Revista Mexicana del Caribe ISSN: 1405-2962 [email protected] Universidad de Quintana Roo México Betances, Emelio The new Dominican Foreign Policy under the Administration of Leonel Fernández (1996- 2000) Revista Mexicana del Caribe, vol. VI, núm. 12, 2001 Universidad de Quintana Roo Chetumal, México Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=12801201 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative The New Dominican Foreign Policy UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION OF LEONEL FERNÁNDEZ (1996-2000) EMELIOBETANCES GettysburgCollege* Abstract ThestoryofLeonelFernandez,PresidentoftheDominicanRepublic (1996-2000),mayhelpusputincontextthenewdirectionofDominican foreignpolicyinthelatterhalfofthe1990s.Threebasicfactorscon- tributedtothechangesimplementedbyFernandez,forthenation’s foreignpolicy:1)theendoftheColdWar;2)thepromotionoffreeand fairelectoralcompetitions(promotedbytheU.S.);3)theemergence ofFernandezasaleadergenuinelyinterestedinforeignpolicy.This paperexaminesFernandez’smajoraccomplishmentsinforeignpolicy andproposesthathislackofsuccessinimprovinghiscountry’sbilateral relationswiththeUnitedStateswasbasicallyduetothedifferentpri- oritiesestablishedbybothgovernments. Keywords:LeonelFernández;DominicanRepublic;ForeignPolicy;SmallNation States;Bilateralrelationships;UnitedStatesofAmerica. Resumen LahistoriadeLeonelFernández,presidentedelaRepúblicaDominicana (1996-2000),ayudaacontextuarelnuevocaminodelapolíticaexterior dominicanadurantelasegundamitaddeladécada1990.Tresfactores básicoscontribuyeronaloscambiosimpulsadosporFernándezenma- teriadepolíticaexterior:1)elfindelaGuerraFría;2)larealizaciónde eleccioneslibresydemocráticas(promovidasporlosEstadosUnidos);y 3)elgenuinointerésdeFernándezenlapolíticaexterior.Enestetrabajo seexaminanlosprincipaleslogrosdeFernándezenmateriadepolítica exterioryseproponequesufracasoenlograrelmejoramientodelas relacionesbilateralesentresupaísylosEstadosUnidossedebióprin- cipalmentealasdistintasprioridadesestablecidasporambosgobiernos. Palabrasclave:LeonelFernández;RepúblicaDominicana;políticaexterior;estados- naciónpequeños;relacionesbilaterales;EstadosUnidosdeAmérica. * DepartmentofSociology&AnthropologyandtheLatinAmericanStudies Program,GettysburgCollege,Box412,GettysburgPennsylvania17325. RMC,12(2001),7-31 [7] LA POLÍTICA EXTERIOR DOMINICANA DURANTE EL GOBIERNO DE LEONEL FERNÁNDEZ (1996-2000) EMELIOBETANCES GettysburgCollege Résumé L’histoiredeLeonelFernándezPrésidentdelaRépubliqueDominicaine (1996-2000),aideàsituerlanouvelleorientationdelapolitiqueextérieure dominicainependantlasecondemoitiédeladéccenie1990-2000.Trois facteursfondamentauxontcontribuéauxchangementsinstauréspar Fernándezenmatièredelapolitiqueextérieure:1)lafindelaGuerre Froide;2)laréalisationd’électionslibresetdemocratiques(“conseillée parlesEtats-Unisd’Amérique);et3)l’intérêtauthentiqueportéepar Fernándezàlapolitiqueextérieure.Cetteétudeexposelesprincipales réussitesdeFernándezenmatièredepolitiqueextérieureetpropose d’expliquerques’iln’apasréussiàobteniruneaméllorationdesrelations bilateralesentresonpaysetlesEtats-Unisd’Amérique,c’estprincipalement àcausedesprioritésdiferentesétabliesparlesdeuxgouvernements. Mots-clés:LeonelFernández;RépubliqueDominicaine;politiqueextérieure;petits Etats-nations;relationsbilatérales;Etats-Unisd’Amérique. Samenvatting DegeschiedenisvanLeonelFernández,presidentvandeDominikaanse Republiek(1996-2000)helptonsomdenieuwebuitenlandsepolitiek vanditlandindetweedehelftvandejaren90indejuistecontextte plaatsen.DriefactorenhaddenertoebijgedragendatFernándezde buitenlandsepolitiekveranderde:1)HeteindevandeKoudeOorlog;2) derealiseringvanvrijeendemocratischeverkiezingen(gesteunddoor deVerenigdeStaten);en3)despecialeinteressevanFernándezinde buitenlandsepolitiek.Inditartikelwordendebelangrijkstesuccessen vanFernándezwatbetreftzijnbuitenlandsepolitiekgeanalyseerdalsook zijnmislukkingomdebilateralebetrekkingentussenzijnlandende VerenigdeStatenteverbeteren.Volgensdeauteurheeftdiemislukking temakenmetdeverschillendeprioriteitenvanbeideregeringen. Kernwoorden:LeonelFernández;DominikaansRepubliek;buitenlandsepolitiek; kleinenatie-staat;bilateralebetrekkingen;deVerenigdeStatenvanAmerika. RMC,12(2001),7-31 [8] hestoryofLeonelFernándezmayhelpusputincon- textthenewdirectionofDominicanforeignpolicyin Tthelatterhalfofthe1990s.Fernándezwasbornin1953and,as manyotherDominicans,migratedtoNewYorkCitywherehis familyhadmoved.InNewYorkCityheattendedprimaryand secondaryschool.WhiletheDominicanexodustoNewYorkwas rapidlyincreasingintheearly1970s,Fernández’sfamilymoved backtotheDominicanRepublicandhereceivedalawdegree from UniversidadAutónomadeSantoDomingo in1978. Fernández’searlyyearsinNewYork,hispoliticalactivitiesat theuniversity,andmembershipoftheDominicanLiberationParty (PLD)largelyframedhisinterestinforeignrelations.Oncehe completedhislawdegree,Fernándezstartedworkingonabook whichhepublishedinSpanish(TheUnitedStatesintheCarib- bean:fromtheColdWartoRonaldReagan,199?).Subsequently, hebecametheheadofthePLD’sOfficeforInternationalAffairs andanacknowledgedexpertinforeignaffairswithinhisparty. WhenFernándezwaselectedpresidentoftheDominican Republic(1996),internationalconditionswerefavorabletopro- motetheforeignpolicyofsmallunderdevelopednationstates. Threebasicfactorscreatedthesefavorableconditions.Firstly, theendoftheColdWarmeantloweringoftensionbecauseofthe disappearanceofrealsocialism.Thisnewcontextallowedfor thedevelopmentofforeignpolicieswhichfocusessentiallyon economicaffairsratherthanonideologicalandpoliticalissues. Secondly,U.S.promotionoffreeandfairelectoralcompetitions hasforcedconservativeandauthoritarianpoliticalforcestoac- ceptthatliberalcandidatescanwinelectionsandactuallyrule. Thirdly,theemergenceofFernándezasaleaderwhoisgenu- inelyinterestedinforeignpolicy.Hiscontinuedinterestinthe subject,expressedinhismultiplespeechesand34internatio- naltrips,isfundamentaltoexplainthesuccessfulreinsertionof theDominicanStateandeconomyintheinternationalscene.In short,theconcurrenceofthesethreefactorscreatedaspecial setofhistoricalcircumstanceswhichcanhelptoexplainthe behavioroftheDominicanstateintheinternationalscene. THENEWDOMINICANFOREIGNPOLICYUNDERTHEADMINISTRATIONOF.../9 10/EMELIOBETANCES Whenstudyingtheforeignpolicyofasmallstate,akeyissue iswhetheritcanforgeitsownforeignpolicydespiteitstradi- tionaleconomicandpoliticaldependencyonaneighboringor distantforeignpowers.Respondingtothisquestionrequiresde- finingasmallstateanddetectingitscommonbehaviors.There areatleastthreetypesofsmallstates:microstatesofapopu- lationof2.5millionorless,smallstatesinthedevelopedworld, andsmallstatesintheso-calledThirdWorld.Thestatesofthe EnglishSpeakingCaribbeanareexamplesofmicrostateswithless than2.5millionpeople.Israel,NewZealandorSingaporearede- velopedsmallstatesandtheDominicanRepublic,Cuba,Uruguay, Ecuador,etc.areexamplesofunderdevelopedsmallstates(Hey, 2000,2).Themostcommonlycitedbehaviorofsmallstatesfor- eignpolicyinclude:exhibitingalowlevelofparticipationinworld affairs;addressinganarrowscopeofforeignpolicyissues;limit- ingtheiractivitiestotheimmediategeographicalarea;focus- ingondiplomaticandeconomicinstruments;emphasizing internationalistprinciples;securinginternationalagreementsand joiningmultinationalinstitutions;choosingneutralpositions;re- lyingonsuperpowersforprotection;spendingadisproportionate amountofresourcesonensuringphysicalandpoliticalsecu- rityandsurvival. Conventionalwisdomindicatesthatsmallstatebehaviorcan bebestexplainedattheworldsystemlevelofanalysis.“The receivedwisdomisthatdomesticdeterminantswillbelesssa- lientwhenstudyingsmallstatebehaviorbecauseexternalcon- straintsaremoresevereandtheinternationalsituationismore compelling”(Elman,1995,172).Despitethepersuasivepower ofthisdictum,theliteratureonsmallstatesshowsthatthere arenumerouscaseswheresmallstates,underfavorablehistori- calcircumstances,canexertadegreeofindependenceinthe internationalscene.ThecasesofNewNewZealand,Israeland Cubashowthatthisispossible.Cubamaybeanexceptional caseamongtheunderdevelopedsmallstates,butgivenspecial circumstances,smallstatescanforgeasemi-independentfor- eignpolicysuchasLeonelFernándezintheDominicanRepublic (Hey,1995;Goetschel,1998;Henderson,1991). RMC,12(2001),7-31 THENEWDOMINICANFOREIGNPOLICYUNDERTHEADMINISTRATIONOF.../11 ThispaperexaminesFernández’smajoraccomplishments inforeignpolicyandproposesthathislackofsuccessinimprov- inghiscountry’sbilateralrelationswiththeUnitedStateswas basicallyduetotheprioritiesestablishedbybothgovernments. FortheUnitedStates,drugtrafficking,moneylaundering,mi- gration,andhumanrightsviolationsseemtobethemostimpor- tantissues.TheDominicangovernmentacceptsitsresponsibilities indealingwiththeseproblems,butitclaimsthatitdoesnot havetheresourcestoresolvethem.UnderFernández,Domini- canfirstforeignpolicyprioritywastoattractforeigninvest- mentsandtopromotetourism.Thesedifferingapproaches createdroughedgesinthetwocountriesandthusmadeitdiffi- cultforFernándeztosucceedatimprovingbilateralrelations. DOMINICANFOREIGNPOLICYBEFOREFERNÁNDEZ Whatisproblematicaboutsmallunderdevelopedstatesandmicro statesisthatregimechangecanalterforeignpolicies.Thesetypes ofstateshavenotdevelopedtheirinstitutionssufficientlyto carryoutpoliciesregardlessoftheregimeinpower.Inthecase oftheCaribbeanandCentralAmerica,theMinistriesofForeign Relationshavebeenhistoricallyusedtohandlingrelationswith theUnitedStatesandmuchlesstolookingatregionalandinter-