Cabinet minister killed in office

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP):

The Dominican Republic’s minister of the environment and natural resources was shot and killed in his office on Monday by a close friend, the office of the president said in a statement.

Authorities said Orlando Jorge Mera was shot by Miguel Cruz, who has been detained. No further details were immediately available, and it wasn’t immediately clear if Cruz had an attorney.

“We express our deepest condolences,” the office of President Luis Abinader said.

Jorge comes from a powerful political family. He is the son of former Dominican President Salvador Jorge Blanco and his sister is a vice-minister in Abinader’s administration. Jorge’s son is a lawmaker for the Modern Revolutionary Party, of which he is a founding member.

Police and emergency officials swarmed the office of the environment and natural resources ministry in the capital of Santo Domingo and barred entry to it as mourners gathered nearby. Jorge’s office is located on the fourth floor of a building that also houses the Ministry of Tourism.

“We are troubled by the situation,” Jorge’s ministry said in a brief statement.

Bartolomé Pujals, executive director of the government’s Cabinet of Innovation, wrote that he lamented the killing.

“His death is a tragedy,” he said. “We Dominicans have to come together to achieve a pact for peace and peaceful coexistence. No more violence.”

Jorge was an attorney who was appointed minister of the environment and natural resources in August 2020.