February 28, 2020
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5:18Now PlayingThe Dominican Republic erupted in protests Thursday with demonstrators decrying the abrupt suspension of local elections earlier this month. The government blames the suspension on a technical glitch, but many Dominican people believe the move is just an attempt by the ruling party — the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) — to hold onto power as they’ve lost support, especially among younger voters. "This is very shady, to say the least," says Amanda Alcántara, digital media editor at Latino USA. Alcántara connects these recent events to a longer history of authoritarianism and failed democracy in the DR, from Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship to the U.S.-backed coup that installed Joaquín Balaguer into power in 1965. "They think, 'Okay, after Trujillo happened, we had democracy — that's it.' That wasn't the case. Balaguer was president starting from the late 1960s up until the early 1990s. We're talking about two to three generations of Dominicans who saw Balaguer on and off in power — and his was also a right-wing regime, a repressive regime. People are already seeing the connections between his time in presidency and also how long the PLD has been in power and how they have crushed the opposition."
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