Before becoming president, Abinader was the general manager of Grupo Abicor, a business consortium started by his father,José Rafael Abinader, a former senator and finance minister. Grupo Abicor includes a real estate and construction company focused mainly on the tourism industry, a concrete factory, and a private university. As revealed by thePandora Papers, Abinader also owns several offshore companies.[2] Abinader was proclaimed as Latin America's richest president byBloomberg Línea in 2022.[3]
His first 100 days in office, in a context of mitigation of the Covid-19 pandemic, were rated positively by some sectors of society such as social and business actors, who positively valued the measures adopted during the health crisis.[4] In the international arena, he has been participating in regional forums and discussions with think tanks in the capital of the United States, such as the Council of the Americas and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.[5][6] In November 2020, during a high-level discussion he had withCNN columnist political strategistGeovanny Vicente at the DC Dialogues atNew York University, he reviewed the achievements made in his first 100 days in office and noted that the Dominican Republic, in addition to being the fastest growing economy in Latin America, is also ready to receive investments.[7]
Abinader was re-elected to a second term as president in the2024 Dominican Republic general election. In his victory speech, Abinader said that the "changes that we've made are going to be irreversible", and that the "best is yet to come".[8]
He was the Executive Chairman of ABICOR Group, which has developed and operated major tourism projects in the Dominican Republic. This family group spearheaded the business plan that led to the establishment of Cementos Santo Domingo, where he served as Vice President.
He has been president of the Association of Hotels in thePuerto Plata area and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES).
He was recognized by theRhode Island General Assembly for his career in public service, education, and business. He also received acknowledgments from the City Hall of Boston and theMassachusetts Senate for his contributions to higher education, civic engagement, and community service.
Abinader was, along with Soraya Aquino, one of the two presidential candidates in 2016 who had not been born during the dictatorship ofRafael Trujillo (1930-1961).[15]Giuliani Partners, specificallyRudy Giuliani and John Huvane, advised Abinader in the campaign as security consultants.[16][17]
Abinader successfully ran for President in the 2020 election.[18]Rudy Giuliani and John Huvane once again advised Abinader in the campaign as security consultants.[16][19]
In August 2023, he announced his intention to seek presidential re-election, and in the May 19, 2024, election, he was re-elected with 57% of the votes for the 2024-2028 term. His two closest competitors wereLeonel Fernández of thePeople's Force party, and Abel Martínez of theDominican Liberation Party. They received 29% and 10% of the votes, respectively, in that election.[20][21]
In October 2021, Abinader wasnamed in thePandora Papers leak.[22] Prior becoming President, he filed a public declaration of assets stating that he had a net worth of 76 millionUS dollars.[citation needed]
Littlecot Inc. (created on 24 March 2011 and which he owns with his sister and brother). Abinader interviewed by the ICIJ said that Littlecot Inc. holds family property in the Dominican Republic.[citation needed]
Padreso SA (created on 8 January 2014, and in which his three siblings are shareholders). This company owns and manages shares in six other entities that own properties and extensions of the private university (also owned by his family).[citation needed]
Documents found in the Pandora Papers show that these two companies originally had bearer shares, not registered in the name of any particular person. It also shows that after in 2015, Panamanian law required companies to disclose the identity of the owners of their bearer shares, in 2018, a lawyer for the Abinaders filed a form with an offshore service company (Overseas Management Co. or OMC Group) listing Luis Abinader's siblings as shareholders of the companies, instead of the bearer.[citation needed]
OMC Group is also the service provider that created the company Offshore Dorado Asset Management Ltd. on 2 July 2004 in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands on behalf of Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. Once president, Abinader created the company Offshore Dorado.[citation needed]
Once president, Abinader declared these two companies (and at least seven other offshore companies under a revocable trust). His net worth was approximately US$70 million, according to a public declaration of assets he filed a month after being elected president in 2020.[citation needed]
The inauguration had a reduced number of guests due to the measures taken for the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the international guests was the Secretary of State of the United States,Mike Pompeo, who attended on behalf of President Donald Trump.[26]
He made the fight against illegal immigration one of his priorities. In February 2022, he began construction of a separation wall withHaiti, which will extend over 164 of the 380 kilometers of border.[27]
In February 2023, construction was started on a border wall that will cover the border with Haiti.[28][29] The project includes 70 watchtowers and 41 access gates for patrolling containing fiber optics for communications, movement sensors, cameras, radars and drones.[28][30] This project will be the second longest border wall in theAmericas, after theUS-Mexico wall.[29] Proposals for a wall came from several Dominican politicians, including Ramfis Trujillo, grandson of Dominican dictatorRafael Trujillo, and Abinader before becoming president.[31][28] The idea is supported by the vast majority of the Dominican population.[32] Dominican officials claim the wall will slow the illegal Haitian migration, the drug trade, as well as reduce the chance of gang violence in Haiti from spreading to the Dominican Republic.[30]
Despite efforts to reactivate the economy in the post-pandemic period, Abinader's administration has faced numerous criticisms.[33] Several economists have pointed out that, although there were successes in vaccination and some economic stimuli, the debt policy has been inefficient.[34][35] The significant increase in loans, without strong capital expenditure to boost the economy, could compromise future governments.[36]
Additionally, the policy of eliminating customs duties for certain imported products has been criticized, arguing that it has harmed domestic producers and led to the bankruptcy of many local businesses. These measures failed to control the prices of food and other basic products, and the national economy continued to slow down, with double-digit inflation and economic growth limited to 2% in 2023.[37][38][39]
U.S. Secretary of StateMike Pompeo was among those in attendance at Abinader's swearing-in ceremony.[24] Under Luis Abinader's leadership, the Dominican Republic is set to form stronger economic and diplomatic ties with the United States.[40] Under his administration, the Dominican Republic became one of the countries that, along with the US, voted to maintain thearms embargo on Iran.[41] He is close to theLima Group, which brings together nations in the Americas to oppose the Maduro regime and advocate for a return todemocracy in Venezuela.[42] On 24 February 2022, Abinader released a statement denouncingRussia's invasion of Ukraine.[43][44] In 2023, a dispute over water in theDajabón River led President Abinader to close theDominican Republic-Haiti border.[45]
The government of Luis Abinader has been questioned for the increase in the country's public debt, taking it fromUS$44.6 billion in 2020 to $54.8 bn by December 2023, which means that in 3 years (2021-2023) it increased by $10.2 bn.[46] This makes his government the one that has most indebted the country in absolute terms. Consolidated public debt along with the Central Bank debt ($19.9 bn in 2023) reached a total of $74.9 bn by December 2023.[47][48][49][50][51]
The management of Luis Abinader has continued the old practices of clientelism to gain popularity, spending billions of Dominican pesos on RD$1500 bonds, which are approximately 30 dollars.[52] These bonds, which are supposed to support families, have been labeled as an act of clientelism by the government.[53][54][55]
In a press conference, one of the main opposition parties, Fuerza del Pueblo, denounced through its legal team that the president had been given about 30 thousand cards of the 2023 Christmas bonus.[56]
Despite the high inflation rate experienced by the country and the devaluation of the Dominican peso against the US dollar (going from 53.30 per dollar to 56.50),[57][58] President Luis Abinader has maintained a popularity above 55% to this day.[59][60] He is also the second most popular president in Latin America, behind Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador.[61][62]
President Luis Abinader at the launch event for the Second Stage of Revitalization of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo. To the left of the President,Carolina Mejía (Mayor of the National District), and to the rightDavid Collado (Minister of Tourism).
Abinader has been married toRaquel Arbaje Soneh since 1995. She is the daughter of businesspersons Elías Arbaje Farah and Margarita Soneh, both ofLebanese descent. They have three children.[63]
^abPartlow, Joshua; Dawsey, Josh (20 February 2020)."Amid Ukraine swirl, Giuliani's work for candidate in Dominican Republic caused unease".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved22 February 2020.Since 2015, Giuliani has been hired by Abinader as a security consultant two times, according to Samuel Pereyra, an official in the Abinader campaign who managed the contracts. His most recent contract, for $75,000, was secured last June, Pereyra said, more than a year after Giuliani joined Trump's legal team.
^Núñez Núñez, Milcíades Humberto."Descendientes de Raymundo Núñez" [Raymundo Núñez's Descendants].Genealogy.com (in Spanish). Séptima generación. Archived fromthe original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved30 July 2014.
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Colombia:
Grand Collar of theOrder of Boyaca (29 April 2022)[64]
Portugal:
Grand Collar of theOrder of Prince Henry (23 March 2023)[65]
