The Dominican Republic presidential results will be announced later today. The early results put Danilo Medina ahead of Hipolito Mejia by 51% to 47%. As a reminder, most businesses will be closed today which also means that it will probably be difficult to get a public car if you are planning on going anywhere.
While there is a prohibition on selling alcohol today you can expect things to be getting pretty loud and a lot of drinking going on when the final presidential results come in so it might be a good idea to stay off the road. Even with Medina as the early winner there are still people (a lot of kids) walking up and down the streets screaming LLego Papa.
Election Result Day Safety
If you are staying at one of the resorts you will probably want to call ahead and make sure that any excursions you were planning for today will still be operating. Today is considered a legal day off for most businesses although most tourist towns normally keep most of their services going, even on holidays.
Likewise if you are planning to walk around town it might be a good idea to avoid areas where there are groups forming especially if it gets loud. Dominican’s do get rather heated up with their politics. Even with the prohibition on alcohol today the beer and rum will be flowing pretty freely and these heated discussions quickly turn into fights, frequently with gunfire. Not a reason to shut yourself into your hotel, resort or home, but a good reason to be a little more cautious.
Expect a lot of noise
Today is not going to be peaceful here in the DR. When the first results came in at around 9pm last night we were quickly alerted by the yelling (mostly llego Papa which seems to be a favorite phrase). Kids were walking up and down the street banging anything they could find to make noise. Dominicans REALLY like to make noise and this gives them a good excuse (not that they normally need one).
We were just treated with a motorcyclist that tied cans to a rope, tied it to his bike and is driving down the street to make noise. Picture the “Just Married” car only as a bike and no bride.
I’ll likely be writing additional comments to this post as the days progresses and more entertaining things happen
May 21st, 2012 at 7:12 am
We have Danilo parades driving by yelling Llego Papa in our area to taunt the Mejia supporters. I think most of the Mejia supporters are staying pretty quite. El chicos in our area still like his music though.
May 21st, 2012 at 7:14 am
Papa has come and gone!!!