Luis Abinader assumes today the “Government of Change” in the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona, an economist by profession, assumes the Presidency of the Dominican Republic this Sunday, after having won in the elections of July 5, with 52.52 percent, a number that for the curious could be of intriguing coincidence, since seven days after the voting, the president-elect turned 52 years old.

“We won, but we will never forget who we owe this victory to; We owe this victory to you, to the Dominican people,” Luis Abinader pronounced himself on the Sunday night of his electoral victory.

Son of the businessman and political leader José Rafael Abinader Wassaf, of Lebanese origin and native of Monte Cristi, and Mrs. Rosa Sula Corona Caba, of Canarian colonial lineage and native of La Vega, Luis Rodolfo, Abinader studied high school at the Loyola School. He obtained a BA in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo and did postgraduate studies in Project Management at the Arthur D. Little Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also studied Corporate Finance and Financial Engineering at Harvard University and Advanced Management at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

He is married to Raquel Arbaje Soni, of Lebanese descent, with whom he procreated Esther Patricia, Graciela Lucía, and Adriana Margarita.

He is the Executive Chairman of the ABICOR Group, which has developed and operated essential tourism projects. This family group directed the business project of today the company Cementos Santo Domingo, of which he is vice president.

He has been president of the Association of Hotels of Sosua and Cabarete. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores). Member of the Board of Directors of the Fundación Universitaria O&M.

He was recognized by the State Congress of Rhode Island, United States, for his public, educational, and business fields. And for his contributions to higher education, civic engagement, and community service, he received recognition from the Mayor of Boston and the Massachusetts State Senate.

The political history of the businessman and economist began in the Dominican Revolutionary Party. In addition to having been vice president and betting on the Senate for the Santo Domingo province, he complimented, together with Hipólito Mejía, the presidential binomial for the 2012 elections that the Dominican Liberation Party finally won, with Danilo Medina at the head.

For the 2016 elections, Luis Abinader was the PRM’s candidate for the Republic’s Presidency, backed by an alliance with the Social Christian Reform, Dominican for Change, Broad Front, and the Dominican Humanist Parties.

With the firm intention of fulfilling the dream shared with his father (now deceased), Luis Rodolfo Abinader resumed his presidential aspirations in 2019 and, in the simultaneous primaries on October 6, advanced in the race for the Presidency of the Republic, winning with 74.11 percent to his party partner, former president Hipólito Mejía.

His dream came true. Today Sunday, August 16, Luis Abinader, the first president born after the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, will be sworn in as Head of State before the National Assembly. In a ceremony that will mark history, not only because of the protocol—demanded by the health crisis generated by the coronavirus pandemic—but also in that, Abinader will receive the Presidential Band, not from the hands of the outgoing Danilo Medina; but by the President of the Assembly, Senator Eduardo Estrella. The President of the Senate will hand the businessman and economist the symbol of authority and presidential continuity in the Dominican Republic.

“The road ahead of us will not be easy; we will walk with determination, but also with prudence. Only with truth and trust will we be able to achieve the necessary unity and re-found our democracy and develop our nation,” expressed Luis Abinader, on Sunday, July 5, when he proclaimed himself the winner of the elections, in the first round.

Collected by Md Nasir, New Jersey, USA