Statesman Víctor Gómez Bergés dies at 82

Former diplomat and former judge of the Constitutional Court (TC) Víctor Gómez Bergés died at 82.

Several political personalities have already expressed their regret at the death of this public man.

From a very young age, Bergés was a statesman.

In 1970, at barely 30 years of age, he was appointed Secretary of State for Education, Fine Arts, and Cults; Two years later, on February 25, 1972 (his 32nd birthday), he became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the youngest Chancellor in the history of our country.

Also, he was the first Dominican was nominated for the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS), a position he lost when he needed a single vote after seven rounds of voting.

In 1976 he was appointed Secretary of State Without Portfolio. In 1977 he was appointed Secretary of State for Finance (today the Ministry of Finance) and in 1978 as Secretary of State for Industry and Commerce. At the end of 1978, he assumed the Senate of Puerto Plata and was the Spokesman of the Majority Block of the Senate until 1982.

In 1983 he fell out with Balaguer. President Salvador Jorge Blanco appointed him as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic in the Vatican, before the Holy See, before Pope John Paul II, and concurrently in Greece and Cyprus. He returned to the country in 1985, and he was expelled from the Social Christian Reform Party (PRSC) for maintaining his confrontation with Balaguer.

Then, around 1988, they reconciled. President Balaguer appointed him as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Dominican Electricity Corporation (CDE) and later as Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Argentina and concurrent in Paraguay. In 1993, President Balaguer appointed him as Ambassador to Haiti, but then the Coup d’état occurred in the neighboring nation, and he could not assume such a position.

In 1994 he was Head of the Campaign for the re-election of Balaguer for the Eastern Zone of the country. In August of that same year, he assumed the Executive Directorate of the Industrial Development Corporation, an institution known today as Pro Industria. In 1995 he competed for the Presidential Candidacy of the PRSC with Jacinto Peynado, Carlos Morales Troncoso, Juan Arístides Taveras Guzmán, Caonabo Javier Castillo, Ángel Lockward and Pedro del Monte Urraca. He came in third with about 11% of the votes cast. He later joined Peynado’s campaign, but the PLD won those elections in the second round with the support of Balaguer and the PRSC.

In 1996 he left the Government and dedicated himself to practicing his profession, leading his law firm, “Bufete Gómez Bergés,” on Calle Federico Geraldino corner Av. Paseo de los Locutores in Santo Domingo. He also devoted himself to giving conferences, writing works of a historical and social nature, and teaching as a Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM). In 2000, then President Hipólito Mejía, at the request of former President Joaquín Balaguer, presented him as Deputy of the Dominican Republic before the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), a position he held until 2004.

From that year on, he dedicated himself more enthusiastically to researching, reading, and writing opinion articles. Although he continued to pursue his career as a lawyer, his passion was to continue writing and publishing his memoirs, collected in two volumes, under the title “Balaguer and I, History.”

As a writer, his intellectual work has 11 titles: Agro-industry, an essential factor for the development of our towns; The Causes of Two Defeats; Only the truth; Reliefs, Discourses, Experiences and Opinions; Social Capitalism vs. Fierce Liberalism; Joaquín Balaguer, Member of the Argentine Academy of Letters; Globalization and Misery; Balaguer and I, History; Hidden Truths of the Government of Juan Bosch and the April War; The Immortal Pope; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Constitution; and has received prizes and recognitions not only for the success in sales of his books but also for the quality of his writings. He has received the highest decorations from 14 countries, including the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez, and Mella in the degree of Great Cross, Plaque of Silver.

During the years 2009, 2010, and 2011, he expressed his opinions, analysis, and comments from Monday to Friday through the Program “El Gobierno de la Tarde” on the Z 101 FM Station until December 2011, at the age of 70, he was elected by the National Council of the Magistracy as Judge of the Constitutional Court, High Court created through the Constitutional Reform of 2010, a position he held until December 11 of the last year 2018. He has been a Public Official without interruption for more than 56 years. He served as Secretary of State -equivalent to Minister- of 7 crucial government institutions. Chancellor and Ambassador to 6 States. Senator, Deputy to PARLACEN, and Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic.