Expert warns DR must prepare for upward escalation due to Iran-Israel conflict

International affairs expert Alfredo de la Cruz warned that the Dominican Republic must prepare to face a possible crisis in the face of the war conflict that Iran is waging, since any outcome would be catastrophic for the economy, especially in the fuel market.

He affirmed that the issue of fuels is a reality for everyone, but that in the case of the Dominican Republic it takes on another dimension, since the situation of the dollar, added to fuels, causes a cascade effect on all commodities, which ends up directly affecting the citizen’s pocket.

During his participation in the program Fuera de Récord, produced by Elvis Lima for Canal 14 TV, De la Cruz stated that, faced with this reality, it is necessary for the Government to consider increasing our storage capacity —which currently stands at around 30 days— and explore the possibility of building tanks in other areas or even outside the national territory to acquire fuels in the future.

“Opposition parties should not see this as an opportunity to gain advantages, but as a country issue. No matter who is governing: in situations like this, all living forces must unite in a single direction, in order to create public policies aimed at anticipating those possible attacks.”

De la Cruz explained that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which represents the majority of energy consumption in homes and public transport, can be purchased in the long term with greater price predictability, but warned that the country refines very little gasoline, which makes it more vulnerable to the ups and downs of the international market.

Furthermore, he questioned whether the United States’ bombings in the so-called Midnight Hammer operation had destroyed the three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Although he acknowledged the might of the US troops with the deployment of some 125 aircraft — including B-2 bombers, which dropped powerful 13,600-kilo bunker-buster bombs on said uranium enrichment plants — there are elements that, in his opinion, are still not very clear.