Orlando Jorge Mera

Orlando Jorge Mera (22 November 1966 – 6 June 2022) was a Dominican Republic politician, television host and producer, environmental manager, and lawyer, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources from 16 August 2020 until his assassination on 6 June 2022. He previously served as Director-General of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications. He was a member of the Modern Revolutionary Party.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Jorge and the second or maternal family name is Mera.

Orlando Jorge Mera
Minister of Environment and Natural Resources
In office
16 August 2020 – 6 June 2022
Preceded byÁngel Estévez
Succeeded byRaquel Peña de Antuña (acting)[1]
Director-General of INDOTEL
In office
16 August 2000 – 16 August 2004
Preceded byFrancisco Frías Lara
Succeeded byJosé Alfredo Rizek
Personal details
Born22 November 1966
Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Died6 June 2022(2022-06-06) (aged 55)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Manner of deathAssassination by gunshot
NationalityDominican
Political partyModern Revolutionary Party (2014–2022)
Other political
affiliations		Dominican Revolutionary Party (prior 2014)
Spouse
​
(m. 1991)​
Children2, including Orlando
Parents
Occupationpolitician, television personality
Professionlawyer

Early life and education

Orlando Jorge Mera was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic on 22 November 1966.[2] His parents were Salvador Jorge Blanco and Asera Altagracia Mera Checo, President and First Lady of the Dominican Republic from 1982 to 1986.[3]

Jorge Mera studied at the San Ignacio de Loyola school, graduating in 1984. In 1991, he received a degree in law, summa cum laude, from the Pontifical Catholic University Mother and Teacher (PUCMM). He was a professor of Media Law, Administrative Law and Introduction to Law, both at PUCMM and at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE).[3][4]

Career

Jorge Mera was a coordinator of various permanent commissions of the Senate of the Dominican Republic from 1998 to 2000. He was also the coordinator of the National Commission for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, representing the country at the world stage in this field.[4]

From 2000 to 2004, during the Hipólito Mejía administration, he served as Director-General of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (INDOTEL), the country's regulatory body for telecommunications.[3] He was also a member of the negotiating team in international trade talks that led to the signing of the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement in 2004.[4][5]

Also in 2004, he began producing and hosting his weekly talk show Líderes TV (Leaders TV). He analyzed current national and international issues and interviewed newsmakers and government leaders on television every Sunday morning for more than 18 years.[6]

He was a member of the Dominican Revolutionary Party and served as its general secretary.[5] He later became a founding member of the Modern Revolutionary Party in 2014,[3] and served as the party's acting president between 2015 and 2019.[4]

Jorge Mera was appointed as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic in August 2020 by then President-elect Luis Abinader.[7] Upon taking office, he vowed to work for the "responsible use of natural resources, to protect ecosystems and slash pollution",[8] with a focus on enforcement of rules and regulations.[7] By the time he was assassinated in 2022, more than 2,000 individuals and companies had been brought to justice for violating environmental laws.[9]

Assassination

Jorge Mera was assassinated by Miguel Cruz, a construction businessman (whose company extracted stone materials from rivers) and owner of an armory who was affected by Jorge Mera's strict environmental policies against the depredation of rivers.[3][9] Jorge Mera was shot to death in his office at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in Santo Domingo on 6 June 2022.[10][11][12] Cruz confessed to a local priest after killing Jorge Mera and was arrested in the church.[10][13] They were childhood friends, since Cruz's father, Major General Fausto Miguel Cruz, was a leader in the Dominican Air Force during the presidency of Jorge Blanco, Jorge Mera's father.[3][9][14][15]

Dominican President Luis Abinader decreed three days of national mourning.[16]

The Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Raquel Peña de Antuña, acted as Minister of the Environment until the next minister was appointed by the President.[1]

On 26 April 2023, his assassin was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum penalty in the Dominican Republic.

Personal life and family

Jorge Mera was married to Patricia Villegas, ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Brazil, and they had one son, Orlando Jorge Villegas (deputy), and one daughter, Patricia Victoria Jorge Villegas (a nun of the Heralds of the Gospel).[3] His sister Dilia Leticia Jorge Mera is the Dominican Deputy Minister of Innovation, Transparency and Citizen Attention.[9][17]

He was a noted beekeeper.[4][18]

References
  1. "Vice assumes Environment provisionally". latin-american.news. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022. Through decree 321-22, of this Thursday, June 16, 2022, President Luis Abinader ordered that the Vice President of the Republic, Raquel Peña, be provisionally in charge of the Ministry of the Environment. The decree establishes that such functions will be exercised in addition to her constitutional powers in an honorary manner, and until the head of said ministry is appointed.
  2. GrupoRPP (6 June 2022). "Orlando Jorge Mera, un abogado dedicado a la política". Diario Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. "Asesinaron al ministro de Medio Ambiente de República Dominicana". El Nacional (in Spanish). AFP. 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. "Biografía de Orlando Jorge Mera, ministro de Medio Ambiente". El Día (in Spanish). 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  5. "PRM rinde homenaje póstumo a memoria de Orlando Jorge Mera" [PRM pays posthumous tribute to the Memory of Orlando Jorge Mera]. Nuevo Partido PRM (in Spanish). Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). 9 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  6. Frías, Jeury (6 June 2022). "Orlando Jorge Mera, el hijo de un expresidente que apostó al liderazgo en televisión – Por más de 18 años Orlando Jorge Mera se puso al frente de las cámaras con su programa de entrevistas" [Orlando Jorge Mera, the son of a former president who bet on leadership on television – For more than 18 years Orlando Jorge Mera was in front of the cameras with his talk show]. Diario Libre (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  7. "Dominican Republic Environment-designee vows enforcement". Dominican Today. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  8. "Dominican Republic minister shot dead in office". France 24. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  9. "Asesinado a tiros el ministro de Medio Ambiente de República Dominicana". El País (in Spanish). 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. Adames, Martin (6 June 2022). "Cabinet minister in Dominican Republic slain in his office". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022. Authorities said Orlando Jorge Mera was shot by Fausto Miguel de Jesús Cruz de la Mota, who was later arrested at a church dozens of blocks away after telling a priest he committed a crime and handed over a gun to him. ... Jorge, a lawyer, was appointed minister of the environment and natural resources in August 2020
  11. "Dominican environment minister shot dead in his office". Reuters. 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  12. "Dominican Republic minister shot dead in office". BBC News. 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  13. "Dominican Republic minister killed over permits: Report". www.aljazeera.com. 9 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022. Cruz was arrested after confessing the crime to a priest at a local church. Authorities later seized Cruz's car, finding a 9mm Uzi with two 30-round magazines and $2,000 in cash.
  14. Adames, Martin (8 June 2022). "Documents: Dominican minister slain over denied permits". AP NEWS. Retrieved 14 June 2022. Cruz is the son of Maj. General Fausto Miguel Cruz, who served as commander of the Dominican Republic's Air Force from 1988 to 1990...
  15. "Orlando Jorge Mera, Miguel Cruz and 6 essential keys to understand the case". DominicanToday. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022. Jorge Mera and Miguel Cruz were childhood friends. ... "Miguel is my friend, Miguel is my brother, he is my brother, why security?" were the words the minister addressed to two of his employees and a member of his security corps before disappearing through his office doors without knowing that he would perish there.
  16. Hauteville, Jean-Michel (9 June 2022). "Dominican environment minister shot dead in his office". Le Monde. Fort-de-France. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  17. Jiménez, Karina (9 June 2022). "Dilia Leticia pide acompañen a la familia Jorge Mera con oraciones, amor y buenas energías". Diario Libre (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  18. Quaz, Nick (7 June 2022). "Orlando Jorge Mera: 'A titan' who liked running, cycling and beekeeping". The Gal Times. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  • Lideres TV, a television program hosted and produced by Orlando Jorge Mera for 18 years
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