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Dominicans behind Pan Am Games A Hamilton Beattie & Staff poll commissioned by Hoy newspaper in March shows that 65% of Dominicans support having the Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo in August 2003. 39% feel the Pan Am Games will cost a lot. 53% believe that the games will be economically beneficial for the country. Earlier this year, Bienvenido Solano, director of the Games, had said that nine out of every ten Dominicans were against the games. The Organizing Committee of the Pan Am Games has just begun last week a campaign to promote the Games locally. Posters can be seen along the 27 de Febrero and John F. Kennedy expressways. |
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IMF report on Dominican debt The International Monetary Fund has available for sale a report on The Dominican Republic: Stabilization, Structural Reform, and Economic Growth. The paper was issued 29 January 2002 and focuses on the effects of past and present public debt. The paper summarizes the authorities' stabilization efforts, how these efforts were subsequently reinforced by certain key reforms, and other related developments that help explain the remarkable performance of the Dominican Republic's economy in the 1990s when the country achieved one of the highest output growth rates in Latin America, combined with low inflation, and a much improved external debt profile. The publication also looks into past, present, and future debt-service payments, the nation’s external debt policy as well as tax reform and administration, the reforming of the budget process and redirecting public expenditure. It can be ordered for US$20. http://www.imf.org |
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Dominican lender checked for money laundering Diario Libre reports that the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria de España is under investigation by the Banco de España regarding the implication of 16 bank directors in supposed money laundering operations. The newspaper points out that since 2001, the BBVA has financed purchases of equipment for the Air Force, the Metropolitan Transport Authority, the fire department, Dominican Electricity Corporation, and the purchase of medical equipment for over US$85 million. The Banco de España is investigating the BBVA for not declaring US$198 million in funds until 2000. |
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HR Watch asks DR: Don’t demand Haitian IDs Human Rights Watch organization wants the Dominican government to stop demanding identification papers from the parents of children born to Haitians in the DR. In a document presented to the Dominican government, the organization says the Central Electoral Board should issue a directive making an exception for Haitians. Most Haitians living in Haiti and the Dominican Republic do not have legal documentation of any kind. The Haitian Constitution establishes that the children of Haitians are Haitians, regardless of where they are born. But very few Haitians have bothered to get Haitian nationality status for their children. And now, international organizations are championing the cause of their children getting Dominican nationality. The Human Rights Watch group was recently here to lobby the Dominican Republic to issue Dominican birth certificates to children of Haitian descent living in the DR. The official policy so far has been not to give Dominican nationality to offspring of undocumented or illegal Haitians who were supposedly born in the DR, based on the ambiguous clause in the Constitution that regards them as “in transit.” This is regardless of whether this transit period has lasted for many years. The main reason for this policy has been concerns over large-scale family reunifications that would boost the already high population of destitute Haitians to levels that would put an unbearable social cost on the nation. |
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No Dominican press, please Recently, local press criticized the visiting director of the Human Rights Watch organization, Jose Manuel Vivanco, for banning the Dominican media from a press conference held in Santo Domingo. He said that he only invited foreign press however several reporters who attended explained they represented local newspapers as well as foreign press organizations. When asking Manuel Jimenez, a Reuters correspondent and reporter for Hoy newspaper, to leave the meeting, Vivanco said the Dominican press did not convey the message he wanted to get across. |
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Sidestepping legal procedures Over the weekend, President Hipolito Mejia ordered Dominican nationality be granted to outstanding high school student Claubian Jean Jaques, who is the son of Haitian immigrants who enrolled the child in school without having any legal identification papers themselves. Claubian was honored by the Leonel Fernandez administration for outstanding performance in school. Despite reaching high school, he needs a birth certificate to get a high school diploma. His parents entered the DR without any legal documentation. President Mejia said Claubian is a unique case. But Sonia Pierre, who represents a group that promotes the rights of those of Haitian descent born in the DR, says she has many more cases of children born in the DR to undocumented Haitians pending at the Central Electoral Board (JCE). The JCE is the government body in charge of civilian registration. News commentator Orlando Gil says that the President may have set a bad precedent by sidestepping legal procedures to grant Dominican nationality to the boy. |
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Picking up the tab for Haitian births The director of the Cabral y Baez Hospital, the largest public hospital in Santiago, has denounced in the Listin Diario newspaper that the number of Haitians entering from Haiti to give birth in that hospital has increased significantly after the much-publicized creation of a committee to defend Haitians from deportation. Dr. Daniel Rivera said that 24 births out of 67 at his hospital last weekend were to Haitian mothers. He said that thousands of Haitians enter the DR illegally to arrive at emergency rooms and give birth at public hospitals at the expense of Dominican taxpayers. Dr. Rivera said that in the past 10% of those who give birth at the hospital have been Haitians. He said these births are more complicated because the mothers arrive without any previous medical consultation work. The news item says the hospital does not issue Dominican birth certificates to the children if their parents are not legal residents. Public hospitals in areas with large Haitian populations are said to use 30% of their budgets to treat Haitian immigrants. |
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Peggy leads in Hoy poll A Hamilton-Hoy newspaper poll done in March showed that if the election for mayor of Santo Domingo were held today, Peggy Cabral of the PRD would win with 37% of the vote. She is followed by Roberto Salcedo of the PLD with 35% and Ramon Perez Martinez with 8%. In the race for senator of the National District (Santo Domingo), Rafael (Fafa) Taveras leads with 31%, followed by Jose Tomás Perez of the PLD with 28% and Johnny Jones of the PRSC with 18%. In the race for senator of the Province of Santo Domingo, Ramon Alburquerque of the PLD leads with 27%, Victor Gomez Berges of the PRSC is second with 18% and Tonty Rutinel of the PRD is in third place with 17%. |
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Balaguer still most popular politician The Hamilton poll commissioned by Hoy newspaper shows that the most popular politician today is 95-year old former President Joaquin Balaguer, who rated 60% favorable and 39% unfavorable. Another former President, Leonel Fernandez, comes in second with 59% favorable opinion, and 39% unfavorable. President Hipolito Mejia is third, with 49% favorable and 49% unfavorable. And former Vice President and Senator for Santo Domingo, Jacinto Peynado, is fourth, with 47% favorable and 47% unfavorable. |
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Mountain climbers rescued The Dominican Army with the assistance of the US Army’s Southern Command and its MH 60 Black Hawk helicopter were finally able to rescue the 13 trekkers who were trapped in a canyon in the Cordillera Central. They were rescued Friday afternoon and seven of them were immediately flown to the Ramon de Lara Military Hospital in Santo Domingo. The others were sent the next day and all were sent home in 24 hours. The group of 10 men and three women were in the mountains for nine days, five more than planned. Colonel Francisco Antonio Ovalle, director of Armed Forces Operations (J3), warned that mountain climbers should go only with expert guides when hiking in less-traveled areas that don’t have well-marked trails. The group had plans to visit the perilous Valle Encantado and Loma El Pichon prior to taking the route out to Bonao to make it back to Santo Domingo. On Monday, the group called home for help using a cell phone. On Tuesday, a special team of soldiers trained for mountain operations (Sexto Batallon de Cazadores de Constanza) brought them food and supplies but was unable to remove them from the area which was described as a natural trap with a 1,000 meter drop under dense vegetation. Many in the group had foot injuries and could not handle the difficult terrain to make it back on foot. On Wednesday morning an Omaha MH-60 Black Hawk delivered more supplies and blankets. On Friday, the soldiers helped the hikers reach an area in Loma del Pichon where a clearing was made so that the US Southern Command helicopter could rescue the group, completing the mission by 5 pm. On Friday, seven were flown to the military hospital on a Dominican air force plane. The other six were flown to Santo Domingo the next day. |
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New Chilean ambassador 57-year-old Carlos Domingo Rubio Sandoval is Chile’s new ambassador to the DR. A graduate in psychology from the Universidad Catolica de Santiago de Chile, he has a masters degree from the University of Bonn. He has been an advisor to President Ricardo Lagos for the past 12 years. |
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Study in Spain The Fundacion Carolina, created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain, is advertising scholarships for Latin Americans in diverse areas of knowledge. They range from medical studies, to journalism, theater, law, economy and marketing, power management, liberal arts, port management, environmental studies and informatics. For more information, see http://www.fundacioncarolina.es |
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Beach development for Bani Listin Diario reports that the Fundacion para el Desarrollo de la Provincia Peravia, a Peravia province development association, has announced an investment of US$1 billion in Los Corbanitos beach area, near the southwestern city of Bani. Leo Perez Minaya, financial director for the foundation, said that in seven to 10 years three golf courses, four five-star hotels of 250 rooms, villas, condominiums and a marina for 400 boats will be built. The beach is located an hour west of Santo Domingo. |
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Tourism port for Puerto Plata A group of businessmen headed by Abraham Selman signed a concession with the Dominican government to invest US$25 million in a cruise ship terminal for Puerto Plata. The first phase of the project will be built near Punta Fortaleza. Initially a north side dock will be prepared, but eventually both the north and south side will be used for the ships. Selman, who is president of the Asociacion de Propietarios de Hoteles y Condominios de Playa Dorada, said the work will be completed by 2003. |
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Orchids exhibition The 30th Annual Orchid exhibition will take place 12-14 April at the National Botanical Gardens. It will be open from 9 am to 4 pm. The exhibition is organized by the Dominican Society of Orchideology, which promotes the study, cultivation and research of native species. |
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