Luis Abinader facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Luis Abinader
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Abinader in 2024
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| 54th President of the Dominican Republic | |
| Assumed office 16 August 2020 |
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| Vice President | Raquel Peña de Antuña |
| Preceded by | Danilo Medina |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona
12 July 1967 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| Political party | Modern Revolutionary Party |
| Other political affiliations |
Dominican Revolutionary Party (until 2014) |
| Spouse |
Raquel Arbaje
(m. 1995) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents |
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| Alma mater | Hult International Business School Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo |
Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona ( born 12 July 1967) is a Dominican economist, businessman, and politician who has served as the 54th president of the Dominican Republic since 2020 and the president-elect of the Dominican Republic in the 2024 elections. He was the Modern Revolutionary Party candidate for President of the Dominican Republic in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 general elections.
Before becoming president, Abinader was the general manager of Grupo Abicor, a business consortium started by his father, José Rafael Abinader, a former senator and finance minister. Grupo Abicor includes a real estate and construction company focused mainly on the tourism industry, a cement factory, and a private university. As revealed by the Pandora Papers, Abinader also owns several offshore companies. Abinader was proclaimed by Bloomberg Línea as Latin America's richest president.
Abinader was elected for a second term as president in the 2024 Dominican Republic general election. In his victory speech, Abinader said that the "changes that we've made are going to be irreversible", and that the "best is yet to come".
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Early life
Abinader was born in Santo Domingo on 12 July 1967. However, both of his parents were born in Santiago in the northern region of the country: his mother, Rosa Ramona Sulina "Sula" Corona Caba, is descended from Old Stock Dominicans of Canary Islander origin and most of her ancestors hail from San José de las Matas; his father was the businessman and political leader José Rafael Abinader descended from Christian Maronites from the Lebanon. His paternal grandfather was José S. Abinader, a Lebanese immigrant from Baskinta, Mount Lebanon, who arrived to the country in 1898 and settled in the town of Tamboril (located near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros). His maternal grandmother, Esther Wassaf Khoury Sahdalá, was born in the Dominican Republic to Wassaf Khoury Hanna and his wife Thell Sahdalá, both Lebanese Maronite Christians.
Abinader did his secondary education at the Colegio Loyola (Spanish: Loyola High School); He graduated in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (Spanish: Santo Domingo Institute of Technology). He did postgraduate studies in Project Management at Hult International Business School (at the time named Arthur D. Little Institute) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Career
He was elected vice president of the Dominican Revolutionary Party in its 2005 National Convention.
He is currently Executive Chairman of ABICOR Group, which has developed and operated major tourism projects in the country. This family group led the business plan of what is today the company Cementos Santo Domingo, of which he is Vice President.
He has been president of the Association of Hotels in the Puerto Plata area and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES).
He is member of the Board of Directors of the O&M University's Foundation.
He was recognized by the Rhode Island General Assembly for his career in public service, education, and business. He also received acknowledgments from the City Hall of Boston and the Massachusetts Senate for his contributions to higher education, civic engagement, and community service.
Abinader was the vice-presidential candidate of the Dominican Revolutionary Party in the 2012 election and in 2005 was pre-candidate for senator from the province of Santo Domingo.
2016 presidential election
Abinader was the presidential candidate of the Dominican Humanist Party and the Modern Revolutionary Party for the past general elections on 15 May 2016.
Abinader was, along with Soraya Aquino, one of the two presidential candidates in 2016 who had not been born during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961). Giuliani Partners, specifically Rudy Giuliani and John Huvane, advised Abinader in the campaign as security consultants.
2020 presidential election
Abinader successfully ran for President in the 2020 election. Rudy Giuliani and John Huvane once again advised Abinader in the campaign as security consultants.
2024 election
In August 2023, he announced his intention to seek presidential re-election, and in the May 19, 2024, election, he was re-elected with 57% of the votes for the 2024-2028 term. His two closest competitors were Leonel Fernández of the People's Force party, and Abel Martínez of the Dominican Liberation Party. They received 29% and 10% of the votes, respectively, in that election.
President of the Dominican Republic
Abinader was sworn in as the President of the Dominican Republic on 16 August 2020.
The inauguration had a reduced number of guests due to the measures taken for the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the international guests was the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, who attended on behalf of President Donald Trump.
He made the fight against illegal immigration one of his priorities. In February 2022, he began construction of a separation wall with Haiti, which will extend over 164 of the 380 kilometers of border.
Border wall
In February 2023, construction was started on a border wall that will cover the border with Haiti. The project includes 70 watchtowers and 41 access gates for patrolling containing fiber optics for communications, movement sensors, cameras, radars and drones. This project will be the second longest border wall in the Americas, after the US-Mexico wall. Proposals for a wall came from several Dominican politicians, including Ramfis Trujillo, grandson of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, and Abinader before becoming president. The idea is supported by the vast majority of the Dominican population. Dominican officials claim the wall will slow the illegal Haitian migration as well as reduce the chance of gang violence in Haiti from spreading to the Dominican Republic.
Economic management
Despite efforts to reactivate the economy in the post-pandemic period, Abinader's administration has faced numerous criticisms. Several economists have pointed out that, although there were successes in vaccination and some economic stimuli, the debt policy has been inefficient. The significant increase in loans, without strong capital expenditure to boost the economy, could compromise future governments.
Additionally, the policy of eliminating customs duties for certain imported products has been criticized, arguing that it has harmed domestic producers and led to the bankruptcy of many local businesses. These measures failed to control the prices of food and other basic products, and the national economy continued to slow down, with double-digit inflation and economic growth limited to 2% in 2023.
Foreign relations
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was among those in attendance at Abinader's swearing-in ceremony. Under Luis Abinader's leadership, the Dominican Republic is set to form stronger economic and diplomatic ties with the United States. Under his administration, the Dominican Republic became one of the countries that, along with the US, voted to maintain the arms embargo on Iran.
He is close to the Lima Group, which brings together nations in the Americas to oppose the Maduro regime and advocate for a return to democracy in Venezuela.
On 24 February 2022, Abinader released a statement denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, a dispute over water in the Dajabón River led President Abinader to close the Dominican Republic-Haiti border.
Popularity
Despite the high inflation rate experienced by the country and the devaluation of the Dominican peso against the US dollar (going from 53.30 per dollar to 56.50), President Luis Abinader has maintained a popularity above 55% to this day. He is also the second most popular president in Latin America, behind Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador.
Personal life
Abinader has been married to Raquel Arbaje Soneh since 1995. She is the daughter of businesspersons Elías Arbaje Farah and Margarita Soneh, both of Lebanese descent. They have three children.
See also
In Spanish: Luis Abinader para niños In Spanish: Luis Abinader para niños
