Remains of former President Salvador Jorge Blanco laid to rest
Orlando, choked with emotion, remembered how his father suffered when he went to prison
Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO. After receiving the honors of State and the tributes paid to him by the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), the National Congress and the Presidential Palace, the mortal remains of the former President Salvador Jorge Blanco were laid to rest yesterday in the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) Cemetery in the midst of demonstrations of pain by family, friends and PRD comrades.
A mixed battalion of the Armed Forces and the National Police said accompanied the funeral procession, presenting arms, playing the clarion call with four flourishes and National Anthem accompanied by a 19 gun salute.
The body of the former President was put to rest in the crypt of the Jorge Mera family, next to the remains of his wife Asela Mera, who died at 74 on 14 June 2007 and on a day like yesterday would have celebrated her birthday.
The religious ceremony was performed by Father Javier Colino, who called upon the Almighty for the eternal rest of the former Chief of State.
Talking in the name of the family, his son Orlando Jorge Mera, remembered how his father, with the permission of then President Joaquin Balaguer, was submitted to a nightmare of accusations, slander and inventive, and in spite of it all: "Never lowered his head, never lost humility or sensitivity. He was preserving and coherent. He resisted with dignity all the humiliations to which he was exposed".
Orlando Jorge Mera said that years after being cleared for not having committed any of the things that were attributed to him, his father told him with the logic that he always used, that "politics is like that, Orlando, it is where you best know about human beings".
He said that he still hears that invention that his father had a fortune of US$500 million; "another of the many lies that he had to bear stoically".
"My father died, like the upright and honest servers in countries like ours: Spiritually rich and materially poor. We are proud of his example", he said after stressing the role that his mother Asela played at his father's side. She was always his support and help.
Jorge Mera thanked everyone for the expressions of solidarity received from the different sectors of the society, as well as the government's gesture of having declared national mourning and presenting the honors as required by law.
He announced that together with his sister Dilia Leticia, they are going to reintroduce a book that his father had left uncompleted.
The president on leave of the PRD, Miguel Vargas Maldonado, said that the party said goodbye with profound regrets to the remains of Jorge Blanco, who had been its president, President of the Republic and a great senator.
"Jorge Blanco, who never felt tempted by the harmful ambition of re-election, was the victim of the sterile fight that has so separated the Dominican society and weakened the elevated purpose of boosting the development and welfare of our people", he said as he gave his eulogy.
He said that history should collect the contributions of the former president, who besides being a statesman, established the basis for the development of the export sector of the Dominican economy, including the beginnings of rise of tourism and the free zones.
Last respects with honors
A 19 gun salute paid respect to the coffin of former President Salvador Jorge Blanco at the Presidential Palace, from where he governed the country from 1982 until 1986.
Previously, the honor guard presented arms, and the military band played four funeral flourishes and ended with the National Anthem as required by the protocol.
The remains of Jorge Blanco, covered by the National Flag, arrived at the Presidential Palace on a military caisson and were received by President Leonel Fernandez, Vice-President Rafael Alburquerque and their respective wives. Inside, in the atrium of the seat of government, the diplomatic corps waited in their chairs alongside the members of the cabinet, as required.
As he gave a speech on the solemn occasion, President Fernandez said that besides occupying the Presidency, Jorge Blanco made substantial contributions to the institutional and democratic development of the Dominican Republic. He indicated that as president he encountered "a delicate economic situation, a sensitive social atmosphere, and a political reality filled with difficulties".
Before this, the remains of the former president were on view at the National Congress, because he had also been a senator of the Republic. There, while the legislators stood as honor guards in the National Assembly Hall, the teacher Belgica Antigua Malli, remembered the contributions that Jorge Blanco made in the education sector. "He created the Semma...(the medical insurance plan for teachers)", she said.
The Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), to which he belonged until his death, paid its respects in an emotional ceremony at the party's National House, with the party leaders and members of the rank and file taking part.
Along the route to these different places, some citizens showed their sorrow, while others took pictures with their cell phones to create a file of the historical event.
Condolences
The United States embassy expressed its condolences to the Dominican people and to the family and friends of the former President Salvador Jorge Blanco. In a brief communiqué, the ambassador Raul H. Yzaguirre, indicated in the name of his government that "President Jorge Blanco will be remembered by those that have struggled for democracy due to his important contribution with the process of democratic transformation in the country".
A military caisson, a military vehicle used to haul ammunition, carried the remains of Jorge Blanco so the coffin could be seen by the people.
The traffic was detoured in some parts of Abraham Lincoln, Churchill, Maximo Gomez and Pedro Henriquez Ureña, the streets where the funeral procession passed in its movement about the city.
A mixed battalion of the Armed Forces and the National Police said accompanied the funeral procession, presenting arms, playing the clarion call with four flourishes and National Anthem accompanied by a 19 gun salute.
The body of the former President was put to rest in the crypt of the Jorge Mera family, next to the remains of his wife Asela Mera, who died at 74 on 14 June 2007 and on a day like yesterday would have celebrated her birthday.
The religious ceremony was performed by Father Javier Colino, who called upon the Almighty for the eternal rest of the former Chief of State.
Talking in the name of the family, his son Orlando Jorge Mera, remembered how his father, with the permission of then President Joaquin Balaguer, was submitted to a nightmare of accusations, slander and inventive, and in spite of it all: "Never lowered his head, never lost humility or sensitivity. He was preserving and coherent. He resisted with dignity all the humiliations to which he was exposed".
Orlando Jorge Mera said that years after being cleared for not having committed any of the things that were attributed to him, his father told him with the logic that he always used, that "politics is like that, Orlando, it is where you best know about human beings".
He said that he still hears that invention that his father had a fortune of US$500 million; "another of the many lies that he had to bear stoically".
"My father died, like the upright and honest servers in countries like ours: Spiritually rich and materially poor. We are proud of his example", he said after stressing the role that his mother Asela played at his father's side. She was always his support and help.
Jorge Mera thanked everyone for the expressions of solidarity received from the different sectors of the society, as well as the government's gesture of having declared national mourning and presenting the honors as required by law.
He announced that together with his sister Dilia Leticia, they are going to reintroduce a book that his father had left uncompleted.
The president on leave of the PRD, Miguel Vargas Maldonado, said that the party said goodbye with profound regrets to the remains of Jorge Blanco, who had been its president, President of the Republic and a great senator.
"Jorge Blanco, who never felt tempted by the harmful ambition of re-election, was the victim of the sterile fight that has so separated the Dominican society and weakened the elevated purpose of boosting the development and welfare of our people", he said as he gave his eulogy.
He said that history should collect the contributions of the former president, who besides being a statesman, established the basis for the development of the export sector of the Dominican economy, including the beginnings of rise of tourism and the free zones.
Last respects with honors
A 19 gun salute paid respect to the coffin of former President Salvador Jorge Blanco at the Presidential Palace, from where he governed the country from 1982 until 1986.
Previously, the honor guard presented arms, and the military band played four funeral flourishes and ended with the National Anthem as required by the protocol.
The remains of Jorge Blanco, covered by the National Flag, arrived at the Presidential Palace on a military caisson and were received by President Leonel Fernandez, Vice-President Rafael Alburquerque and their respective wives. Inside, in the atrium of the seat of government, the diplomatic corps waited in their chairs alongside the members of the cabinet, as required.
As he gave a speech on the solemn occasion, President Fernandez said that besides occupying the Presidency, Jorge Blanco made substantial contributions to the institutional and democratic development of the Dominican Republic. He indicated that as president he encountered "a delicate economic situation, a sensitive social atmosphere, and a political reality filled with difficulties".
Before this, the remains of the former president were on view at the National Congress, because he had also been a senator of the Republic. There, while the legislators stood as honor guards in the National Assembly Hall, the teacher Belgica Antigua Malli, remembered the contributions that Jorge Blanco made in the education sector. "He created the Semma...(the medical insurance plan for teachers)", she said.
The Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), to which he belonged until his death, paid its respects in an emotional ceremony at the party's National House, with the party leaders and members of the rank and file taking part.
Along the route to these different places, some citizens showed their sorrow, while others took pictures with their cell phones to create a file of the historical event.
Condolences
The United States embassy expressed its condolences to the Dominican people and to the family and friends of the former President Salvador Jorge Blanco. In a brief communiqué, the ambassador Raul H. Yzaguirre, indicated in the name of his government that "President Jorge Blanco will be remembered by those that have struggled for democracy due to his important contribution with the process of democratic transformation in the country".
A military caisson, a military vehicle used to haul ammunition, carried the remains of Jorge Blanco so the coffin could be seen by the people.
The traffic was detoured in some parts of Abraham Lincoln, Churchill, Maximo Gomez and Pedro Henriquez Ureña, the streets where the funeral procession passed in its movement about the city.
Diario Libre
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