The Dominican Republic’s environmental minister is killed
Orlando Jorge Mera, the son of a former Dominican president and the country’s minister of the environment and natural resources, was shot and killed Monday inside his office.
Jorge’s death was confirmed by both his law firm, which referred to his alleged killer as “a childhood friend,” and the office of Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader. Abinader’s spokesman identified the 55year-old Dominican minister’s killer as Miguel Cruz, “a personal friend” of Jorge’s who is currently in police custody.
Several sources told the Miami Herald that Cruz is the son of a former Dominican general.
“I deeply regret the death of my good friend, our minister, Orlando Jorge Mera,” Abinader said later in a tweet. He also offered his “sincere condolences” to Jorge’s wife, Patricia Villegas, who is the Dominican Republic’s ambassador to Brazil, and his children.
Jorge’s family issued a statement Monday saying that he had been shot multiple times. They said they fully trusted authorities to get to the bottom of the murder — and asked for privacy as they grieve Jorge’s loss. Family members said they forgave the “author of the crime,” whom they identified as Jorge’s “childhood friend.”
“One of the great legacies of our Orlando was that he didn’t hold a grudge,” said the statement.
And while Dominican authorities have identified the minister’s killer, the man’s motive remains a mystery. The explanation for Jorge’s killing is under investigation, said presidential spokesman Homero Figueroa. Figueroa called Jorge’s death “a terrible loss.”
“The information that we have received so far indicates that in the morning hours of today, the minister of the environment lost his life when he was attacked in his office with a firearm,” the presidential spokesman said.
In a statement on Twitter, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources authorities said they were “dismayed by the situation” that unfolded Monday morning. The statement added that the ministry had few, if any, details to share concerning the killing.
Jorge’s father was José Salvador Omar Jorge Blanco, who served as president of the Dominican Republic from 1982 to 1986 after running as a candidate for the Dominican Revolutionary Party, or PRD. Jorge Mera previously served as general secretary of the Dominican Revolutionary Youth, an extension of his father’s PRD party. He later used the position to catapult himself as PRD secretary general, the party said Monday in a statement expressing its “deep sorrow” over the minister’s death.
On his official social
media accounts, Jorge identified himself as a founding member of the governing Modern Revolutionary Party, which Abinader heads.
The late Dominican minister was born in Santiago de los Caballeros and was active on social media. He had more than 42,000 followers on his Instagram account, as well as 148,500 followers on Twitter, where his account continued to gain followers in the hours after his
death.
A former administrative law professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and of the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), he was an expert on intellectual property. According to his biography, he headed the Dominican Telecommunication Institute, known as INDOTEL, with the title of secretary of state, in the government of President Hipólito Mejía from 2000
to 2004.
In addition to his wife, Jorge is survived by his daughter, Patricia Victoria Jorge Villegas, and son, Orlando Salvador Jorge Villegas, who is a member of the Modern Revolutionary Party’s Chamber of Deputies. He also is survived by his sister, Dilia Leticia Jorge Mera.