Mr. President, Chargé Thomas, distinguished colleagues. It is an honor to join you at the High Level Dialogue on Institutional Reform.
I am looking forward to this discussion on issues that are of tremendous importance to both our countries: the fight against corruption, improving the security of citizens, the fight against transnational criminal organizations, the -protection of human rights, and the building of economic prosperity.
The Administration is the first in US history to make anti-corruption a pillar of our national security strategy. The White House released the first US Anti-Corruption Strategy together with the first Democracy Summit last December. The strategy provides a blueprint for how the United States will work domestically and internationally, with governmental and nongovernmental partners, to prevent, limit, and respond to corruption and related crimes.
As many of you know, there are good reasons for putting the fight against corruption at the center of our efforts to promote democracy. Democracy depends fundamentally on institutions and trust. Institutions carry out the fundamental work of democratic government—from faithfully representing the interests of the people to ensuring that everyone has fair and equal access to public services. Institutions, in turn, depend on trust—trust between citizens to resolve their differences through the democratic process, rather than outside of it, and trust in government to provide effective leadership in times of calm and of crisis.
Corruption is corrosive to both. They draw resources away from democratic institutions and reduce people’s trust that these institutions will serve them in the first place.
I know that the consolidation of democracy and the fight against corruption are also a pillar of your administration, President Abinader. As fellow democracies like the Dominican Republic and the United States work to reverse the rising tide of authoritarianism around the world, including right here in Latin America, it is critical that we work together to strengthen efforts ours, to learn from each other, and to show the world that democracies can lead to respond to the demands of their people. Fundamentally, that’s what today’s High-Level Dialogue is about today – recognizing your administration’s remarkable efforts to consolidate democracy and fight corruption, and exploring ways the United States can support them .
The Dominican Republic has made significant strides since the last High Level Dialogue, consolidating its leadership role in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through the dedicated leadership of President Abinader and committed legislators in the Dominican congress, including two represented here today – President Estrella and President Pacheco – the Dominican Republic took a step that many did not believe was possible. The passage of civil asset forfeiture legislation earlier this year – in the face of vested interests who strongly opposed it because they worried it could be used to go after their own crime and corruption – represented a major achievement. in the fight of the Dominican Republic against corruption and transnational. crime. The United States is proud to offer support for your efforts to ensure that the implementation of the law is transparent, credible and effective. Just this week we launched the first training for judges and prosecutors – one of many more to come.
But this is no time to rest. While we take inspiration from our success, there is more work to be done. We know that apart from asset confiscation, one of the most effective ways to combat transnational criminal organizations is to dismantle their financial networks. The United States stands ready to share its expertise, provide training, and support for the work of this important body.
We also hope to use today’s dialogue to discuss ways to prioritize the passage of new legislation on public procurement. This may seem like a technical undertaking, but we must not forget that public procurement counts for it
about 10 to 15 percent of GDP in many countries, and that fraud in this area typically represents some of the biggest cases of corruption in the world, including recent cases right here in the Dominican Republic.
Another task that we are here today to discuss is the reform of the police, something that is a challenge for both our countries. Of course, improving citizen safety cannot happen without a professional, reliable and responsive police force. This is not easy to accomplish – we know that all too well in the US. But we are encouraged by President Abinader’s commitment to the safety of citizens.
The United States will continue to partner with the DNP to increase the professionalization, responsiveness, and accountability of the force.
In the coming months we will support President Abinader’s citizen security strategy by:
I want to be clear with some hard truths about the enormity of the challenge before us today. The experience in the United States has shown that police reform is not something that can happen overnight. This is a challenge that takes time, hard work, and patience. President Abinader is committed to doing the hard work in this area, and we stand ready to support those efforts.
On the subject of law enforcement, I want to encourage the Dominican government to pass an updated law on human trafficking, which is in line with international standards, and which makes it easier to prosecute those who are they prey on children.
The United States has provided technical assistance to update this law, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and we will continue to do so.
The Dominican government must continue to make progress against human trafficking through effective investigation, prosecution, and conviction of traffickers; protecting the most vulnerable in our communities. This includes the provision of services to all vulnerable individuals, including Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent.
In conclusion, I want to re-emphasize that a critical component of the Biden-Harris administration’s approach to supporting democracy and fighting corruption is identifying the bright spots in the world where real reforms are happening, and partnering with those countries in their support.
That is why I am pleased to announce that the Dominican Republic has been identified as a “bright light country” and has been selected to receive additional support through the Partnership for Democratic Development, a new USAID program under the Presidential Renewal Initiative Democratic – to show that democracy delivers results. This program will unlock additional funds to support the Dominican Republic to initiate reforms and address key development challenges in a variety of sectors, identified in partnership with the United States. A key expectation is that together we will not only define, plan and implement the promised reforms, but also commit to working with a wide range of stakeholders across government, the private sector, and civil society to do so . We look forward to working with the Dominican Republic to advance this initiative.
In recognition of the efforts of the Dominican government in this area, President Biden also asked the Dominican Republic to assume a leadership role in the meeting of the Summit for Democracy next year. We were happy to see President Abinader respond positively to that request and pursue active engagement in the Year of Action leading up to the Summit.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the issues that we will discuss today are among the most important that our two countries are facing. Mr. President, I look forward to getting started.
