Police Repress March of Doctors in the Dominican Republic

On Wednesday, the Dominican Republic police violently interrupted a march called by the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) that was heading towards the National Palace in Santo Domingo City.

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To prevent the health professionals from reaching their destination, the police launched pepper spray, thus generating confrontations with the citizens. CMD President Dr. Rufino Senen Caba described the repressive action as "an outrage."

He also mentioned that the CMD requires President Luis Abinader's administration to open hospital facilities, create incentives for health professionals, and increase staff.

During the police operation, Dr. Senen Caba and other professionals were pushed against the pavement. Other doctors managed to break the fence, advanced along Navarro Avenue, and reached the National Palace. This group, however, was also repressed.

The tweet reads, "This is how things are going in the Dominican Republic: the 'Government of Change', linked to the Pandora Papers, represses a march of doctors seeking labor reinvidication. This is the worst administration in Dominican history. The change was a trap."

The CMD denounced that the Dominican government closed the Padre Billini and Luis Eduardo Aybar hospitals without justification. It has also kept other hospitals closed "to carry out repair work" for almost five years.

Dr. Senen Caba indicated that health professionals and workers are opposed to the Abinader administration transferring hospital facilities to private organizations that appear as charities made up of volunteers but are actually controlled by "corrupt oligarchs."