Beneficiaries of the FEDA’s “Return to the Countryside” program also appear linked to the institution

The analysis of the beneficiaries of the “Return to the Countryside” program also identified people who are currently linked to the Special Fund for Agricultural Development, the institution responsible for the execution of the program. One of those cases is Aurora Altagracia Aponte Then, who today appears on the FEDA payroll with a monthly salary of RD$40,000. In the tracked public payrolls corresponding to the period in which the livestock deliveries were made, his name does not appear holding a position in that institution. Before 2020, he served as a councilor in the Ayuntamiento de Guerra and later, in 2022, he appeared as an assistant to the mayor in that same council. The analysis also identified two members of the Army who received livestock within the program and who record income linked to FEDA. Alcibíades Almánzar Hernández earns RD$34,346 monthly in the Army and also registered RD$10,000 in FEDA. According to the documents reviewed, he received two cows.

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Pedro Villar Báez receives RD$34,346 in the Army, RD$15,000 in the Ministry of Defense and also appeared with income in the FEDA. According to the list of beneficiaries, he received a cow. It was not possible to verify whether these military personnel were already performing functions in the FEDA at the time the cattle were delivered because the payroll of the military personnel corresponding to the period prior to 2023 is not published on the institutional portal. For Wandelpool, when people linked to the institutional ecosystem of the agricultural sector participate as beneficiaries, advantages can be generated over other producers. “Those who are part of the institutional ecosystem may find out about programs earlier or have greater access to processes. That can affect the principle of competition and participation,” he explained.