernandez and WFUNA's Leadership on the day of his election

Family and personal life

Fernández married for the first time to Rocío Domínguez Quezada in 1987 (the daughter of Juan Domínguez and the mayoress of Jarabacoa Josefa Piedad Quezada), and had two children, Omar and Nicole. They divorced in 1996.[19][20] In 2003, Fernández married Margarita Cedeño Lizardo, his former Presidential Legal Adviser and an associate attorney of his law firm, having another child, Yolanda América María.[21][22] The couple divorced in 2022.[23]

In addition to Spanish, his mother tongue, Fernández is fluent in English and French.[24]

Leonel Antonio Fernandez graduated with honors in law from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. For a while he worked as a teacher and a journalist before getting into politics. His interest in politics derived from his outstanding student leader abilities, and his dominant role in the General Secretariat of the Students' Association University of Santo Domingo. Moreover, Leonel Antonio Fernandez partook in many protests against the Balaguer regime, was a member of the Central and Political Committees of the Party of Dominican Liberation, which was founded by Juan Bosch. He began expanding his political interests and won Presidency in the Dominican Republic in 1996.[25]

See also

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Morgan, Jana and Espinal, Rosario (2006) Cultura política de la democracia en la República Dominicana. p. 3.
  7. ↑ Grullón, Sandino (2006) Historia electoral dominicana : siglo XX 1900–2004. Imp. Servicios Gráficos Tito. ISBN 8495119226.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Stier, Ken (16 April 2006) Tropical Paradox, Time
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Mary Anastasia O'Grady (25 November 2012) The Dominican Republic's Taxing Turn, The Wall Street Journal
  14. ↑ Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia settle differences(7 March 2008)
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ "Dominican president sworn in for third term", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), 17 August 2008.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by President of the Dominican Republic
1996–2000		 Succeeded by
Hipólito Mejía
Preceded by President of the Dominican Republic
2004–2012		 Succeeded by
Danilo Medina
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