By Bethania Apolinar
Hundreds of Dominicans living in Lawrence have come to sign the “Green Book” whereby different social organizations demand an end to impunity in the Dominican Republic and a response to the corruption scandal with Brazilian construction company Odebrech.
The Green Book for the End of Impunity seeks to accumulate signatures to ask the President of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina, a commission of independent prosecutors accompanied by United Nations technicians to investigate bribes for more than 92 million dollars by the Brazilian company Odebrecht to Dominican officials to obtain the concession.
The group, which promoted the March for the End of Impunity on January 22 in Dominican Republic, gave the president a deadline until February 27 to respond to their request, or else, intensify the fight.
“We are aware of the regime of corruption and impunity that keeps our country in poverty and institutional disorder, so we will not rest until each of those responsible for bribery and overvaluation of the Odebrecht case is in prison. Let us recover all the money rolled,” indicates one of the purposes of the book signing.
In Lawrence, the Green Book signing is supported and coordinated by Alfred Potter, Juan Tomas Vasquez and Luis Pichardo, who try to demonstrate that the Diaspora has an impact on the decisions and actions that affect all Dominicans.
Potter said the initiative is driven from the Dominican Republic by a conjunction of non-political social organizations.
“This is non-political; we are not governed or belong to any traditional political party. This is another way for people to express their frustration and try to achieve the objectives proposed, as well as reaching the end of impunity in the Dominican Republic,” he said.
In this city, the Green Book can be signed at 530 Broadway from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and hundreds of Dominicans have stamped their signatures, including people from the different political parties that influence the Dominican Republic.
Potter said that in 10 days, almost one thousand people have signed the Green Book. In the Caribbean country the signing of the Green Book began on February 5 at Independence Park where dozens of people, including some figures from the political and business sector, marched through the streets. In addition, there are Green Books in Lynn, Boston, Florida, Texas and according to Potter, in New York has filled several books.
In RD
In the Dominican Republic, the signing of the Green Book for the End of Impunity, has received the support of thousands of citizens through social networks, especially Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are manifested through videos, photographs and other messages.
President Danilo Medina will refer to the corruption scandal involving the construction company Odebrecht in his speech on February 27, National Independence Day, according to a report issued this week by the Administrative Minister of the Presidency, José Ramón Peralta.
Potter highlighted that the Green Book is a consequence of the impunity with which the Dominican Government is handling the corruption scandal with Odebrecht, that not only involves the payment of bribes admitted by the company, but also overvaluations of works built by the company in the country, without any arrests being made.
The Data
On December 21, 2016, the United States Department of Justice published an investigation into the Brazilian business conglomerate known as Odebrecht, which specializes in engineering and construction, where it is accused of paying $788 million in bribes to public officials of 12 countries in Latin America and Africa, including Brazil.
According to documents released by the US Department of Justice, the Odebrecht Group, the parent company of Constructora Norberto Odebrecht, would have delivered US $92 million of bribes in the country between 2001 and 2014 to be favored with works.
Supposedly, those resources were handed over to “government officials and intermediaries,” and as a result Odebrecht earned $163 million in benefits, according to the US Department of Justice.
Since 2002 to date, Constructora Norberto Odebrecht has been hired for the execution of some 17 infrastructure projects in the Dominican Republic. The majority of the contracts were signed during the governments of former President Leonel Fernandez 2004-2008 and 2008-2016 and the former minister of Public Works, Victor Diaz Rua, was the official who signed the most, seven in total, from more than one public function.
It is followed in the number of signatures, the current Minister of Public Works, Gonzalo Castillo, with five out of a total of 11 projects that this dependence entrusted to the Brazilian company, today a target of investigation for the supposed payments of bribes to officials in exchange for being favored with construction contracts.
On January 20, Dominican Republic Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez revealed that the construction company promised to pay 184 million dollars in compensation to the Dominican State for bribes of US $92 million. For this negotiation, they referred to Law 448-06 on Bribery in Trade and Investment.
According to information, a court will consider a contract in which Odebrecht has committed, “This amount will be disbursed gradually over a period of 8 years, through partial annual payments until January 2025,” said Jean Alain Rodríguez.
In this country, the company is running the Piedra Blanca Cruce de Ocoa highway, the Miches-Sabana de la Mar Road, and the millionaire thermoelectric of Punta Catalina, whose awarded contract on December 9, 2013 indicates an amount of $2,040,747,405 (“reduced” then to US $1,945,000,000). This amount surpasses US $1,140 million, at the price of US $900 million initially proposed by Chinese firm Gezhouba Group Company Limited, according to several complaints.
