The working sessions for the XX Rio Group Summit Conference, scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Santo Domingo, are under way. National coordinators from all member countries have been hard at work reviewing their ministerial and presidential agendas and programs, and work was even being done on the final summit declaration. According to official Dominican sources, the leaders of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela are due to arrive for the conference, but during the working sessions, there were few, if any, comments about last Saturday's events when Colombian army units killed 20 FARC members on Ecuadorian territory, including the rebel group's second in command Raul Reyes. Given the timing of the Rio Group meeting, there is an opportunity to smooth things over, according to the same sources. Because of the importance of this meeting, several countries have already increased the size of their delegations.
The Rio Group Summit meeting could become the scene of high-level mediation by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez. Fernandez has held telephone conversations with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Colombia's Alvaro Uribe and Ecuador's Rafael Correa as a step towards "reducing tensions." Fernandez, the host for the XX Rio Group Summit that starts this week and president Pro Tem of the Rio Group, seeks to make use of this golden opportunity to play a role in solving the crisis between the three South American neighbors. Adding to the possibility of a solution will be the presence of Organization of American States president Jose Miguel Insulza and the secretary general of the Ibero-American summit, Enrique Iglesias.
The government has opened talks aimed at a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C. yesterday. The team leader, Central Bank governor Hector Valdez Albizu, is in Washington for the talks. He and his team of banking experts are following instructions from President Fernandez, who asked them to "find what kind of deal will be most convenient for the Dominican Republic." In the last IMF report relating to the Stand-by arrangement that ended in January, the IMF suggested yet another revision of the country's fiscal policies. The last agreement injected US$632 million into the economy.
President Leonel Fernandez has announced that the government will permit technical equipment for farm use to enter the country duty free. He announced this measure during a meeting with members of the farming sector in Bonao. He said that the idea was to enable Dominican farmers to compete in the global marketplace. He also told his audience that in order to make better use of the newest technology, the people handling it would be offered training at the new Development and Technology building in Santo Domingo.
It will cost close to two million pesos to clean up 900 gallons of fuel oil that leaked from a ship belonging to Seaboard Shipping. According to Environment Minister Omar Ramirez, the beach at Andres, Boca Chica was affected by the spill, with wildlife killed, and the cleanup is now under way. According to the minister, the ministry prosecutor's office intends to file a lawsuit for damages against the Seaboard Caribbean, which sails under the South Korean flag and was bound for Philadelphia. Statements from Melvin Flaquer, president of Flaquer Ship Services, indicated that the affected beaches would not be fit for use until next Sunday. Flaquer said that nearly a kilometer of coastline was dirtied by the spill.
The Dominican Medical Association (CMD) will go ahead with its planned strike in all the country's public hospitals as well as all the hospitals belonging to the Social Security System. This is their second strike in less than a month, and the doctors are trying to get their salaries increased from RD$23,000 per month to RD$59,000. The strike began at 6am this morning and will continue until the same time on Friday. As reported in Hoy newspaper, doctors are going to increase pressure on the government by enlisting support from other entities, such as the Alternative Social Forum. A joint march with Forum members is planned for next Wednesday. According to data from the Public Health Ministry, over 10,000 doctors are on the state payroll.
The Central Bank reports that it was able to negotiate and renew RD$63.727 billion in certificates of deposit. The bank called this an expression of the confidence that the major economic players in the Dominican Republic have in the economy. The press release, as reported in El Caribe, says that the Central Bank has covered all certificates of deposit issued over the last six months. The bank highlights the fact that the renewals were for different financial instruments and featured a conversion of CDs with early withdrawal privileges exchanged for fixed term CDs without withdrawal privileges for 24, 30 and 36 months. The interest on the new instruments will be 11%, 13%, and 15% APR. With this move, the Central Bank has reduced the amount of CDs with early withdrawal privileges to just 5.4% of the total.
The II Global Education Forum is being held in Santo Domingo, as ministers and representatives from 45 nations discuss issues concerning the learning process and how to improve training for professionals. The ministries of Education, Higher Education, Science and Technology and the Institute of Professional Technical Training (INFOTEP) are hosting the forum. Representatives from Austria, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, the United States, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and Trinidad and Tobago are attending. The forum will hear a report on the Dominican Republic's Educational Policies prepared by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The Supreme Court will notify the magistrate responsible for sentencing in the San Cristobal district court that the sentence handed down by the Appeals Court was confirmed by the Supreme Court. This was the case involving more than a billion pesos that were supposedly spent on replacing public transport vehicles. At 9am today, magistrate Francisco Mejia Angomas is being notified that the Supreme Court decision rejected the appeals made by the defendants' lawyers. The judge can now hand down the sentence and order the arrest of the accused.
The country can save as much as RD$32 million a year in fuel costs with the implementation of the "smart light" system of traffic lights. However, a day after part of the system was implemented in Santo Domingo and Santiago, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (AMET) still had officers directing traffic, even when the lights were working. Diario Libre reported that the idea behind synchronized traffic lights is to save energy, and most traffic experts as well as ordinary citizens report that traffic does not move smoothly when AMET officers are directing traffic.
The Alternative Social Forum (FS) has issued a call for another national strike on 9 April, saying that the PLD government has not responded to any of their demands. Forum spokesperson Fidel Santana told leading journalists Nuria Piera and Huchi Lora that the Forum is calling for the modification of the Hydrocarbon Law, a reduction in the profit margin that the government receives for every gallon of fuel purchased, a salary increase for government employees, and the withdrawal of sand and gravel extraction companies from the different river beds, among other demands. According to Santana, "if there is political will, the government can do something about our complaints."
The National District Eleventh Penal Court has found Dr. Jose Javier Asilis Zaiter guilty of medical malpractice, and sentenced him to three months in jail and a three million peso fine. Dr. Asilis Zaiter left a clamp in a patient's abdominal cavity, which resulted in death. Magistrate July Tamariz Nunez instructed Dr. Asilis Zaiter to pay the fine to the victim's children. The prosecutor had asked for a year and a half jail sentence while lawyers representing the victim's family were asking for two years imprisonment.
The introduction of store brands to most of the country's main supermarket chains means that many consumers could save up to 30% on some items. Most of these store brands are food items and can be found in Super Pola, PriceSmart and Bravo supermarkets. Nacional Supermarkets have their own brands and customers recognize them easily. Supermarket spokespersons told Diario Libre that the stores look for products that do not generate a lot of brand loyalty, and this allows for the introduction of store brands. For example, Nacional Supermarkets' Lider brand offers quality and a 20-30% saving for customers. As consumers become more sophisticated, the purchase of store brands plays a greater role, according to Cintia Antonio of Nacional.
The Ministry of Public Works has announced the start of the renewal process for the inspection stickers needed for all motor vehicles. This sticker is universally known, in the Dominican Republic, as the "revista".
Car owners need to get their car's registration papers, insurance card and RD$45.00 and go to the Banco de Reservas. Vehicles should be in good working order, with lights, directional signals, windshield wipers, a first aid kit and tools needed for emergency use.
As the following in yesterday's news item contained an error, we are running it again today with the correct time. Please note that tomorrow's seminar is being held in the morning, not the evening. We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience.
The United States Embassy in Santo Domingo and the American Chamber of Commerce is inviting US citizens residing abroad to attend a seminar by an IRS tax consultant. The seminar will take place at the Gran Ventana Hotel, located in the Playa Dorada complex, tomorrow Thursday 6 March 2008 from 8:30am until 10:30am. It will be followed by a question and answer session. Anyone interested in attending may call the American Chamber of Commerce in Puerto Plata at 809 586-4979 to confirm. In addition, the IRS consultant will be available on Thursday afternoon from 1pm to 5pm and Friday morning from 8am to 12pm for brief individual meetings with US taxpayers who need to discuss complex and specific issues in private. Individual meetings will be held at the Consular Agency in Puerto Plata. Please call 809 586-8017 or 809 586-8023 to make an appointment. The Consular Agency is located in Puerto Plata, Calle Villanueva esq. John F. Kennedy, 2nd floor of Edificio Abraxas.
The Dominican Republic scored highly as a destination with a well-received opening extravaganza featuring Juan Luis Guerra, Milly Quezada, Ruby Perez and Maridalia Hernandez. Zoe Saldana, of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Terminal fame, introduced the Dominican participants. The theme of the opening show was the history of music in the DR. The German public was introduced to the fact that trade with the DR in 1871 introduced the accordion and the saxophone, two instruments that are very much part of the merengue style. Rosalinda Thomas, ITB coordinator of the event, and who was part of the first Dominican delegation to the fair 30 years ago, said that a measure of the show's success was the fact that the full house audience lingered on through the Cap Cana and Banco Popular-sponsored reception.
The extravaganza and event commemorated the DR's status as Official Partner Country. The Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, praised the show, calling it the most charming ITB opening he had ever attended and that he understood why people get itchy feet and want to travel to the Caribbean. Wowereit commended the DR for its efforts to provide quality service and sustainable tourism in its push to promote the country to Germans and world travelers.
Berlin is impressively decked out with signs throughout the city promoting the DR as official partner country of the ITB travel fair, the largest in the world that is taking place 5-9 March in the German capital. A record 11,147 exhibitors from 186 countries are taking part.
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