Obama victory seen as hope for world

[NewsWhore]

Several Dominican politicians and sociologist Rosario Espinal share the view that the Obama victory in the United States elections represents a message of hope to the world. PRD secretary general Orlando Jorge Mera said that the election reflected the change that the US wanted in the face of the economic crisis. He hoped that Obama fulfills his promise and understands that relations with the DR will not experience any changes in the short term because they are based on basic principles. He said, "The most important thing for us is for the international policy priorities to change." For Joaquin Ricardo, a member of the PRSC Political Commission, the milestone that Obama's election creates goes beyond the frontiers of the US. Ricardo thinks that the world has high hopes for this election, but "we will have to wait and see Obama's first decisions." The former Foreign Minister pointed out that the theme of Latin America had been absent from the election debates. "In the meantime, we have to focus on our problems which are many and severe." With greater optimism, PLD member Juan Francisco Santamaria predicted that the change would benefit the country through a more favorable application of the Free Trade Agreement. He said, "I told them that you are going to see a change in style, the system is the system, but the leadership is not irrelevant. In other words, whoever is at the top sets the tune." Max Puig, leader of the Democratic Alliance (ADP), said that the "victory is a message of hope for the American people and for a world in crisis." PRD member Pedro de Jesus Candelier called the elections "the expansion of popular feeling in the region started by Chavez in Venezuela." For sociologist Rosario Espinal, the Obama victory sends a message of a desire for change in the US society, which implies that reforms need to take place that take the people more into consideration in areas like education and health. She said, "In international terms a foreign policy that places more emphasis on diplomacy and less on military force." She envisaged that any direct effect on the Dominican Republic would be in the long term.

More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)