Santo Domingo.- The debate over political party switching once again surrounds the career of Angelita Peña following her recent criticisms against businessman and media personality Santiago Matías “Alofoke”. Her intervention has also placed under scrutiny a career marked by changes in organizations, support for candidates from rival projects, and positions in various Dominican administrations.
Peña has been linked to the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), the political project of Leonel Fernández, and, subsequently, the Government led by Luis Abinader.
His career has been interpreted by his critics within the phenomenon known as political defection, understood as the movement of leaders from one organization or project to another, especially when electoral circumstances and power correlations change.
One of the elements that draws the most attention in her career is that those movements have not necessarily distanced her from government structures. Over the years, she has held positions or maintained ties with administrations led by figures belonging to different political projects.
Political floor-crossing
Peña began his career linked to the PRD and held diplomatic positions during the Hipólito Mejía administration. However, before the 2004 presidential elections, he switched to supporting Leonel Fernández, the PLD candidate and Mejía’s main political opponent in those elections.
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Once within the PLD orbit, she was a candidate for deputy for the PLD in the 2006 congressional elections.
Your relationship with that organization would not be definitive either.
You can also read: Official payroll reveals RD$300 thousand salary of Angelita Peña
Years later, he approached the PRD again and even showed interest in obtaining a senate seat for Montecristi. Subsequently, amidst the internal divisions of that political organization, he distanced himself once again from PRD sectors and ended up supporting the then-presidential candidate Danilo Medina, of the PLD.
With Medina, it was once again integrated into state structures and she came to serve as vice minister linked to the Nuclear Energy area, a position from which she was replaced in 2018.
After leaving the Government, Peña changed his political landscape once again.
This time, he actively joined the efforts seeking the return of Leonel Fernández to the National Palace and led external sector initiatives that promoted the former president’s presidential aspirations.
During that period he also publicly questioned the political capacity of Luis Abinader.
The scenario changed again after the 2020 elections.
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With Abinader in the Presidency and the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) leading the Government, Peña ended up linking himself to the new administration headed by the leader he had previously questioned.
On October 30, 2021, through decree 684-21, María Altagracia de los Ángeles Peña Peña was appointed as a strategic advisor to the Executive Branch for the Directorate of Strategy and Government Communication. The appointment is recorded in the official decree of the Presidency.
In government payrolls, she has been reported with a gross remuneration of RD$300,000 per month for her duties as a strategic advisor.
Political defection and power
His journey thus presents a constant that fuels the debate on political defection: throughout different stages, he has supported parties, candidates, and projects that are at odds with each other, while managing to maintain ties with various spheres of power.
PRD with Hipólito Mejía; subsequently the PLD and Leonel Fernández; then Danilo Medina; once again Fernández’s project and, finally, an approach to the Government of Luis Abinader.
Peña herself has publicly defended her way of conducting herself in politics. In an interview granted in 2025, she claimed to have worked with Dominican governments since the era of Joaquín Balaguer and defined herself as a “woman of State.”
At another stage of his journey, he also led the Dominican Green Party. De Último Minuto later reported that Peña resigned from the presidency of that organization on April 30, 2026.
His history shows, more than a permanent adherence to certain party acronyms, a trajectory built around relationships with different political sectors and a sustained capacity to reposition himself in the face of changes in the power landscape.
The controversy with Alofoke
Peña’s political journey returns to the debate after he posted a video on Instagram with strong criticisms against Santiago Matías “Alofoke” and questions also directed at Dominicans under 50 years old.
“Fed up with Alofoke, but even more fed up with the cowardice of your generation”, expressed Peña at the beginning of an intervention in which she criticized the content consumed by children and adolescents and held different sectors of society responsible for allowing its expansion.
He also questioned the content model driven by Matías and closed his message with the expression: “Turn off the circus and turn on the dignity”.
The offensive against Alofoke positions Peña as a critical voice against the communicator and businessman.
At the same time, his statements have redirected attention toward his own trajectory and the relationship he has maintained for decades with different sectors of Dominican political power.
Changes in allies, organizations, and candidates are part of a journey that has spanned several administrations and continues to generate debate about the boundaries between political mobility, circumstantial alliances, and political defection.
