Leonel Fernández Says Latin America Must Get Involved via Technological Innovations

In a roundtable discussion entitled “Migration, Diaspora, and Communities in Transit” the president of GFDD/Funglode said that in recent years, Latin America has had tremendous economic growth, mainly attributable to the region’s connection to China through the export of raw materials.

Dr. Leonel Fernández, president of the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (Funglode) and Global Foundation for Democracy and Development
(GFDD), said on Thursday during a roundtable discussion in Miami that Latin America should become integrated into the world through technological innovation, with the help of those living in the Diaspora, taking into consideration that there are some 600 million Spanish speakers worldwide.

Dr. Fernández, who is also the former president of the Dominican Republic, made the remarks as part of a discussion he took part in at Florida International University (FIU) in which
there was a significant presence of Black Student Union members from the university.

During the roundtable discussion entitled “Migration,
Diaspora, and Communities in Transit” the Dominican political leader said that in recent years, Latin America has had tremendous economic growth, mainly attributable to the region’s connection to China through the export of raw materials.

Fernández argued, however, that the situation is changing because China has slipped into an economic recession that threatens the region, especially in the case of countries that are exporting large amounts of raw
materials to China.

Dr. Fernández also discussed the state of relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. He summarized the history of the island and categorically denied accusations that Dominicans are xenophobic, as claimed by some people outside the country. He acknowledged that there are extremists all over the world.

To elaborate on this issue, Fernández praised the efforts underway by the Dominican government to regularize the status of
thousands of foreigners, mostly Haitians, who have been living illegally in Dominican territory.

He pointed out that following the issuance of a court order that oversaw the establishment of a program to regularize undocumented immigrants, they resolved the status of 55,000 descendants of Haitians who are now in a legal situation, and that 250,000 Haitians now hold legal documents.

Several Dominican businessmen, including political analyst and
consultant Eduardo Gamarra, and Dr. Marco Herrera, Director of Funglode, and others, accompanied Dr. Fernández, who had a busy schedule in Miami.