Luis Abinader

Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona (born 12 July 1967) is a Dominican economist and politician who is the current President-elect of the Dominican Republic. He served as the Modern Revolutionary Party candidate for President of the Dominican Republic in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.

Abinader was born in Santo Domingo on July 12, 1967. His parents are from the Cibao region, his mother is Rosa Sula Corona Caba, a white Dominican of Canarian colonial lineage from the province of La Vega. His father is the businessman and political leader José Rafael Abinader, a Dominican of Lebanese origin and a native of the Monte Cristi province.

Abinader did his secondary education at the Colegio Loyola (Spanish: Loyola High School), now Instituto Politécnico Loyola; He graduated in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (Spanish: Santo Domingo Institute of Technology). He did postgraduate studies in Project Management at Hult International Business School (at the time named Arthur D. Little Institute) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also studied Corporate Finance and Financial Engineering at Harvard University and Advanced Management at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

He was elected vice president of the Dominican Revolutionary Party in its 2005 National Convention.

He is currently Executive Chairman of ABICOR Group, which has developed and operated major tourism projects in the country. This family group led the business plan of what is today the company Cementos Santo Domingo, of which he is Vice President.

He has been president of the Association of Hotels of Sosúa and Cabarete and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES).

He is member of the Board of Directors of the O&M University's Foundation.

He was recognized by the Rhode Island General Assembly for his career in public service, education, and business. He also received acknowledgments from the City Hall of Boston and the Massachusetts Senate for his contributions to higher education, civic engagement, and community service.

Abinader was the vice-presidential candidate of the Dominican Revolutionary Party in the 2012 election and in 2005 was pre-candidate for senator from the province of Santo Domingo.

2016 presidential election

He was the presidential candidate of the Dominican Humanist Party and the Modern Revolutionary Party for the past general elections on 15 May 2016.

Abinader was, along with Soraya Aquino, one of the two presidential candidates in 2016 who had not been born during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961). Giuliani Partners, specifically Rudy Giuliani and John Huvane, advised Abinader in the campaign as security consultants.

2020 presidential election

Abinader successfully ran for President in the 2020 election. Rudy Giuliani and John Huvane once again advised Abinader in the campaign as security consultants.

Abinader will be the first Dominican president born after the Trujillo dictatorship, and the first elected president to have not lived during the dictatorship since Ramón Cáceres, assassinated in 1911.

Abinader is married to Raquel Arbaje Soni, the daughter of businesspersons Eduardoand Margarita Soni, both of Lebanese descent. They have three children: Esther Patricia, Graciela Lucía, and Adriana Margarita.

On June 11, 2020, Abinader announced that he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19.

Ancestry