American Express can once again be used in San Marino, and the political movement Domani – Motus Liberi (DML) is claiming credit for the outcome, while reopening political debate over the delays that preceded the service’s reactivation. In a statement released by its press office, the movement described the circuit’s return as good news for the country, but pointed the finger at what it called unjustified delays.
“After years of waiting, American Express can finally be used again in San Marino. This is good news for citizens, businesses, professionals and the entire tourism sector. But the situation raises an inevitable political question: why did we have to wait so long?” the statement reads.
According to Domani – Motus Liberi, “American Express had been ready for years,” but “for reasons that have never been fully clarified, the process remained stalled on the San Marino side,” resulting in “an inexplicable delay that penalized the country’s competitiveness, limiting its appeal to visitors, investors and economic operators.”
In the statement, the movement recalls the work carried out on this dossier during the previous legislature, claiming it took action to bring the matter back to the attention of the international payment network. “DOMANI – Motus Liberi worked on this dossier from the very start of the last legislature, striving to put the need to reactivate the service in San Marino back at the top of American Express’s agenda, achieving today a major result that at least partly resolves the issue. All of this was done while supporting international dialogue and bringing San Marino back into major financial networks, with the goal of making our Republic more modern, open and competitive. Meanwhile, others preferred to look away and pretend not to see. Today that vision has become reality, once again proving that we were right,” the statement continues.
The movement also expressed gratitude “to American Express and to American institutions for the excellent work carried out,” as well as “to Klirway for the technical support provided both on this occasion and previously, when, with a DOMANI – Motus Liberi representative leading the Department of Industry, the activation of new international payment systems in San Marino was secured.” The statement also highlights the need to continue working “to ensure that cards can be issued to San Marino citizens who are still unable to apply for one.”
Much of the statement is devoted to political criticism. “One question remains, however, that someone should have the decency to answer: what is the cost of the damage caused by years of inaction under Christian Democrat rule? How many opportunities have been lost, how many investments have slipped away?” the statement asks, extending its criticism to other strategic areas, citing “digital technology, cloud services, data centers, data protection and innovation” as examples of dossiers where, according to DML, the same pattern has repeated itself.
In its concluding section, the movement reaffirms its political approach and looks ahead to future challenges. “The facts speak for themselves: many of the most virtuous transformations currently underway stem from ideas we developed over time, channeling them into a medium- to long-term strategic path. We will keep looking forward, but it’s time for the mask to fall: DOMANI – Motus Liberi is feared because it has shown it has a vision and knows how to turn it into concrete action. Clearly, the Christian Democrats cannot allow that. But the price for this way of doing politics is paid by the country, by its citizens, by our young people,” the statement reads.
The statement closes with a call to the responsibilities of politics: “Good politics has a duty to put the collective interest first, without sacrificing it to short-term thinking or to the power-sharing logic of ‘politics as usual.’ DOMANI – Motus Liberi will continue to do so, with consistent and courageous decisions, and we ask all citizens not to be afraid to get involved in changing this broken system.”
