By: Nicolapps, Human Rights Defender*
In Latin America, Venezuela is often accused of having become a “narco-state.” Nicolás Maduro is labeled a narco-president, despite the fact that there has not yet been a judicial conviction against him. But what no one dares to mention with the same intensity is what is happening in the Dominican Republic: a country that, under the leadership of Luis Abinader and the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), is experiencing the infiltration of organized crime into its politics, institutions, and democracy.
Narcos as political financiers
It is no secret. For decades, drug traffickers have financed political campaigns in exchange for protection and impunity. The difference today is that these same networks are no longer just hidden sponsors: they now occupy Congressional seats, mayoral offices, ministries, and legislative positions. The case of former Congressman Miguel Gutiérrez, arrested in the United States on drug trafficking charges, is only the tip of the iceberg.
The consequence is alarming: a party that presented itself as an agent of change has opened the doors to the economic power of narcotrafficking, allowing it to fund campaigns and shape government decisions.
Haitian trafficking: the other side of organized crime
Alongside narcotrafficking, the trafficking of Haitian migrants has become another highly profitable illicit economy. Thousands cross the border every month through networks controlled by mafias that enjoy state complicity. It is an open secret: without the active or passive consent of officials and local authorities, human trafficking could not thrive.
When a State allows human lives to be commodified, when borders turn into a marketplace for criminal syndicates, we are facing an expanded narco-state model, where not only drugs but also human trafficking sustain the political system.
Impunity as the norm
The list of corruption scandals circulating among citizens is long: the overpriced syringes case, INABIE, IMPOSDOM, Superate, Tony Millones, the National Lottery, questionable contracts in Education, Agriculture, and even fideicomisos under scrutiny. Most of these cases have disappeared into nothingness, confirming that the justice system is unable—or unwilling—to touch those within the circles of power.
Impunity is the fertilizer of this narco-state: if the corrupt go unpunished, if drug traffickers become legislators, if human traffickers transform into “respectable businessmen,” then Dominican democracy is already hijacked.
The big question
With what legitimacy can Venezuela be labeled a narco-state when, in the Dominican Republic, organized crime already has a seat in Congress, ministries, and public administration?
What my country faces today is not merely corruption—it is the capture of the State by mafias. And as long as this complicity remains, the Dominican Republic will continue sliding into a scenario where traffickers do not only fund power—they become power itself.
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