Santo Domingo, RD.
Carlos prepares egg empanadas quickly and skillfully in his humble position in the La Ciénaga, in Santo Domingo, while saying that life “is difficult” since the arrival of the coronavirus because the business “fell by 40%” and has not received aid from the State.
He is reluctant to speak, answers questions almost telegraphically, and avoids giving his last name. The longest sentence that comes out of his mouth is that, although he has not received the help he has requested, “you have to pay the house however you like,” in which three people live on what they get out of that informal business.
Carlos’s situation has become a common case in the Dominican Republic, a country that holds elections on July 5, having a large part of the population at the mercy of official aid, due to the devastating effect that the crisis of the COVID-19 in a country that had the highest economic growth rates in Latin America in recent years.
INFORMAL JOBS, OFFICIAL AID
Somewhat more talkative is Margarita, who lives in that same neighborhood, along with another adult and two children who subsist thanks to “the help of the Government, because right now nobody is doing anything.”
“I have always sold clothes from La Romana here,” but now his “little business” with which he defends himself is stopped. In this same situation are hundreds of thousands of informal workers who are looking for a way to live daily.
Since the state of emergency was decreed on March 19, the Dominican government It seeks to complement the battered economy of poor or vulnerable households through social programs that have benefited hundreds of thousands of families who, in many cases, have successfully crossed the poverty line in recent years.
Fortunately, the crisis hit the Dominican Republic at a good time: after growing 6.0% per year on average in the last seven years and after having reduced poverty in half in that time, dropping from 39.7% to 20.6% of the population at the end of 2019.
POVERTY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE OZAMA RIVER
Just on the other side of the river that borders Santo Domingo is the sector The Dike, equally poor, although the current inactivity of its unpaved alleys is more evident.
Vehicles or motorcycles rarely circulate, which before the pandemic formed frantic swarms around pedestrians. And almost nobody needs to cross the Ozama river anymore.
José Manuel Bosi knows very well that, until the arrival of COVID-19, he took out his good chelitos (money) making endless trips from one side of the river to the other, always with his boat overflowing with passengers, at a rate of 25 pesos (half a dollar) per trip.
Before, he crossed so many times from shore to shore that he did not count them, but now he does count them, affirms the boatman in statements to Efe while a young mother climbs her yola with her son. They are her only passengers on this journey. “The work is down 90%,” he laments.
At the other end of the neighborhood, several residents wait to pick up a ration of food from the 500 that they deliver daily at this point in the city to provide lunch to those most in need.
Also, a truck Price Stabilization Institute (Inespre) offers cheap products, although not everyone can buy.
There are no crowds, they know there is something for everyone and they calmly go to look for their prepared lunches. Some talk about politics and the upcoming elections on July 5 in a nearby park, while a group of children plays on the swings.
THE FALL OF THE ECONOMY
In general terms, Dominicans who receive some benefit agree that it is not enough, but it is a lot of effort for the country to face the pandemic, which has caused the economy to drop by 7.5% in the first four-month period.
The disease has paralyzed tourism, the country’s main economic sector, which contributes about 8% of gross domestic product (GDP) and employs some 300,000 people, most of whom have been left with their contracts suspended.
State revenues have fallen 1,811 million dollars, as a result of the paralysis of activities, which has put pressure on public accounts, at a time when social aid has had to be doubled.
The economic outlook is pending the rebound in cases of the disease, one month after the start of the de-escalation, which could lead to a re-confinement, while the general elections, just around the corner, make the country’s future even more uncertain. .
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