The deficit on the balance of payments on the nation's current accounts has increased to RD$2.23 billion in 2007, up from RD$1.26 billion in 2006. According to statistics published in Hoy, the balance of payments on the current accounts equaled 5.4% of the GDP in 2007, compared to 3.5% of the GDP. According to the Central Bank these figures reflect an increase in the country's international reserves. According to an IMF report on the challenges for the Dominican economy, although the gap of the GDP has been reduced, the pressures on demand and the increase in international fuel prices have increased the deficit on the current accounts. The IMF report indicates that although international reserves have increased, the DR still has one of the lowest amounts of reserves among emerging market economies.
Despite the fact that social programs are supposedly set up to help poor people, these programs have become escape valves that encourage clientelism and corruption, reports Diario Libre today. Judicial benevolence, re-election and presidential campaigns add another layer to the ease with which taxpayer funds are irregularly allocated, according to the newspaper. Political sociologist Cesar Perez is quoted saying that "re-election perverts the actions of governments." He adds that social programs are clearly clientelism-oriented and are not subject to any type of regulation. The article in DL comments on the recent story broken by journalist Nuria Piera, claiming that PLD members are being paid RD$3,000 and RD$4,000 a month just for being CB (base committee) members. This and other aid programs dole out around RD$240 million per month in funds. The government argues that this is just a way of helping the poor. Diario Libre goes on to explain that using money as a way of easing tension has been a part of President Leonel Fernandez's political strategy, and quotes him as saying in the past that he'd rather pay than fight.
The government is denying that it is using state funds of between RD$3,000 and RD$4,000 per month to pay thousands of unemployed PLD party members, as TV journalist Nuria Piera recently revealed. She shows numerous women standing in line to collect the checks but not being aware of where they supposedly "worked" in government. According to Piera, the government pays out this money through "special CB (base committee) payrolls". In order to qualify for a monthly check, all a person has to do is present a letter from their Intermediate Committee, and swear that they do not have a job. According to Piera's investigation, the Ministry of Agriculture has a special payroll of 4,252 people with a budget of RD$9.7 million a month; the Dominican Agrarian Institute has 3,000 lucky folks on its lists and RD$9.44 million per month; and the Dominican Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI) distributes RD$26 million to 8,731 people each month. But it doesn't end there. The National Potable Water Institute (INAPA) hands out RD$20.1 million to some 6,700 unemployed PLD loyalists, and according to sources, the Ministry of Public Works has even more people on its CB payrolls, but the figures were not forthcoming.
In response to these accusations the government explained that at the beginning of their current term of office payrolls were established at all the public administrations in the areas of cleaning, road maintenance and walkways, rain system maintenance, agricultural operations and environmental protection. Government officials said that these payrolls could be increased or decreased at any point, according to the need of the public institutions. Officials pointed to the needs that arose from Tropical Storms Noel and Olga. Luis Manuel Bonetti, Administrative Minister to the Presidency, speaking on behalf of the government, was accompanied by Victor Diaz Rua, Minister of Public Works, Salvador Jimenez, Minister of Agriculture, Frank Rodriguez from INAPA and Quilvio Cabrera, Minister of the Dominican Agrarian Institute (IAD). PLD campaign coordinator Francisco Javier Garcia full out denied any knowledge of the supposed payments to unemployed PLD members and asked Central Electoral Judge Eddy Olivares to investigate the accusations.
Writing in today's Diario Libre, Ines Aizpun complains that there seems to be no institutional control over corruption in the DR. She comments that the Nuria Piera TV report shows that there is "systemic corruption, that is part of institutions and perfectly organized and difficult to check." She says that while the money that is spent is a problem, what is a greater problem is that there are no institutions that can control this. She comments on the government institutions that should carry out these controls and that have not done so in the past - the Central Electoral Board, the Department for Prevention of Corruption, the Chamber of Accounts, or the State Prosecutors Office. She writes that it is amazing to witness the official cynicism about corruption scandals and the arbitrary management of state funds. "Isn't there anyone left around the President who is not part of his cohort of flatterers and who has a modicum of integrity who can explain what can and cannot be done? She asks whether these are the people who are going to reform the Constitution?
Another editorial comment by Homero Figueroa of the Diario Libre staff points out that the name of the game in politics is not to convince voters, but simply to buy their vote. A third editorial on the topic speaks of the present nightmare where we live in a new country where impunity reigns among our politicians, who can redistribute the nation's wealth at their whim. "The rest of Dominicans, regardless of their merits, virtues or social or economic status, will only be useful to keep the political patronage machinery greased. There will be no need for the judicial branch because the politicians will fit everything to their convenience and will take control of all productive activity. Politicians and taxpayers will live in the new nation," the editorialist describes.
PRD Secretary General, Orlando Jorge Mera, is asking the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to clarify why 200 Dominicans who live in Paris have been registered to vote in Barcelona. Jorge Mera is questioning whether these voters were registered through the appropriate methodology and is asking to have them removed from voter registries, if that is not the case.
Economist Enrique Iglesias, the former head of the Inter-American Development Bank, has been released from the hospital and Hoy reports that he was planning to leave for Madrid immediately. He said he would go to his office first and then head towards the Uruguayan Embassy in the DR, where he is a naturalized citizen, before leaving for Spain. Iglesias was hospitalized at the Abel Gonzalez Clinic ICU with an intestinal blockage late on Thursday night. He came out of the ICU over the weekend and was moved to a normal room at the clinic.
The donation of a new hospital to the Santo Domingo North sector of Los Guaricanos could be lost if by 17 March at the latest, the government doesn't provide the 20,000 square meters needed for the project. The hospital will cost an estimated RD$400 million and is being funded by the Yale University Hospital, in New Haven, Connecticut. Positive Mission International president Reverend Jose Champagne and leaders Evelio Mota and Cesar Valdez have voiced concerns that the country could lose this valuable project. During a press conference Mota, Valdez and Champagne displayed the forms presented to President Leonel Fernandez, the CEA, the Banco de Reservas and assorted government officials.
Qatari Ambassador Mubarak Ibrahim Al Sabed has presented Dominican Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso with a donation of RD$2 million on behalf of his government for the victims of TS Noel and Olga. After receiving the donation, Troncoso announced that Qatar could donate up to US$300 million in development projects, specifically in the energy sector. He also spoke of the need to establish strategic ties with Qatar in order to access their natural gas reserves. Al Sabed expressed joy at being able to help families in need, stressing the strong relations between the DR and Qatar.
Judge Saulo Isabel has ordered an exit impediment against six of the Plan Renove culprits, including Pedro Franco Badia, Milciades Amaro Guzman, Blas Peralta, Francisco Antonio Perez, Paulino Antonio Reyes and Antonio Marte. On 4 March 2008, judges at the Supreme Court confirmed the sentences against 10 former government officials charged in the Plan Renove scandal, declaring that their appeal in the high court was inadmissible. The Plan Renove scam dates back to the Hipolito Mejia government (2000-2004) when government officials and businessmen conspired to defraud the state of RD$1.8 billion by selling the government overpriced Hyundai vehicles through dummy corporations. Fabio Ruiz, Freddy William Mendez and Alfredo Culinario live in Santo Domingo and Gervasio de la Rosa lives in Santiago, so a judge in those provinces needs to execute the same order for those men.
Central Electoral Board judge Roberto Rosario is asking Attorney General Radhames Jimenez to investigate the violent events during a political rally in Azua over the weekend. He is asking for those responsible to be identified. Rosario's wishes were echoed by fellow JCE judges Eddy Olivares and Leyda Pena. The blame game on whose fault it is has begun. PLD campaign coordinator Francisco Javier Garcia says that the PRD should follow the gentlemen's agreement on not holding campaign events at the same time and said that it was the PRD's fault since they allowed its members to line up along a PLD campaign route. Three people were wounded last Sunday after PLD deputy Julio Brito and his driver allegedly shot at PRD sympathizers after a political rally in Azua. According to Hoy, witnesses to the events said that both Brito and his driver carried out the shooting.
The Ministry of Agriculture and the Banco Agricola have given the milk production sector RD$43.8 million, which will subsidize, by RD$3 per liter, milk production in the DR. The subsidy will benefit more than 20,000 milk producers. This isn't the first subsidy the sector has received. Since December, milk producers have been paid RD$134 million in subsidies. A representative from the ministry said that the funds are being given with the hope of counteracting the increased costs of producing milk and so that the country can meet its milk quota of 256 million liters.
The Henry L. Stimson Center's Cooperative Nonproliferation Program, in conjunction with the Canadian Government, the Office of the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States, and The Stanley Foundation, convened a symposium entitled "The Next 100 Project: Responding to UN Resolution 1540 with Development and Capacity-Building Assistance in the Caribbean" at the Santo Domingo Hilton in the Dominican Republic. The event brought together representatives from national governments and regional organizations as well as experts to discuss ways of leveraging assistance to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 and address underlying development and capacity-building needs in the Caribbean. Resolution 1540, adopted in 2004, calls on all states to adopt a legislative framework and implement enforcement measures to prevent the development, acquisition, transportation, and use of weapons of mass destruction, related materials, and delivery systems by non state actors. The symposium aimed to spur active implementation of the resolution by linking its mandates to the development priorities of Caribbean states. Discussion topics included citizen security, public health, business and industrial development, disaster prevention and response, and legislative capacity-building. For the full press release please click here (MS Word document).
Dominican engineer Luis Jose Quinones announced at the monthly conference of the Cooperation, Science and Technology Consultantship (Cocecit) that he has created a new chip, Power6, based on fractal theory, which could revolutionize digital equipment, considering that these would be cheaper than conventional chips, less complex and consume less energy.
The DBC 440 is based on the geometrical concept of fractals. He explained that fractals are visible in nature and pointed to the examples of flowers, a tree and even in humans. Speaking at the scientific conference Quinones said that once the chip is "purchased' by an international company, it could be used by the public. The DBC is in the patent process and could be used in computers, cameras and other digital equipment.
Quinones is an advisor to the National Energy Commission (CNE). The monthly conference is held in coordination with the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic.
Darys Estrella, executive vice president at the Dominican Stock Exchange (BVRD), has been appointed to the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Class of 2008. Estrella joins 245 other leading executives from around the world on a list that includes some of the world's most talented executives, all under the age of 40. This honor is bestowed each year by the World Economic Forum as a way of acknowledging the top 200-300 young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world. The Young Global Leaders for 2008 include 121 business leaders, as well as leaders from government, academia, media and society at large from 65 countries. The new class represents all regions, including East Asia (64), Europe (58), Middle East and North Africa (12), North America (45), South Asia (24), sub-Saharan Africa (21) and Latin America (21). Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates, the Young Global leaders 2008 were chosen by a selection committee of 31 eminent international media leaders. The selection committee is chaired by HM Queen Rania of Jordan. Estrella grew up in Ocoa and moved to the US at the age of 17. She was an executive at Goldman Sachs before moving back to the DR to take on the challenge of building up the DR's stock exchange. She is the second Dominican to be invited to the event. The first was Andres Van der Horst, executive director of the National Competitiveness Council. For the complete Global Leaders press release, please click here (MS Word document).
Dominican singer/songwriter continued to collect hardware yesterday as he was awarded the Soberano at last night's Casandra Ceremony, presented by Acroarte, the local show business critics association. The Casandra is the Dominican artistic community's night of awards. Guerra took the opportunity to thank God, his wife and children and all the musicians who have accompanied him during his career. Guerra won in six of the seven categories he was nominated for, including Album of the Year, Best Video Clip, Best Song, Best Foreign Artist, Best Composer and Arrangement of the Year. Also receiving prizes at the annual awards was Hector 'El Torito' Acosta, who was awarded two Casandras for Bachata of the Year and Band of the Year. His colleague "El Jeffrey" was awarded Merengue of the Year and Aventura won the Popular Foreign Group award. Also receiving recognition last night was TV host Jatnna Tavarez and film maker Alfonso Rodriguez. The awards "Casandra al Merito" were given to musician Fernando Echavarria and salsa singer Jose "El Canario" Alberto. International Casandras were given out to Puerto Rican singer Ednita Nazario, Israel Lopez and Colombian singer Juanes. Dominican- American artist Kat de Luna was awarded the Revelation of the Year, Kiko "El Presidente" received the prize for best "Tipico" Band of the Year, Zacarias Ferreira was honored with Bachata Group of the Year, Jackeline Estevez was honored for Female Vocalist of the Year while Wason Brazoban won best male vocalist of the year. Sex Appeal was recognized as Salsa performer of the Year, Calor Urbano was awarded Rock Group of the Year, Ivan Tejada was honored as Choreographer of the Year while Nancy Amancio was awarded Religious Performer of the Year. Fausto Mata received the award for Comedian of the Year.
For the list of winning performers, see http://dr1.com/news/2008/031108_CasandraAwards.shtml.
In last week's news briefs it was erroneously published that Dominican born author Junot Diaz had won the US National Book Critic Circle Award for Non Fiction when he had in fact won the US National Book Critic Circle Award for Fiction. We apologize for the mistake and once again congratulate Junot Diaz on his success.
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