Protests against the new agreement with the IMF, the lack of electricity and the high cost of living are spreading in the Dominican Republic, while repression against the movement has caused numerous cases of injury, persecution and arrest, including that of Víctor Gerónimo, Coordinator of the Collective of People's Organizations and Continental Coordinator of the Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas (COMPA). Actions staged by demonstrators, who disrupt the traffic, brandish kitchen utensils, organize parades before the government offices of public services, are increasing significantly: those who declare a standstill in their communities or who face up to the police are becoming a real headache for the authorities, which have ended up losing their composure and declaring war against everyone who shows signs of a lack a resignation because of the difficult situation the country currently faces. The current situation The Dominican Republic is currently in a situation similar to that which Argentina was in during December 2001, shaken by constant inflation which has forced an increase in the price of consumer goods, fuel and basic services by double, triple and even six times their original amount; with power cuts of up to 20 hours at a time and a gigantic bank fraud representing 80 percent of the current budget. Meanwhile, between December 2002 and July 2003, the rate of the peso against the US dollar has doubled and continues to be unstable. For some time now many voices in the country have been raised, signaling the dangers of Hipólito Mejía's government following the neo-liberal policies of privatization which, in a record time of less than two years, has doubled the foreign debt and caused a huge domestic debt, based on the false argument that the Dominican Republic is a country of "low debts" and has the "highest economic growth in the continent". Today's facts speak for themselves. In the hands of Bush and the IMF Hipólito Mejía's government and the social democrat Dominican Revolutionary Party have totally and shamefully bowed down to Bush's aggressive policies, supporting invasion on Iraq and now sending 300 troops to help "reconstruct" the country, while on the other side, history seems to be repeating the sad story of events in 1983 when the government of the same party signed an agreement with the IMF, at a cost of more than 100 lives, and plunged the country into a course of economic instability and painful adjustments that are now threatening to start again. The solutions presented today are the same as those of yesterday: solutions which resulted in the impoverishment of more than 66 percent of Dominicans: more adjustments will result in 100 thousand people losing their jobs within a short period of time, extensive bankruptcy of small and medium-sized firms, an increase in debts resulting from the need to borrow more than 1 billion dollars and 5.5 billion pesos in order to pay back debts; joining the FTAA by any means and supporting Bush's war policies. They want to silence the right to resist and protest The government is doing everything within its power to silence the voices that are courageously speaking up against its policies. It has ordered the suspension of media programs, the detention or subjugation of communicators, threats by military and police chiefs, violent confrontation against protests and the persecution and arrest of people's leaders. In the early hours of the morning of Thursday, July 10 the house of Victor Gerónimo, Coordinator of the Collective of Organizations of the Peoples and Continental Coordinator of COMPA, was raided. The previous day Gerónimo had participated in a protest in the neighborhood of Capotillo de Santo Domingo, while protests were staged in other parts of the country. From the statement given by spokesman General Marte Martínez, Chief of the National Police, there are signs that the government is trying to bring false accusations against the people's leader, accusing him of organizing armed individuals in order to instigate violent protests, using him to divert attention and put the movement on the defensive. Organizations announce days of national protest Understanding this situation, Fernando Morillo of the Council of People's Unity demanded that Víctor Gerónimo be released while repeating the call for a National Day of protest against agreements with the IMF, for Friday July 11, an activity which forms part of an extended program, which induces the start, on July 23rd, of a march that will cover 150 kilometers, from the Dominican Republic's second city, Santiago de los Cabelleros, to Santo Domingo. But the resistance will not give way. The experiences of struggles accumulated by Dominican social movements throughout the years is being put to the test by the government itself, which has made a veritable declaration of war on the movement with the arrest of Víctor Gerónimo, threats by military chiefs, the power cuts, high living costs and the difficult conditions of day-to-day life. (Translation by ALAI)