Dominican Electoral Board Spent Over 2 Million Pesos on Two Members' Spain Trip for Cybersecurity Program

The Dominican Republic's Central Electoral Board (JCE) allocated at least 2,033,150 pesos, equivalent to over 203 minimum public sector salaries, for two of its members to travel to Spain. The mission included participation in an international cybersecurity program.

Hirayda Fernández and Samir Chami Isa traveled to León from July 12 to July 26, 2025. Their stay was four days longer than the Cybersecurity Summer BootCamp, which ran from July 14 to July 24. The annual event aims to strengthen capabilities in preventing and responding to cyber threats and crimes, targeting professionals in cybersecurity, including public officials.

Each JCE member received $12,000 in per diem, at a rate of $800 daily for the 15 days recorded by the JCE. Airfare costs were additional: $4,649.74 for Fernández and $4,644.53 for Chami Isa. The total per diem for both amounted to $24,000 (1,464,000 pesos), with airfare costing another $9,294.27 (567,950 pesos).

The cost of the mission was higher as other JCE officials also attended the event: Ángel Valentín Díaz, Director of Civil Security; Ana Margarita Gómez Pontón, Deputy Director of Institutional Management Monitoring; and Brigadier General Juan Carlos Jiménez, Deputy Chief of the Electoral Military Police. According to the Spanish government, the Cybersecurity Summer BootCamp gathered over 500 experts from nearly 30 countries in León, offering about 200 hours of advanced training.

Despite the significant expenditure, the report presented by the Dominican delegation to the JCE Plenary did not establish the concrete benefits derived from the mission for the country or the institution. The document merely noted that the Plenary