标签： Dominican Republic

SANTO DOMINGO — In a single day of widespread unrest, two separate violent incidents involving motorcycle taxi drivers have left one man dead and a school bus driver injured in the Greater Santo Domingo metropolitan area, unfolding against a backdrop of already simmering friction between local authorities and the region’s motorcycling community over widespread reckless operation and links to criminal activity.

The first and most deadly of the two incidents took the life of 38-year-old Osvaldo Silverio, a seasoned motorcycle taxi driver based out of the La Barquita sector of Sabana Perdida. According to preliminary law enforcement accounts, Silverio was gunned down in cold blood by Ramón Elías Ureña Hernández — a fellow motorcyclist widely known by his alias “Mon Elías” — following a lingering dispute that erupted between the two men days earlier.

Graphic security camera footage of the attack, which has circulated widely across local social media platforms, captures Silverio walking along a public street in Santo Domingo Norte, wearing his riding helmet, when Ureña Hernández intercepted him from his own motorcycle. After less than a minute of heated verbal exchange, Ureña Hernández drew a firearm and fired two shots directly at Silverio before immediately fleeing the scene on his motorcycle. Investigators later confirmed the root of the conflict was a disagreement over a competing passenger at the shared bus stop where both men worked to pick up fares.

In the wake of the killing, the Dominican National Police has opened a full criminal investigation into the incident and launched a manhunt to locate and arrest the fugitive shooter, who remains at large as of press time.

Hours after the fatal shooting, a second violent incident unfolded in the El Café sector of Herrera, Santo Domingo Oeste, where a mob of local motorcycle taxi drivers viciously attacked Henry González, a driver for the National Student Transportation System (TRAE). The attack was triggered by a minor fender bender between González’s school bus and a motorcycle operated by Gregory González, widely known as “Negro Malo,” who was traveling the wrong way down a one-way lane with two young female passengers.

At the time of the collision, González was in the process of transporting a group of students to the local Rafaela Santaella School. After the crash, dozens of area motorcycle taxi drivers swarmed the bus, pulled González from the vehicle, and beat him, leaving him with visible facial lacerations that required emergency medical treatment. Terrified students trapped inside the bus during the assault screamed for help, with witnesses later confirming that multiple bystanders warned the mob that minors were inside the vehicle — a warning the attackers completely ignored.

Speaking to medical personnel after the attack, the TRAE driver stated he had been unable to avoid the collision, saying: “I had my seatbelt fastened and I never even saw them coming until it was too late.”

In a swift law enforcement response to the attack on the school bus driver, National Police officers moved in to detain all motorcycle taxi drivers who participated in the mob assault. Shortly after the incident, Gregory González, the motorcyclist who caused the initial collision that sparked the violence, turned himself in to authorities voluntarily.

In comments made to reporters alongside National Police spokesperson Diego Pesqueira, Gregory González attempted to justify his actions, claiming the conflict was entirely the bus driver’s fault. “There never should have been a conflict. I did swerve over into his lane, yes, because I was with two kids. He’s the older, more experienced driver, and he never stopped to think that I’m younger and he should have waited for me to pass,” González said. He added that the driver’s facial injuries were a result of González acting in self-defense after the driver failed to brake to avoid hitting him.

Officials from the Santo Domingo West Prosecutor’s Office have announced they will move forward quickly with formal charges against all suspects connected to the attack, and will file a request for pretrial preventive detention for all of those involved in the coming hours. In a statement, prosecutors emphasized that this kind of unprovoked mob violence, particularly against a school transportation driver who was carrying minor students, will not be tolerated. “This type of dangerous, irresponsible behavior cannot be overlooked. We will seek the strictest appropriate measures available under law to hold these attackers accountable,” the statement read.

SANTO DOMINGO – On Friday, dozens of people of Haitian descent born and raised in the Dominican Republic gathered in peaceful demonstration outside the Dominican National Palace, carrying clear, impassioned slogans to demand long-overdue action from the national government. Chants of “We are Dominicans”, “If I am not Dominican, neither is Abinader”, and “Being Dominican is our right, not a favor” echoed through the public square as organizers called attention to the unfulfilled promises of a decade-old nationality law.

The demonstration, organized by the grassroots Recognized Movement, marks the 12th anniversary of the passage of Law 169-14, legislation drafted to address the citizenship crisis triggered by the Dominican Constitutional Court’s 2013 ruling 168-13. That ruling stripped nationality from thousands of people born in the Dominican Republic to undocumented Haitian migrant parents, creating a large population of stateless people who were denied access to basic identity documentation. Law 169-14 was intended to resolve this crisis by formalizing pathways to citizenship for two distinct affected groups, labeled Group A and Group B. But protesters say that after 12 years, the government has never fully enacted the regulation.

One spokesperson for the group emphasized that demonstrators are not asking for special treatment – they are demanding their constitutionally guaranteed birthright. “We are here to claim our Dominican nationality. We are not foreigners or immigrants; we were born on this soil, and we will not leave,” they said. The representative added that even after 12 years, less than half of the people classified in Group A have successfully received their citizenship, while all members of Group B remain waiting for permanent, official resolution of their status.

Movement coordinator Franklyn Minor detailed the ongoing harms of the government’s delayed implementation. He explained that many people who had held valid Dominican identity cards, birth certificates, and passports for decades have suddenly had these official documents suspended, leaving them legally adrift. Protesters added that stateless and undocumented residents of Haitian descent continue to face routine systemic discrimination: they face arbitrary arrests, unfair deportations, and persistent bureaucratic roadblocks that block them from obtaining even the most basic official paperwork. This lack of documentation in turn cuts off access to fundamental rights including public education and healthcare, turning long-overdue citizenship into a matter of daily survival for thousands of families.

Protesters anchored their demand in the text of the Dominican Constitution that was in force at the time of their birth, which grants automatic Dominican nationality to anyone born on national territory, with only narrow exceptions for children of foreign diplomats and individuals in legal transit. To move the process forward, Minor called on Dominican President Luis Abinader to directly intervene in the crisis, to enforce the existing Law 169-14, and to clear the backlog of thousands of pending citizenship applications. Rejecting the erasure of their community, one spokesperson summed up the demonstration’s core message: “We are not invisible.”

Fifteen days have passed without any trace of 23-year-old Nicol Pérez, who went missing under unusual circumstances along the route connecting the Dominican provinces of Azua and Barahona. Her anxious family has now turned to the public for urgent assistance in locating the young woman.

At the time of her disappearance, Pérez was a resident of Azua. Since the day she vanished, her relatives have not succeeded in reestablishing any contact with her, a break from routine that has left the entire family deeply worried. One of the most puzzling details of the case that has compounded the family’s concern is the status of Pérez’s mobile phone: the device remains powered on and accepts incoming calls, yet there has been no response to any text messages, calls, or other attempts to communicate with the missing woman.

“Nicol always gets back to us right away; this complete silence is completely out of character for her,” family members shared in an interview, explaining that the unresolved uncertainty has caused overwhelming anguish for every member of their close-knit family.

With official investigations yet to yield solid leads, Pérez’s loved ones have ramped up search efforts by leveraging the power of social media and local press. Family and friends have circulated recent photos of Pérez alongside key personal details across multiple social platforms and reached out to regional media outlets to spread their appeal far and wide, all in the hope that a member of the public will come forward with a critical clue about her current whereabouts.

The family has issued a formal appeal to anyone who may have spotted Pérez in the Azua-Barahona region in the last two weeks, or who holds any relevant information that could help advance the search, to reach out immediately to either law enforcement authorities or the family directly. To streamline tips, the family has released two dedicated contact numbers: 809-772-3023 and 829-337-1508. They have also asked social media users to share their appeal to expand the search’s reach, bringing the request for information in front of more potential witnesses.

In Santo Domingo, a broad coalition of civil society groups has launched a high-profile campaign pushing Dominican Republic authorities to label the ongoing crisis of femicide and gender-based violence as a formal national emergency. Spearheaded by the Coalition for Women’s Rights and Life, the movement has already garnered signatures from more than 80 organizations, alongside leading academics, grassroots activists, and ordinary concerned citizens. The push comes in response to alarming new data showing that at least 32 women have lost their lives to gender-motivated killings in just the first five months of 2026, a trend that has sparked widespread public outcry over systemic failures to protect women across the country.

The official open letter at the heart of the campaign, titled “Not One Less! Women’s Lives Demand State, Justice and Education for Equality,” lays out the urgent need for coordinated, cross-government action to tackle what organizers frame as a deep-rooted systemic crisis, rather than a string of isolated events. To expand public participation and amplify pressure on decision-makers, the Coalition has launched a dedicated public portal at feminicidios.do, where any Dominican citizen can add their name in support of the demands.

The document outlines a clear, multi-pronged policy agenda that goes far beyond a simple emergency declaration. Signatories are calling for the passage of a sweeping national law dedicated to preventing and penalizing all forms of violence against women, as well as independent, third-party audits of current response systems operated by the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office. Additional demands include harsher and more consistent prosecution of perpetrators, the immediate removal of any police or military personnel facing accusations of gender-based violence, a major expansion of accessible emergency shelters and long-term support programs for survivors, and the mandatory integration of gender equality education into national school curricula.

In a statement accompanying the letter, Coalition leaders stressed that repeated femicides across the country cannot be dismissed as random, individual acts of violence. Instead, they argue, these deaths are the direct outcome of long-standing institutional failures to proactively prevent harm and provide effective protection for at-risk women. The campaign also addresses overlooked secondary harms of the crisis, calling for targeted, comprehensive support for children left orphaned by femicide killings, as well as a substantial increase in public funding for both the Ministry of Women and community-based violence prevention initiatives operating across all regions of the country.

Organizers are continuing to ramp up outreach to recruit additional signatories, including more national organizations, professional associations, local community leaders, and everyday citizens. They emphasize that ending violence against women cannot be achieved through piecemeal actions; it requires a unified, nationwide response and sustained, long-term public policies centered on three core pillars: prevention, accessible justice, and consistent protection for all women.