|
|
Article: Pharaonic. (Dominican Republic's Joaquin Balaguer) (International)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 26, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Dominican Republic
Pharaonic
JOAQUIN BALAGUER is 81 years old, blind, frail, a bachelor who stays late at the office, lives with his sister and has written 25 books. He has given his one valuable possession, a library, to the university. Nobody can recall him ever having fun. But on a good day he is a spell-binding orator, and as president of the Dominican Republic he makes all the decisions that matter. Unfortunately, his big decisions are wrong.
Mr Balaguer served his apprenticeship as puppet president for his mentor, the dictator Rafael Trujillo, who was assassinated in 1961. Mr Balaguer, too, believes in winning support by building public ...