Leonel Fernández Praises Jimmy Sierra’s Intellectual and Literary Career

The cultural event was held at the headquarters of the Union League Club in New York, with the support of GFDD/Funglode.

The President of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (Funglode), Dr. Leonel Fernández, attended Tuesday April 26 to the launch of the novel "Idolatría", by the well-known Dominican writer and filmmaker Jimmy Sierra, with whom he maintains
a forty years friendship.

Jimmy Sierra’s new book is inspired by the figure of Liborio Mateo (Papá Liborio), a mythical political-religious character that lived in the Valley of San Juan de la Maguana between late 19th century and the third decade of the 21st century, who was killed by the United States troops during their occupation of the Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924.

The novel has in the massacre of Palma Sola, perpetuated on December 28, 1962, its starting point. The massacre of the followers of brothers Pliny and León Romilio Ventura, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Liborio, took place in the community of Palma Sola in
the municipality of Las Matas de Farfán, San Juan province.

In his novel, Sierra situates the events in the mythical village of "Las Tres Cruces” or "Laguna Cristal’, which relates to the settlements founded by Liborio and his supporters in the rural communities of the San Juan Valley.

After introducing the author of "Idolatría", Sierra and former President of the Dominican Republic Fernández took
the floor for a dialogue on the context and content of the literary work.

Sierra explained that his new book is a tribute to the writer Dante Alighieri and therefore it is structured with the same allegorical-philosophical criteria of the novel source of inspiration. Moreover, Sierra celebrated his close friendship with Fernandez, which dates back more than 40 years. "I began to see so much talent in the young Leonel Fernández that I invited him to write his
first article," he said.

In his speech, Fernandez spoke about the trajectory of Sierra as a TV and film producer, short-story writer, narrator and now novelist. "The first person that had published a book I ever met was Jimmy Sierra…

Through Jimmy and other neighborhood friends I started to learn about literature", said the former leader of the Dominican Republic.

After the conversation between the two
intellectuals, a documentary about the novel by Jimmy Sierra was screened. The participation of Fernandez in the launching of the novel “Idolatría” is part of the President’s vast agenda of events taking place in New York City since last Monday.