Dominican Business Chief Warns of Crime Money in Campaigns
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The country The Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation of about 11 million people, is a stable democracy and the region’s most visited destination. Washington also lists it as a major transit country for drugs.
- —The background The law says campaigning for party nominations may start only on 4 July 2027, before elections in February and May 2028. Hopefuls from all three main parties are already holding rallies.
- —Why now The race to succeed President Luis Abinader, who cannot run again, has filled weekends with mass events. The electoral authority has not sanctioned anyone for campaigning early.
- —What happened In a television interview reported on 27 September, the head of the main business federation warned that a long, unpoliced campaign creates an “enormous risk” of organised crime money entering politics.
- —Who is who Celso Juan Marranzini chairs CONEP, the umbrella body of Dominican business. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) runs elections and is meant to police campaign timing and spending.
- —What it means for you No rule has changed. For investors it is a signal that business leaders see weak campaign-finance control as a governance risk before the 2028 vote.
- —Still open Whether the parties accept the political pact Marranzini proposes, and whether the electoral board ever uses its power to disqualify early campaigners.
The Dominican Republic’s leading business federation has warned that early campaigning is opening the door to organised crime money. The next general election is not until May 2028.
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Celso Juan Marranzini, president of CONEP, said the long, costly unofficial campaign makes it ever harder to know who pays for it. He called for a pact among the parties to stop it.
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What the business federation said
CONEP, the National Council of Private Enterprise, groups the country’s main business associations and speaks for the private sector. Marranzini spoke on D’Agenda, a Sunday interview programme on the television channel Telesistema.
“It must be made very clear who is going to supervise, and how,” he said, according to the newspaper El Nacional. What is spent on a campaign, he argued, is simply not audited.
Defying the legal calendar, he said, creates “an enormous risk that more and more organised crime money seeps in”. Listín Diario carried the same warning on 28 September.
He did not accuse any party or politician. His point was about cost: rallies that move thousands of people are far dearer than posters.
“I think we are still in time, but it is an issue that requires a lot of attention,” he said. He also noted “a growing disenchantment” with the parties, despite all the activity.
A campaign that never stops
Marranzini said the habit is old. In 2016, he recalled, posters of hopefuls for 2020 were on electricity poles the day after that year’s election.
This cycle is no different. On 20 September Carolina Mejía, mayor of Santo Domingo’s National District, named the Senate president her campaign chief at a mass event.
Mejía wants the nomination of the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). So does David Collado, the tourism minister, whose team held simultaneous meetings in Santiago, Mao, Higüey and Bahoruco that weekend.
The same day Gonzalo Castillo, a hopeful of the opposition Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), told supporters he would be president. His party holds its own internal vote on 18 October.
Leonel Fernández, a three-time former president, uses events of his Fuerza del Pueblo (People’s Force) party to pitch a government from 2028.
What the law says
Dominican law sets a strict calendar. The pre-campaign, when hopefuls may seek a party nomination, opens on 4 July 2027.
Candidates may be formally chosen only between July and October 2027, ahead of municipal elections in February 2028 and the presidential vote in May. Rallies held before July 2027 fall outside the legal window.
The penalties on paper are heavy. Under the 2018 law on political parties, early campaigners “will be sanctioned with the inadmissibility of their candidacy”.
The 2023 electoral law adds fines of one to 200 minimum wages. They apply to parties, hopefuls and campaign chiefs who hold rallies too early.
None of this has been applied. The JCE created a unit in 2022 to pursue electoral offences, yet has sanctioned no one for early campaigning, Listín Diario reported.
Marranzini offered one reason. The board, he said, is busy running elections and a new identity card, leaving little capacity to track party money.
Why crime money is the worry
The concern is not abstract. The US government lists the Dominican Republic among the major transit countries for illegal drugs bound for the United States.
In 2021 a sitting congressman from Abinader’s own party, Miguel Gutiérrez Díaz, was arrested in Miami on US drug-trafficking charges. Abinader said at the time that everyone must pay for their deeds.
Marranzini pointed abroad as well. He cited Guatemala, which he said is heading to elections with around 20 candidates while “nobody knows what could happen”.
Similar fears are heard elsewhere. In Panama, a bill that raises campaign donation caps has drawn warnings about organised crime money.
What comes next
Marranzini wants the parties to agree a pact that limits the permanent campaign and says clearly who audits the money.
His warning is a call for tighter oversight, not an allegation. He named no party that has taken crime money, and none of the reports cited any case.
Nor does it change the calendar: the pre-campaign still opens in July 2027. The electoral board keeps the power to disqualify early campaigners, if it chooses to use it.
For now, the rallies continue every weekend. The country’s politics and economy are set out in this Dominican Republic explainer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CONEP?
CONEP, the National Council of Private Enterprise, is the Dominican Republic’s main business federation. It groups the country’s business associations and speaks for the private sector on policy.
Is campaigning already allowed in the Dominican Republic?
No. The pre-campaign for party nominations opens on 4 July 2027. The law allows the electoral board to disqualify hopefuls who campaign earlier, but it has not done so.
Did CONEP accuse any party of taking crime money?
No. Its president warned that unaudited, early campaigning raises the risk of organised crime money entering politics. He named no party or politician.
When is the next Dominican election?
Municipal elections are due in February 2028 and the presidential and congressional vote in May 2028. President Luis Abinader cannot run again.
Sources: El Nacional, CONEP president on early campaigning, 27 September 2026, Listín Diario, Marranzini interview, 28 September 2026, 7 Días, CONEP warning, 28 September 2026, Listín Diario, early campaigning without consequences, 23 September 2026, El Día, PLD consultation and nomination calendar, 25 September 2026, US State Department, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report. All retrieved 28 September 2026.
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