politics

Millions spent on election

Over the past three months, Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD) candidates Balbina Herrera, Juan Carlos Navarro and Laurentino Cortizo have spent a combined $1.4 million.

This data was compiled by the company Ibope Time, which monitored campaign spending on advertising. The company said that it has not yet finished tabulating the spending for August.

Navarro spent the bulk of the money, more than $900,000. Herrera spent $450,000 while Cortizo, considered a longshot to win this Sunday's primary, spent just $76,000.

From January until May, Navarro spent $1.1 million, while Herrera spent $450,000 during the same period.

Television advertising is where the candidates decided to spend the bulk of their money, followed by print advertising. Remaining funds were invested in billboards and radio advertisements.

The campaigns have been criticized both for the amount being spent on the primaries and the fact that political donations remain secret. There have been calls to impose limits on spending and to shorten the campaign period.

Previously, such measures have been defeated by the Asamblea Nacional.

Ricardo Laviery, a spokesman for the Navarro campaign, said that such advertising helps to promote a candidate's agenda and benefits the country's media and advertising-related businesses.