CARIBBEAN

7 domains mapped · Code: DO

These are jurisdiction-specific research-progress records. They expose first moves, likely actors, and institutional infrastructure where mapped; they are not a claim that every country has a finished statutory memo for all 61 domains.

Canonical domain beta-W from Mining & Rare Earth Extraction. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Pueblo Viejo gold mine (Barrick Gold) generates cyanide and mercury contamination risks. When per-mine water quality and health data is published alongside production revenue, W becomes computable.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Tobacco. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Dominican Republic is a large exporter of premium hand-rolled cigars, with tobacco exports hitting a record US$1.36 billion in 2025 and the sector employing more than 110,000 people, so the industry has the political weight to block strong domestic tobacco control. The export trade can keep generating jobs and tax revenue even as the country tightens domestic point-of-sale, advertising, and smoking-area rules, because the welfare harm is concentrated in domestic consumption while the value is in exports — the two can be separated without killing the cluster.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Coal Combustion. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The 752 MW Punta Catalina coal plant, 99.2% owned by the state utility holding (CDEEE/Fonper), supplies up to roughly 35% of national electricity demand, and by 2020 had released around 400,000 tonnes of fly ash containing arsenic and selenium into the surrounding environment. Because the asset is state-controlled and the country has abundant solar, wind, and gas potential, the government can decide the retirement path itself rather than waiting on a private owner.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Plastics and Petrochemical Waste. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Dominican Republic has the second-highest concentration of beach litter in the Caribbean, with about 25% of households lacking waste collection, and recurring garbage waves dumped 30 tonnes of plastic onto a single Santo Domingo beach in three days. Because the country's US$21 billion tourism economy depends directly on clean beaches, the harm and the economic incentive to fix it sit in the same place, which makes reform politically saleable.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Tax Havens and Offshore Finance. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Dominican Republic's large tourism, real-estate, and cash-intensive economy, with strong cross-border flows from remittances and the casino sector, creates persistent money-laundering and illicit-flow exposure that drains public revenue and distorts property markets. Because the country already has an anti-money-laundering statute (Law 155-17) and belongs to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, the supervisory tools exist and the gap is enforcement, which is fixable from inside.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Gambling. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:More than 60 casinos operate in Dominican resorts such as Punta Cana and Puerto Plata alongside a wide network of lotteries and betting shops, and the cash-heavy sector is both a money-laundering channel and a source of household financial harm in lower-income communities. Because casinos and lotteries are licensed by the state, the government can attach loss limits, self-exclusion, and anti-laundering conditions directly to those licenses.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Ultra-Processed Food. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Rising retail sales of ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks are driving obesity and diabetes across the Dominican Republic, loading the public health system with non-communicable-disease costs. The Ministry of Public Health already published a draft front-of-package warning-label regulation (EFAN) in December 2024, so the reform is mid-flight and finishing it is the binding step.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

© 2026 Erik Postnieks · Independent Researcher · Salt Lake City