Hipólito Mejía was born 60 years ago in the small northern town of
Gurabo, best known for its caves that are said to resemble the
grottoes of Lourdes in France. He went on to agricultural college
and graduated as an agronomist. Mejía studied at the University of
North Carolina, where he specialized in tobacco processing. When he
returned to the Dominican Republic, he joined the country’s Tobacco
Institute and became its president aged 24. A year later, he went
to work for Rohm&Haas, the US agrochemical company. He later
joined Industrias Linda, a local agribusiness company in the
Dominican Republic.
Mejía became involved in politics early as a member of the
Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). He entered government in 1978
when he served as agriculture secretary for four years. He returned
to business in 1982, working as an agricultural consultant. He
maintained his ties to the PRD and became one of the party’s vice
presidents. In 1990, Mejía was the party’s vice presidential
candidate, but Joaquín Balaguer, the man who dominated politics in
the Dominican Republic for decades, twice defeated his ticket.
Balaguer served as president seven times. Mejía finally won the
presidency last year, ending his party’s 14-year losing streak.