DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 22 September 2016

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At the UN, Medina labels the mighty as “hypocrites”
Medina and Privert of Haiti meet in NY
Government creates new security commission
30 days to remove billboards and signs
Women’s groups call for decriminalizing abortion
Transgender population is 18% HIV-positive
The new Dominicans
Amnesty International recognizes DR efforts
What has become of Juliana Deguis?
New financial information sharing agreement with US
Street in Paterson, NJ renamed to honor Dominicans
Super Tucano case is still open and going forward
Source points to deputy in arms cache
Six of eight accused sentenced in case of cocaine theft
Dominicans lose to Argentina, defeat Cuba in volleyball
Contemporary Dance Festival opens 27 September



At the UN, Medina labels the mighty as “hypocrites”
During a session of the general debate at the 71st UN General Assembly on Wednesday, 21 September 2016, President Danilo Medina said that the rich countries expect poor countries with which they have trade agreements to eliminate any protection on their industrial products, but they do not do the same thing.

He highlighted that rich want us, the developing countries, to eliminate protection on our industrialized goods, but they don’t eliminate their farming subsidies.”

“May I say so with total frankness, there are times when the developed countries fall into hypocrisy,” said the Dominican President.

He highlighted a situation where after more than a half a century of protectionism, the developed countries now reject reducing protectionism within their own borders while the trade agreements they have promoted require this of developing countries. He said non-tariff barriers, including phyto-sanitary measures and technical barriers, also offer major restrictions to trade on global markets.

He said that the Dominican Republic, along with many other nations, has signed free trade agreements with the main economic blocs and there is a need to make profound changes in trade and financial flows to help hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty. We need to find ways to enhance more free trade and that financial flows become allies to development, he stressed in his participation. “Instead of rhetoric, developed nations should take concrete steps in favor of fair trade,” he said.

He stated that the United States on average assigns US$97.8 billion in farming subsidies and that between 2014 and 2020 the European Union will have spent €408 billion on what he described as “protectionism,” which allows these countries to tilt the market in their favor.

Medina also spoke of financial flows that are linked to development and productivity. He said the country could only benefit “from financial markets that are stable, predictable and better regulated.”

He said that it has been proven that the free flow of capitals can also be used to evade taxes or launder assets. He observed that the recent crackdown by the European Commission on deals in Ireland with Apple is proof that tax havens are not only located in the Caribbean but also in wealthy countries and are platforms for the operation of capital markets and play an important part of the real economy. He observed that the financial sector also represents risks for developing countries that suffered the effects of the financial crisis in 2008 triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

He said the Dominican Republic is incorporating in its banking system recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT) to combat money laundering and terrorist financing to ensure the Dominican banking system. But at the same time, Medina at the United Nations demanded more effective regulation of global financial markets and tax havens to reduce inequalities between rich and poor countries for the well being of humanity.

Medina concluded that all countries add value, alliances are a plus, and no ally is too small.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...anilo-medina-en-la-asamblea-general-de-la-onu
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events...icana-debate-general-71º-sesión/5135551498001


Medina and Privert of Haiti meet in NY
President Danilo Medina and acting President Jocelerme Privert of Haiti held a bilateral meeting during their attendance at the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday 21 September 2016. They agreed on a future meeting of foreign ministers and customs directors to discuss trade, focusing on the apparent continuation of trade restrictions on overland exports to Haiti of 23 Dominican key products, which has been in place since 2013.

The acting President of Haiti expressed his wish to continue improving relations with the Dominican Republic. He also updated Medina on progress made towards the celebration of the presidential election in his country, set for 9 October 2016.

Administrative Minister of the Presidency Jos? Ram?n Peralta, Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas, Dominican ambassador to the UN Frank Cortorreal and government spokesman Roberto Rodr?guez Marchena were also present during the meeting.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...cancilleres-y-directores-de-aduanas-JH4999685


Government creates new security commission
The Medina administration issued Decree 264-16 on Wednesday, 21 September 2016 creating an Interior Governmental Security Commission in charge of assessing and implementing citizen security policies, as well as coordinating the work of security agencies, prosecution and state intelligence entities. The new entity also has a mission to strengthen the public security institution bases and the Dominican justice system, especially in regards to prosecution and the National Police. It is also entrusted with defining criteria for a national public security system where priority is placed on the individual and on human rights.

The commission will identify measures to enhance road safety, reduce noise pollution, irresponsible consumption of alcohol, theft and robbery, trafficking and consumption of drugs, domestic and gender violence, harassment and rape and exploitation of children, and the fight against the proliferation of firearms.

It must also establish a system that allows for better data collection, exchange, and analysis and information management on security issues.

The new commission is made up of the Ministry of the Presidency, Ministry of Interior and Police, Public Ministry, Ministry of Defense and the security entities of the National Police, National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) and the 911 Emergency and Security System.
The commission has a deadline of 90 days to prepare a work plan with its goals, expected results, budgets and designation of responsibilities.


30 days to remove billboards and signs
The National District government has announced that businesses have 30 days to seek authorization or remove billboards and signs that have not been duly authorized by the municipality.

The city government (ADN) warned that those responsible for any advertising must secure permits or remove it and leave the area where it was located in “a perfect state.”

The city government announced that its Department of Transit and Urban Mobility would be carrying out an operation to eliminate visual pollution in the city and issuing notifications for legal action against anyone who uses city space to advertise without due authorization.

City rules establish that all individuals or businesses need to be authorized by the ADN to advertise on public roads and visible areas in the public domain, as set out in Law 176-07.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...-vallas-y-publicidad-que-no-esten-autorizadas


Women’s groups call for decriminalizing abortion
On Wednesday, 21 September 2016, the Senate Commission on Justice met with the Coalition for the Rights and the Life of Women, an organization composed of 84 women’s groups, which urged the commission to restore a paragraph that decriminalizes abortions under certain circumstances in the Penal Code.

In July 2016, the Chamber of Deputies approved the elimination of the paragraph, which allows for abortions in cases of rape, incest or because of deformities in the fetus that are incompatible with life. The general coordinator of the Gender Studies center at Intec University, Lourdes Contreras, who spoke in representation of the women’s rights organizations, said that Dominican society was now ready to accept the decriminalization of an interrupted pregnancy in these circumstances.

At present, the Penal Code penalizes abortion with the only exception being cases where the mother’s life is at risk, whereas previously the law said that in cases of rape, incest and congenital deformities the interruption of the pregnancy would be subject to “the requisites and protocols established by a Special Law.”

Next week, the Justice Commission will listen to the position of other sectors on the issue of abortion in order to reach a decision on the subject.

In the Dominican Republic, 13% of maternal deaths are attributed to illegal abortions.


Transgender population is 18% HIV-positive
According to Victor Terrero, the executive director of the National Council for HIV and AIDS, 18% of transgender persons in the Dominican Republic are living with HIV. Terrero said that this population group was worst affected by the epidemic.

Figures from the Survey of the Observation of Behavior with Serology Links with the Transgender Population 2016, Terrero reported that 5.2% of gay men and men who have sex with men live with HIV, as do 4.
5% of sex workers and 3% of drug users.

He said: “There is a direct link between health protection and the protection of human rights or inversely between the worst health indexes and the violation of human rights.”

Terrero was speaking at the First National Forum of organizations seeking access to justice for vulnerable population groups, organized by the Public Defenders Office and the Institutionalism and Justice Foundation (Finjus) and Citizen Participation civil society groups.
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...-viven-con-vih-dice-terrero.html#.V-Pbs-mVs4o


The new Dominicans
The Ministry of Interior reports that over a ten-year span, from 2005 to 2015, some 6,566 people from more than 85 countries have received Dominican nationality.

Diario Libre is running a series of interviews on these new Dominicans. In 2010, Dominican nationality was granted to 1,092 people.

During those 10 years, Cubans account for the majority of people who have taken on Dominican nationality, with 1,621.

This is followed by US citizens, including Puerto Ricans, with 1,243. Chinese are next with 747, then Venezuelans 508, Colombians 333, Spanish 319, Russians 277, Italians 196, French 160, Peruvians 102, Mexicans 86, Haitians 84, Swiss 65, Argentineans 62, Pakistanis 60, and Canadians 51, among others.

Of the group, 34% says they took on Dominican nationality after marrying a Dominican.
The celebrities taking Dominican nationality during this period include Danny Rivera of Puerto Rico and Diego “El Cigala” from Spain.

See the list of nationalized citizens by country of origin:
https://infogr.am/b618bd0e-dae0-4369-93dc-9576f51856a6
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/los-extranjeros-que-decidieron-ser-dominicanos-AJ4975345


Amnesty International recognizes DR efforts
In a statement made on Wednesday, 21 September 2016, international human rights organization Amnesty International recognized the efforts that the Dominican government has made to solve the problem of undocumented residents and called for continued talks with civil society organizations to find solutions for undocumented people.

Amnesty International’s Caribbean campaigner Robin Guittard said that they are still worried, however, that many people have not been able to clearly establish their nationality following the implementation of Constitutional Court ruling 168-13.

He told reporters: “The government has made significant efforts to resolve the issue in a timely manner and has included it in the administration’s agenda.” Nevertheless, he pointed out that thousands of people of foreign descent suffered the consequences of “that discriminatory sentence.”

Guittard added that the solution to this issue should be a fundamental priority for the new authorities.

A delegation from Amnesty International, accompanied by Dominican civil society representatives, is visiting the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo on Thursday 22 September 2016 for a meeting with Presidential Minister Gustavo Montalvo. They will deliver more than 50,000 requests from 134 countries calling on the government to take urgent measures to deal with the crisis of affecting stateless persons living in the Dominican Republic.

Amnesty is also planning a demonstration outside the Constitutional Tribunal on the morning of Friday, 23 September 2016.


What has become of Juliana Deguis?
Juliana Deguis Pierre, the 32-year old woman who served as plaintiff in the landmark Dominican lawsuit against the civil registry authority of the Dominican Republic and Constitutional Court ruling 168-13, now accuses the internationally backed civil society organizations of using her. Her case was used as example of an individual who after being granted Dominican documentation by civil registry authorities was later denied its validity in the crosscheck carried out by the Central Electoral Board (JCE).

A purge of the civil registry carried out since 2007 established that despite being born in the DR, her Dominican nationality had been irregularly issued because neither of her parents, including her father who came to the country in 1970 to cut sugar cane, had legal status in the country. Her case was one of thousands that were challenged by internationally backed civil society organizations. The Dominican government later accepted the irregularity was valid and accepted the Dominican birth certificate that had been issued to her as valid, and issued her Dominican ID card (c?dula).

She was then instructed to declare her four children in the civil registry as Dominicans. She says that a legal case challenging the outcome of her case is still pending. In an interview with Listin Diario, nevertheless, she admitted she has not done the legwork to apply for the paperwork confirming her children’s births at the Nuestra Se?ora de la Altagracia maternity hospital in Santo Domingo and a hospital in Villa Mella where they were born. She has four children aged 15, 13, 9 and 7, and lives in Yamas? in Monte Plata province where her children go to school.

She said her fame in the nationality court case has been a disadvantage for seeking work and that she is currently unemployed.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...ma-defensores-se-lucraron-a-costillas-de-ella


New financial information sharing agreement with US
The US Treasury Department has published a link to the recent Inter-Governmental Agreement signed with the Dominican Republic government.

The agreement formalizes information sharing under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance.

See the agreement here:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-c...TCA-Agreement-DominicanRepublic-9-15-2016.pdf


Street in Paterson, NJ renamed to honor Dominicans
City officials in Paterson, New Jersey have renamed a stretch of Park Avenue as Dominican Republic Way in tribute to the city’s largest Latino community.

Park Avenue between Straight and Summer Streets will now also be known as Dominican Republic Way, according to the city government resolution. The stretch is dotted with Dominican-owned businesses like restaurants, bakeries, and salons on both sides.

As reported in The Paterson Times, Council members said the decision to rename the street was made in recognition of a community that has called the city home since 1947. More than 45,000 residents of Dominican descent live in the city.


Super Tucano case is still open and going forward
Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez has told reporters that investigations are still underway in the case of alleged bribery involving legislators and members of the military forces linked to the Dominican Republic’s 2009 purchase of Super Tucano aircraft.
He said that the case was proceeding normally and reminded reporters that it had been declared complex, which will allow the Justice Department to expand the investigations in order to establish responsibilities.

Air Force Colonel Carlos Picini N??ez is in pre-trial custody accused of bribery in the purchase of the eight aircraft from the Brazilian company Embraer. The decision to impose three months of pre-trial custody on the colonel was ratified last week by the Third Court of the Penal Chamber of the Court of Appeals of the National District.

Three other men somehow implicated in the case, a former Armed Forces minister, Major General Pedro Rafael Pe?a Antonio and businessman Daniel Aquino Mendes and his son Daniel Aquino Hernandez were released but are subject to exit bans and electronic tags.


Source points to deputy in arms cache
A source has identified deputy Nestor Mu?oz (San Pedro de Macor?s, PRSC) as the legislator under investigation in the case of firearms seized in East Haina Port last week, as reported in Diario Libre. The source has told Diario Libre reporters that it has not yet been confirmed whether the legislator will be called in for interrogation.

Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez said that the deputy who has been named in connection with the case, whose name he did not mention, still has not been summoned and that the investigation continues. He did not exclude the possibility that the investigative process might establish the involvement of any individual, even the possibility that it could be a member of the Congress.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...armas-decomisado-en-muelle-de-haina-XE4996077


Six of eight accused sentenced in case of cocaine theft
The First Collegiate Court of the Province of Santo Domingo has sentenced several members of the police to 20, 15 and 10 years in jail for their role in a cocaine theft case involving agents of the National Police anti-narcotics division (DICAN). They were on trial for the theft of 950 kilograms of cocaine that the DICAN had confiscated from drug traffickers.

A 20-year jail sentence was imposed on the former DICAN director, former colonel Carlos Fern?ndez Valerio, former mayor Luciano G?mez Cabrera and former prosecutor M?ximo D?az Ogando. Pedro Alm?nzar Gonz?lez, a former sergeant at the DICAN was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Former prosecutor Ram?n Veras Castro and former lieutenant colonel F?lix Humberto Paulino L?pez received sentences of 10 years in jail.

Discharged in the case were former sergeant Antol?n de los Santos Zabala and former corporal Raydiris Garc?a Miranda, who cooperated with the prosecution as witnesses.

Lawyer Tom?s Castro who defended former DICAN director Carlos Fern?ndez Valerio said that they would be appealing the case.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...-de-ocho-acusados-por-el-caso-dican-BX5000704


Dominicans lose to Argentina, defeat Cuba in volleyball
The two-time defending champion Dominican Republic U-23 team returned to the winning path with a straight-set 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-19) defeat over Cuba in the third day of actions at the U23 Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup held in Lima, Peru. The DR also defeated Trinidad & Tobago, but lost to Argentina. The DR now faces Costa Rica on Thursday, 22 September 2016, prior to playing Peru that leads the tournament with straight wins on Friday, 23 September.

Norceca reports that the Dominicans outblocked Cuba 12-2 and made only 13 unforced errors to 31 by the Cubans, who dominated in attacks 37-30 and in aces 6-2.

Brayelin Martinez led the Dominican team with 16 points, including four blocks and one ace, followed by Natalia Martinez who finished with nine points, all in attacks, despite starting only in the third set. Jineiry Martinez contributed seven points, including five blocks, in the victory.

Dominican Republic captain Brayelin Martinez said, “It was a very good match. Cuba is always a strong rival and as opposed to the match against Argentina, we followed our coach’s instructions closely. We kept a good rhythm in our game. I am confident of my team and I know we will earn the ticket to the world championship.”

https://www.norceca.net/Dominicans return to the winning path track against Cuba.htm


Contemporary Dance Festival opens 27 September
The 12th International Contemporary Dance Festival (Edanco 2016) opens in Santo Domingo on 27 September 2016 and continues through 9 October at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. According to the organizers, the festival is important because it allows for showcasing contemporary dance innovation in the country and provides the dancers with the opportunity to learn from international companies.

Organizer Edmundo Poy highlights that this year, named Year of the Dance, the festival will stage a record number of performances. Dance companies from 10 countries are taking part with 17 performances on the program. Puerto Rico (4 companies), Canada (3), Colombia (3), Costa Rica (2), Spain (2), and companies from Finland, Venezuela, United Kingdom, El Salvador and Martinique (1).

The companies representing the Dominican Republic are Endanza Juvenil, Teatro Popular Danzante, Ballet Concierto Dominicano, Ballet Teatro Dominicano, Articentro Miriam Bello, Corona Hip-hop from La Vega, Royalty, Vidance, Cidy Sosa, Isabel Mart?nez, Joel Genao Amador and Colectivo Fusi?n.

The program is:
Tuesday, 27 and Wednesday 28 September:
Ballet Nacional Dominicano (DR)
Endanza Juvenil (DR)
Compa??a Nacional Contempor?nea (DR)

Thursday, 28 and Friday 30 September:
Trina Frometa (Venezuela)
Ballet Nacional Dominicano
Willman Dance Company (Finland)

Saturday, 1 October:
Carmen Werner (Spain)
Fernando Hurtado (Spain)

Sunday, 2 October:
Compa??a Nacional del Salvador (El Salvador)
Karol Marenco (Costa Rica)
Orestes Amador (Cuba, DR, El Salvador)

Monday, 3 October:
Ballet Concierto Dominicano (DR)
Teatro Popular Danzante (DR)
Joel Amador (DR)
Ballet Teatro Dominicano (DR)
Erick Guzm?n (DR)
Endanza Juvenil (DR)

Tuesday, 4 and Wednesday, 5 October
Espora Colectivo (Costa Rica)
Ballet Teatro Nacional de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
Raphaelle Bertoni (Haiti-DR)
Ballet Nacional Dominicano (DR)
Christiane Emmanuel (Martinique)

Thursday, 6 and Friday 7 October:
Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
Mauro Youth Ballet Co. (Puerto Rico)
Andrea Pe?a (Canada)
Pilar Hern?ndez (Colombia)

Saturday, 8 October:
Colectivo Fusi?n 2016 (DR)
Four Season Dance Academy (Canada)
Aurora Dance Academy (Canada)
Isabel Mart?nez (DR)
Royalty (DR)
Mauro Youth Ballet Co. (Puerto Rico)
Ballet Concierto Dominicano (DR)
Corona La Vega (DR)
Endanza e Invitados (DR)
Arte y Centro Miriam Bello (DR)
Teatro Popular Danzante (DR)

Sunday, 9 October:
DeNada Dance Company (UK)
CODA 21 (Puerto Rico)
Malas Compa??as (Colombia)

Shows are at 8:30pm and on Sundays at 6:30 and 8:30pm. Tickets are RD$200.

For information on upcoming events:
http://www.dr1.com/calendar

Archived News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...-Headline-News

Archived Travel News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...p-Tourism-News
 
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