The DR1 daily news digest will not be published tomorrow, Wednesday, 27 February on the occasion of Dominican Independence Day, a national holiday. Major stores will be open, but many smaller shops will take a break. A compilation of the news for Wednesday will be included in Thursday's edition.
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Yesterday President Leonel Fernandez met with John P. Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and DEA Deputy Administrator Michelle Leonhart, who are in the DR on official visits. The meeting took place at 5:45 at the President's office. They discussed the need to strengthen relationships between both countries and the importance fighting the war against the drug trade. During their visits Leonhart and Walters will also meet with DR Attorney General Radhames Jimenez, Armed Forces Minister Lt. General Ramon Aquino Garcia, National Drug Council director Mabel Feliz Baez, Chief of Police Rafael Guillermo Guzman Fermin, Customs director Miguel Cocco and head of the National Drug Control Department, Rafael Ramirez Ferreira.
Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Michelle Bachelet of Chile are among the regional heads of state who have confirmed their participation at the XX Summit of the Rio Group, which will be held in Santo Domingo next week. Felipe Calderon of Mexico, Bharat Jagdeo of Guyana, Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua, Alvaro Colom of Guatemala, Saca Gonzalez of El Salvador and Manuel Zelaya of Honduras have also confirmed their attendance. Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso said that an invitation had been sent out to Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, but he hasn't confirmed his participation, contrary to reports in yesterday's press. At a press conference yesterday Morales said that the outcome of this year's conference would be released as part of the Santo Domingo Declaration, on 7 March 2008. The Foreign Minister added that the topics for this year's conference had been chosen as issues of concern for all participating nations. The DR holds the two-year presidency of the Rio Group.
Spanish Transport Minister Manuel Lamela Fernandez and Madrid Metro director Idelfonso Matias have both given their thumbs up for President Leonel Fernandez to ride the Santo Domingo Metro on 27 February, as promised. Lamela, quoted in Listin Diario, said that the President could ride the train, along with his invited guests, without any risk. Lamela said that the new Metro would serve as an example for the rest of Latin America because it is being completed at a record pace, with the highest quality and the lowest possible budget. Yesterday the train went on another practice run when it traveled from the Isabela station to Villa Mella in six minutes. The train made another stop and made its way to the Centro de Los Heroes. Its complete trip took 15 minutes. The Office for the Reorganization of Transit (OPRET) also revealed the names of the stations along the first Metro line. The first station is named Mama Tingo, the second is Gregorio Urbano Gilbert, the third is Gregorio Luperon, the fourth is Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, the fifth is Hermanas Mirabal, and the sixth is Maximiliano Gomez. The station located on Nicolas Ovando Avenue will be named Los Tainos, the one at the cemetery will be named Pedro Livio Cedeno, the one on Pena Batlle Avenue will carry the same name, and the stop on John F. Kennedy will be called Juan Pablo Duarte. The station on 27 February will be named Prof. Juan Bosch, the stop at the Plaza de la Cultura will be Casandra Damiron, the one at the Education Ministry will be Joaquin Balaguer, the station at the UASD will be Amin Abel, the one on Abraham Lincoln will be Francisco Alberto Caamano and the last stop will be named Centro de los Heroes.
The International Monetary Fund has voiced its support for the Dominican energy sector, saying that it had exceeded expectations set forth by the Stand-by Arrangement. The IMF's comments, though positive, are contradicted by statements made by engineer Bernardo Castellanos, who mentioned that during the last four years the budget for the energy sector in the DR had reached US$2 billion (RD$65 billion). Castellanos said that the distributors have been unable to make significant reductions in corporate losses and have failed to fulfill commitments made with the IMF or the World Bank. Still, IMF country representative Andy Wolfe says that so far the energy sector has done what it's been required to do. State Run Electricity Companies (CDEEE) vice president Radhames Segura has announced that he will ask Congress to pass the Modifications to General Electricity Law 125-01, which forms part of a pact with the IMF. Wolfe, quoted in Hoy, said that the government was able to reduce energy sector subsidies from US$530 million to US$400 million. Wolfe said that though the Stand-by agreement concedes that there should be subsidies for the energy sector, the aim is to reduce them gradually.
National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDHRI) director Hector Rodriguez Pimentel is claiming that the INDHRI had nothing to do with the mismanagement of the Tavera dam during Tropical Storm Olga last December, and swiftly shifted the blame to the State Run Electricity Companies (CDEEE). According to Rodriguez, it is the CDEEE that administers the floodgates during emergencies, and therefore it was their fault. Rodriguez continued by saying that, "we don't look to blame, we look for reality. The dam management was done by committee, a group of organizations, but the practical part, the floodgates, is managed by the CDEEE hydroelectric firm, which is now autonomous." The director added that the initial negative reaction towards the management of the dams was politically motivated, which made him extremely defensive at the time, but clarified that the INDRHI had nothing to do with the mismanagement of the dam. The controversy over the dam arose during TS Olga when the dam floodgates were opened causing flooding in Santiago, which led to the deaths of dozens of people in surrounding areas. President Leonel Fernandez set up a special commission to investigate whether there had been mismanagement. The commission was given until 17 March to present its findings.
Business representatives say that external factors are to blame for the continued high prices of products that are now tariff-free as part of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement. On Saturday the agreement, which was touted as a strengthening tool for the Dominican economy, will have been in place for one year but not much has been voiced in regards to the successes or failures of the agreement. Representatives from the Industrial Federation Association (FAI), the National Young Entrepreneurs Association (ANJE) and the National Wholesalers Association (ASODAI) agree that tariffs and reevaluation of imported goods, among other things, have been the reasons why prices haven't gone down. El Caribe cites a report by the Customs Department (DGA) indicating that DR-CAFTA has cost the DR RD$2.54 billion in its one-year existence. Ignacio Mendez of the FAI says that the reevaluation of products has led to a price increase in some cases. Pablo Piantini of ASODAI says that some products are directly affected by the increase in the ITBIS (VAT) tax and this has led to price increases.
The Dominican Armed Forces is stationing more troops on the Haitian/Dominican border due to an increase in tensions between the two countries. The heightened tensions come after a Dominican 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. The ongoing tit for tat hi-jinx at the border has included the cross-border theft of cattle and vigilante justice by citizens on both sides of the border. Army Chief Antonio Campusano told Listin Diario that more soldiers have been sent to the border with Haiti to reinforce the existing military presence, in order to prevent further violent confrontations between Dominicans and Haitians.
Hoy reports that more than RD$5 billion in workers compensation payments has accumulated in national banks because private and public employees aren't aware of their right to access those funds. Elisaben Matos, director of the Health Risk Administrators (ARL) of the Dominican Social Security Institute (IDSS) says that hardly any workers know that they are entitled to receive financial assistance in the event of a workplace accident. Matos says that last year 8,129 such accidents were reported, 95% of which occurred in the private sector. Matos explains that the confusion is based on a lack of information and the fact that Social Security law 87-01 was initially launched as a pension plan instead of a health plan. Although the amount a worker is allowed to claim will depend on their base salary, a worker is eligible for 20 salaries in compensation.
Yesterday citizens held a vigil outside the Supreme Court, calling for justice for a 12-year old girl who was raped by six men over the course of two days. Director of the Women and Health Collective Sergia Galvan and director of the Women's Ministry defense office, Clara Luna, along with two of the girl's aunts presented a document to Supreme Court chief judge Jorge Subero Isa and Dominican Attorney General Radhames Jimenez Pena. The statement called for strong punishment for the six men. The gruesome tale indicates that the child is an orphan and that just days prior to her own ordeal, she witnessed her mother being raped. Days later, according to Listin Diario, her mother was murdered and the child herself was raped. Protestors are asking why Ernesto Perez, the only person who was jailed for the crime, was subsequently released from prison. The protesters are also calling for an investigation into the way the Jimani police department handled the case, and their alleged complicity in helping accused rapist Tirson Vasquez Mancebo to escape. Marisol Tobal, director of the Children and Young People's Department is complaining publicly that violence against children is not taken seriously.
The Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (REDOVIH) is accusing the Dario Contreras Hospital of refusing to operate on a young patient who is infected with HIV/AIDS. REDOVIH president Dulce Almonte says that patients are being refused treatment at this hospital because they are HIV positive, which is in violation of article 20 of Law 55-93 on illnesses. Almonte is now calling on the Public Health Ministry to intervene. Almonte is quoted in Listin Diario as saying "we are tired of the discrimination of that hospital, we don't understand why human beings are sentenced to lose a leg, simply because they have that virus. Here all the doctors understand bio-security measures to treat a patient in the operating theater."
The UASD University has a new dean, Franklin Garcia Fermin. Fermin was elected after a second round of voting last Friday and will be replacing Roberto Reyna Tejada as dean of the oldest University in the Americas. Garcia, who will serve from 2008 until 2011, explained that he will work hard to maintain the UASD's "open door" educational policy, and would tackle the problem of overcrowding and infrastructural issues that have continually plagued the state university.
Insurance companies pay out around RD$800 million per year as a result of car thefts. In the first two months of 2008, 125 vehicles were reported stolen, of which 75% have not been found. Four percent of stolen vehicles are classified as SUVs. In all of last year 621 vehicles where stolen, mostly new SUVs, but this figure was visibly down from previous years. Diario Libre writes that only 20% of vehicles in the DR are estimated to have full car insurance.
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