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Danilo Medina Sánchez is a politician from the Dominican Republic. He was the presidential candidate of the Dominican Liberation Party in 2000, and was defeated by Hipólito Mejía.

[edit] Early Years to 1990

Medina was born in Arroyo Cano, San Juan de la Maguana, in the southwest of the Dominican Republic. He is the oldest of eight brothers born of Juan Pablo Medina and Amelia Sánchez. He graduated in 1972 as a chemical engineer from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Since he was 18 years old he was a student leader, founding the San Juan de la Maguana branch of the Frente Revolucionario Estudiantil Nacionalista at the UASD. When Professor Juan Bosch founded the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana in 1973, Medina joined him. He studied a second career in economics at Instituto Tecnológico Santo Domingo (INTEC), and graduated magna cum laude in 1984. He has been a member of the Central Committee of the PLD since 1983. In 1986 election he was elected a deputy in Congress. In 1987, he married psychologist Cándida Montilla and has three daughters, Sybelis, Vanessa and Ana Paula.

[edit] Career During the 1990s and 2000

As president of the Chamber of Deputies in the National Congress (1990-94), he was a key figure in congressional negotiations that led to the resolving of the 1994 political impasse. In that year, a close finish between Joaquín Balaguer and José Francisco Peña Gómez brought about a major conflict, as one side accused the other of fraud. The conflict was resolved with a pact that instituted separate presidential and congressional elections, the need for a candidate to receive 50%+1 of the vote to win in a first round, and prohibited presidential re-election. The agreement eventually worked in favor of the PLD, which won the presidential in the 1996 election, with Leonel Fernández defeating José Francisco Peña Gómez in a second round. Danilo Medina is considered the PLD leading political strategist and negotiator. As such, he was the one of the brains behind the presidential campaign of today President Fernández. He was appointed Secretary of the Presidency in 1996 and was one of the President's closest aides. He was the presidential candidate of the Dominican Liberation Party in 2000, and was defeated by Hipólito Mejía.

As President Fernández acceded to a second term, Danilo Medina was once again appointed Secretary of the Presidency and considered second in command on internal corridors of Government. As a new election approaches in 2008, Danilo Medina is considered the main competition for President Fernández, as he is considered by some to have complete control of the Official Government Party, the PLD. Because of this, he resigned from office on November 8, 2006 in order to start his presidential campaign.

After running what was considered a successful campaign under the slogans "Ahora Es" and "Lo Mejor Para Todos"("Now Is the Time" and "The Best for Everybody") Danilo Medina was eventually defeated by President Leonel Fernández in the May 6, 2007 PLD congress to elect the party's candidate for the 2008 presidential election. Since its foundation the PLD had maintained an implicit non re-election policy, but President Fernández changed that allowing him to campaign against Medina from the Presidential Palace and opt for a second consecutive term in power (his third).

In the internal PLD vote Danilo Medina obtained 28.45% of the votes against President Fernández' 71.55%[1]. Minor irregularities were confirmed during the election process[2]. In the evening of May 6, 2007, Danilo Medina made a brief public appearance saying he had been "beaten by the state" (in reference to the fact that government resources had been used to suppress his candidacy and to promote that of Fernández).

Subsequently Danilo Medina and his supporters maintained a low profile. He is expected to reappear politically in 2009 in order back his followers in the 2010 local and congressional elections. He is also considered the most likely contender for the PLD candidacy in the 2012 Dominican Presidential Elections.

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