A controversial official travel expense report from the Dominican Republic’s Central Electoral Board (JCE) has sparked renewed demands for accountability and transparency in public spending, after local newspaper Diario Libre published details of exorbitant costs tied to a 2025 cybersecurity conference trip to Spain.
Via a mandatory public information request filed by Diario Libre covering all JCE international official travel between January 2025 and July 2026, the electoral authority confirmed that it spent a minimum of RD$2.03 million, equal to roughly $34,000 U.S. dollars, for just two senior JCE officials to attend the event: board members Hirayda Fernández and Samir Chami Isa. The pair traveled to the Spanish city of León from July 12 to 26, 2025, to take part in the Cybersecurity Summer BootCamp, an international working program focused on addressing digital threats, strengthening cyber defenses, and advancing cross-border cooperation on cybersecurity issues. Three additional lower-ranking JCE staff also joined the mission: Ángel Valentín Díaz, head of the JCE’s Civil Security division; Ana Margarita Gómez Pontón, deputy director of the Institutional Management Monitoring Unit; and Major General Juan Carlos Jiménez, deputy leader of the Electoral Military Police.
Itemized spending documents reviewed by Diario Libre show that each of the two senior board members received $12,000 U.S. dollars in per diem for the 15-day trip, amounting to an $800 daily allowance. Combined round-trip airfare for the two senior officials added a further $9,294.27 U.S. dollars to the total public cost of the trip. What has drawn the most public criticism is the gap between the JCE’s daily allowance and widely accepted international benchmarks: the $800 per diem is more than three times the $259 daily reference rate set by the United Nations International Civil Service Commission for travel to Spain in July 2025, which already covers full costs of accommodation, meals, and incidental expenses. By comparison, the European Union caps daily official mission allowances for travel to Spain at €255, roughly $275 U.S. dollars, less than a third of the rate the JCE paid its senior officials. While Diario Libre notes the JCE faces no legal requirement to adopt UN or EU allowance standards, the global benchmarks serve as a key reference point to evaluate the reasonableness of public spending on official travel.
The León cybersecurity trip stands out as the single most expensive international mission approved by the JCE in the 18-month period covered by the public information request. In total, the electoral authority reported 71 separate official international trips between January 2025 and July 2026, with cumulative public spending hitting $529,438.19 U.S. dollars, equal to approximately 32.3 million Dominican pesos, covering all per diems, out-of-pocket expenses, and airfare.
Despite the large public investment in the León mission, a review of official JCE records shows no clear tangible outcomes tied to the trip. After returning, the Dominican delegation submitted a trip report to the JCE Plenary, but the official minutes from the August 28, 2025 plenary meeting only note that the body received the report, with no documentation of specific benefits, policy changes, or actionable takeaways generated by the participation.
The revelation of excessive spending and unclear outcomes has prompted cross-party criticism from Dominican political leaders, who are now calling for stricter spending rules, greater transparency, and mandatory measurable outcome tracking for all public-funded international official travel. Javier Ubiera, delegate of the opposition Fuerza del Pueblo party to the JCE, acknowledged that international travel can be a legitimate part of the electoral body’s core work, but stressed that all public spending must meet global standards of efficiency and deliver concrete, verifiable results for the Dominican public. Tácito Perdomo, delegate of the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC), echoed these calls, saying the JCE must conduct a full review of the purposes and outcomes of all official international trips and provide clear public justifications for all public spending.