Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Argentina's president Cristina Kirchner have both announced their attendance at the Rio Group Summit Conference next week. The XX Summit of the Rio Group will be held in Santo Domingo with President Leonel Fernandez giving the keynote speech. The Rio Group will bring together the heads of state and the heads of governments from most South, Central and North American countries.
This past weekend the Santo Domingo Metro took 300 passengers for a 14-minute ride from one end of the tracks to the other. The ride was part of a process in which engineers from France, Spain and Germany will certify whether or not the Metro system is ready to enter into service. Of course, all eyes are focused on 27 February, the date when President Fernandez has promised to take Congress members on a ride. According to a note from the Transport Reorganization Office (OPRET), representatives from the Madrid Metro system, the Madrid transport authorities and technicians from Germany and France have arrived to carry out the certification process. The experts will present President Fernandez with a report on their evaluation of the system.
The possibility of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with neighboring Haiti is stirring a lot of enthusiasm in government and commercial circles. The National Council for Private Business (CONEP), the Young Entrepreneurs Association (ANJE) and the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Melanio Paredes, all expressed approval for such a deal. According to El Caribe, Conep president Lisandro Macarrulla emphasized the importance of a market such as Haiti for Dominican businesses, since it can be served by land routes. He warned, however, that the relationship between Haiti and the European Union needed to be analyzed. Melanio Paredes said that business with Haiti was worth some US$700 million, and pointed out that most of the obstacles to further trade would be eliminated.
Ignacio Mendez, the president of the Federation of Industrial Associations (FAI), says that because of the intense election campaign now under way, much of the pending investment in local projects is stalled due "to the uncertainty" surrounding the process. Mendez says that the politicking that goes on during the election campaign affects new investment initiatives, particularly increases in working capital. Mendez told the Hoy reporter Aleida Plasencia that during election time investments "scurry away" due to the uncertainties involved. He said, "We are waiting to see what happens."
Juan Hubieres, the bearded transport union leader, is in the midst of some complicated election maneuvers. In an article in Hoy newspaper, he is quoted as saying that three different sources have offered to exonerate his union from the payment of RD$500 million it owes on vehicles acquired under various government-sponsored programs. The "quid", of course, is publicly backing Leonel Fernandez in his re-election efforts. Apparently one of the key issues is the fact that the vehicles were purchased when the dollar was quoted at 16:1 on the open exchange market, and today it is at RD$33.86, according to the Central Bank. Hubieres also mentioned the fact that the offers came after he openly questioned the disbursal of tax-free diesel fuel under another government plan to keep down the cost of public transportation, and the union leader said that his call for this fuel to be provided to Fenatrano members was not subject to any political negotiations or support of the re-election bid.
In another article, in Diario Libre, Hubieres told reporters that he would give his personal support and that of his own group to a re-election bid, but that he would not oblige Fenatrano to do the same. Letters from the Fenatrano leader to the Minister without Portfolio, Miguel Mejia, prove that there had been meetings and exchanges of memos about a possible electoral deal. The copies that Hubieres gave to Diario Libre indicated that such an alliance would have pushed hard for re-election.
The Consumer Rights Foundation wants the Dominican Republic to obey the Hydrocarbon Law (112-00), and thereby adjust the current prices of fuels, which have continued to increase for the third week in a row. The key issue is to index the Dominican price of gasoline to the true cost of the petroleum purchased. According to the foundation, "we know that the fuels we acquire have risen in cost on the international markets, but not so much as West Texas, which does not correspond to the source of the petroleum purchased for the local market, and therefore it is necessary that the authorities apply Law 112-00 correctly". The foundation called for a monthly publication to report on the new prices, and to explain why there might be changes in the price, not just a simple press release.
Of course, this news coincided with the report that gasoline prices have risen for the third week in a row, but the price of propane gas has remained at RD$59.95 for more than a month. Premium rose by RD$3.50, and is now at RD$170.60 per gallon, an all-time high. Regular gasoline increased by RD$3.90 and now costs RD$160.20 per gallon. Diesel fuel also went up and now sells for RD$140.30 a gallon.
Yet another incident has marred the already tense situation along the border near the city of Dajabon. This time, a businessman, Teofilo Reyes de Aza, was seized by alleged drug traffickers while on a business trip to Haiti. According to initial reports, Reyes de Aza, a resident of Villa Gonzalez, was kidnapped while doing business in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien. Family members received telephone calls demanding RD$10 million in ransom money. Sources told El Caribe reporter Arsenio Cruz that it was possible that the kidnapping involved business dealings between the victim and his captors.
While there are conflicting reports in today's press, Diario Libre says that the kidnap victim was rescued after a gun battle along the border. During a joint operation by special units of the Dominican Armed Forces and their Haitian counterparts, two Haitians were captured and identified as the principal members of a drug ring that kidnapped the businessman last Friday. Both Haitians, one of whom was seriously wounded, were captured on the border, as was their accomplice on the Dominican side by units of the Cesfront forces. The prisoners were forced to reveal the whereabouts of Reyes de Aza, who was rescued by Haitian police who had been briefed by the Haitian consul in Dajabon, Jean Baptiste.
Two young economists have worked out that Dominicans are spending a lot of money sending money back home. According to Diario Libre, economists Frank Valenzuela and Hector Frias, the president and executive director of the Quisqueya Foundation, calculate that nearly US$700 million was spent between 2000 and 2007 in sending remittances to the Dominican Republic. The economists say that the fees that Dominicans pay to send their remittances are among the highest in all of Latin America. To counter this expense, the economists suggest that remittances could be channeled through a Dominican bank, Banco de Reservas, by opening branches in areas with high concentrations of Dominicans throughout the United States and Europe. Valenzuela and Frias also suggest ATM machines and "micro-banks" in areas with smaller Dominican emigre communities.
No, this is not news of a new airline. An article in Listin Diario quotes a study carried out by the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC) and foreign researchers that showed the level of pollutants in Santo Domingo's air. According to the study, some of the substances identified were vanadium, magnesium, manganese, chlorine, sodium and aluminum. Researchers from the International Atomic Energy Agency were assisted by experts from Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and other countries. The study recommends that the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of the Environment should insist on scrubbers, filters and electrostatic precipitators to rid the air of these metal particles. Intec spokesperson Jose Contreras told Listin reporter Adriana Peguero that the presence of vanadium, particularly in the area around Haina, is the result of the intense traffic and the large amount of thermoelectric installations in the area. Vanadium is known to cause respiratory illnesses.
Two separate incidents in Arroyo Vuelta, a short stretch of highway between the Piedra Blanca crossroads and La Cumbre on the Duarte Highway that links Santo Domingo with Santiago, led to a 13-vehicle pile-up early Saturday morning in which 14 people were injured. As has happened before, the crash involved a truck that swerved to avoid another vehicle that tipped over on the highway. This truck then struck an SUV and yet another large vehicle. This happened at about 7am and, as usual in these circumstances, a long line of vehicles formed behind the accident. At around 10am another very large semi, loaded with cement and authorized by the police to go through, met another row of cars head-on as they tried to go in the other direction. The very heavy tractor trailer destroyed everything it hit. The injured were sent to the Dario Contreras hospital, the Plaza de la Salud and the public hospital in Bonao.
A very large fire has destroyed a fiberglass Jacuzzi and shower stall manufacturer on the outskirts of the capital. The blaze, which could be seen from the Duarte Highway, destroyed Agua Technologic, a family-owned business. According to eyewitnesses, the fire started at around 8 o'clock on Saturday night, but fire crews did not arrive until nearly two hours later, despite several calls to 911. Eventually, ten fire units arrived on the scene and fought to save the buildings nearby. Residents who were struggling to save their homes fought the flames alongside the fire crews. The eyewitnesses told El Caribe reporters that the night watchman was sleeping at the time the fire started and had to be rescued by neighbors. Sources told reporters that the losses were enormous.
Northbound vehicles on Tiradentes Avenue in Santo Domingo cause accidents every day at the corner of Heriberto Pieter Street, despite the presence of Metropolitan Transit Authority officers on the corner, according to Hoy reporter Llennis Jimenez. Drivers, in too big a hurry, cross the double line in order to get to the intersection faster, causing many accidents that nearly always result in serious injuries and damaged vehicles. Drivers in the four-lane Tiradentes Avenue have to dodge the oncoming drivers or squeeze over into one lane to avoid head-on collisions. Last Thursday a motorcyclist was nearly killed by a truck that crossed the double line on Tiradentes. Be extra careful if you are going near that area.
Juan Maria Severino, the judge who sentenced former President Salvador Jorge Blanco to 20 years in prison, passed away over the weekend as a result of kidney failure. Severino was known for his harsh sentences handed down in 1988 against the former President, the former banker Leonel Almonte and businessman Juan Tomas Pena Valentin for over-valued sales to the Armed Forces. He was also known for his "drastic" sentences for offenders against Law 50-88, which related to drug distributors, traffickers or consumers. Severino came from a humble Puerto Plata family, and achieved national fame as a magistrate who brooked no nonsense in his courtroom. He was a colonel-lawyer in the National Police, and sat as the judge of the National District Seventh Penal Chamber for 18 years. His wife and six children were at his bedside.
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