DR1 Daily News - Monday, 28 November 2016

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President Medina sends condolences to Cuba
President Medina visits projects in the southwest
RD$122.9 billion in more public debt
Paris exhibition honors Mirabal Sisters
Hard Rock Hotel case to be heard in December
Initiation rites at baseball academies get out of hand
Policeman killed in armed robbery
Serious flooding in the Yuna River, rains to continue
Ilegales at Hard Rock Live
Oscar D’Leon at Jet Set on 17 December
Santo Domingo Music Festival set for May 2017



President Medina sends condolences to Cuba
Following the passing of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Friday, 25 November 2016, President Danilo Medina has sent his condolences on behalf of the Dominican people to Cuban leader Raul Castro.*In a letter, President Medina highlighted Castro’s historic role and how he converted politics into an exercise of priesthood and dedicated his long life to vindicating the yearnings of the Cuban people and the world.

“For many years, Cuba and the Dominican Republic have cultivated very harmonious bilateral relations. They have been respectful and marked by fraternity, sponsors of fruitful mutual exchanges,” wrote Medina. President Medina also extended his condolences to Castro’s widow, children and other relatives as well as to the government, the sister nation of Cuba, joining the expressions of solidarity from all over the planet.

Listin Diario interviewed former President Hipolito Mejia who expressed his regrets and said that Fidel Castro’s death marked the closure of an important chapter in Cuba’s history and that the world would not be the same without the comandante. “Whether you agree or disagree with his feats or his dispositions, his orders, or the new order he imposed on Cuba with blood and fire, it is impossible to ignore the struggle in which he challenged the world’s leading power in defense of his country’s independence and self-determination for more than five decades,” said Mej?a. He said that Cuba had made major achievements in education, medicine and culture but at the same time the Cuban people lacked access to democracy as we know it today.

Minister of Foreign Relations Miguel Vargas also expressed his solidarity with the Cuban people.

Meanwhile, MetroRD editor in chief Homero Figueroa writes in a Monday, 28 November 2016 editorial: "The dream of emancipation became a nightmare of submission. Fidel Castro ended up becoming what he had fought against: a dictator."

http://www.metrord.do/opinion/espejo-de-papel-fidel-el-dictador/ftwpkA---9aG5rKyIznkE/
https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...el-ejercicio-de-la-politicaenvia-condolencias
http://www.listindiario.com/las-mun...eres-del-pais-expresan-pesar-por-muerte-fidel


President Medina visits projects in the southwest
President Danilo Medina visited Guayabal in the southwestern province of Independencia on Sunday, 27 November 2016 where together with community leaders he took part in the evaluation of a sustainable development aimed at protecting the river basins. He announced a donation of an irrigation pump and tractor to support irrigation by a channel that is coordinated by a regional association. Medina said the project would benefit communities in Independencia and Bahoruco.

Medina announced that the government would be providing millions of pesos worth of support for projects in Independencia and Neiba over a period of three years. The President also used the occasion to discourage farmers from cutting down trees in the mountains.

As part of the project the government will also be donating a bus for student transportation, building eight km of road and donating 50 sewing machines to a women’s community center.

Minister of Agriculture ?ngel Est?vez, Public Works Minister Gonzalo Castillo and the director of the Dominican Agrarian Institute (IAD), Emilio Toribio Olivo accompanied the presidential visit.


RD$122.9 billion in more public debt
The Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that authorizes the Ministry of Hacienda to take out new loans worth RD$122.9 billion as part of the 2017 National Budget. The bill received votes in favor from 117 of the 138 deputies present. The PLD and its allies make up 127 of the 190 Chamber of Deputies members.

The ruling PLD party holds the majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

Opposition party deputy, Jose Francisco Santana Suriel (PRM) criticized the fact that the money would mostly be used to pay for current expenditures.

The Deputies have already passed a first reading on the National Budget and are expected to pass the second reading when they meet on Tuesday, 29 November 2017. The bills have already been approved in the PLD-majority Senate.


Paris exhibition honors Mirabal Sisters
The Dominican Embassy in France inaugurated an exhibition in honor of the Mirabal Sisters on 25 November 2016, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The exhibition “Under the Wings of the Butterflies” is open at the Henri Bergson Plaza on Marcel Pagnol Square on Rue de Laborde in the in the 8th Arrondissement.

Dominican ambassador Rosa Hern?ndez said the event was part of United Nations Resolution No. 54/134, which encourages all governments and organizations around the world to hold events to raise public awareness on the issue of violence against women.

“This historic event is especially important for the Dominican Republic because the commemoration of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women honors Dominican heroines Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal who sacrificed their lives for the country and the overthrow of the Trujillo dictatorship, one of the harshest in the Latin American and Caribbean region in the 20th century,” said the diplomat. She encouraged those present to continue supporting the fundamental rights of women and gender equality in future generations. She expressed concern at the increase in crimes and gender violence in the DR, already surpassing 77 victims at the hands of their partners in 2015.

The Dominican Republic is the country with the third highest number of femicides (3.6 per 100,000) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The DR is only surpassed by Honduras and El Salvador, according to data from the National Statistics Office (ONE). ONE bulletin No. 84 says that murders of women by men represent 8.5% of the total murders in 2015. ONE director Alexandra Izquierdo said that in more than half of the cases, the perpetrators were close to the victim – husband, former husband, boyfriend, former boyfriend, lover or partner.

Data shows that 158 women were murdered in 2015, of which 53.8% were domestic femicides (85 cases), while 19% (30 cases) were categorized as non-domestic femicides.

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/11/...las-alas-las-mariposas-honor-hermanas-mirabal
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...-tasa-elevada-de-homicidios-mujeres-KF5557783


Hard Rock Hotel case to be heard in December
Lawyer Miriam Paulino, representing the Piantini residents who are contesting the construction of a 38-floor hotel with a 23,000 square foot casino, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Santo Domingo, says the Superior Administrative Court (TSA) will hear the case on 14 December 2016. The court is in charge of reviewing decisions taken by government entities. The hearing was postponed again, this time to allow time for the neighborhood lawyer to study the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Santo Domingo’s legal counsel’s arguments for the construction.

The Piantini community association is also challenging the permit issued by the city government under former Mayor Roberto Salcedo on the grounds that the proposed infrastructure violates the laws of the city government and affects the residents.

Paulino said that the city government, now under Mayor David Collado, has said they cannot interfere with an approval process that occurred prior to their start in city government. Nevertheless, she said that the city government legal counsel has gone on record defending the permit, and thus is already taking sides and can reopen the case.

Construction of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Santo Domingo has begun at the site on the corner of Av. Abraham Lincoln and Andres Julio Aybar Street.

The neighborhood groups say they do not oppose the construction of a hotel per se, but they are challenging the planned 38 floors of the tower and the installation of a mega casino, which they say are in violation of zoning rules. Other recently built hotels in the area, operating under the Embassy Suites, InterContinental and JW Marriott brands have all met the zoning requirements.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...d-rock-fue-reenviado-para-diciembre-EG5549350


Initiation rites at baseball academies get out of hand
Brutal initiation rites seem to be part of baseball academy life. After the Texas Rangers sexual assault case involving 16-year old Colombian and Venezuelan players in their first year at a baseball academy was exposed, the media is revealing that what they were subjected to was not extraordinary.

A report in El Dia says that the sexual humiliation they suffered was part of the Major League Baseball teams’ tradition in the Dominican Republic.

18-year old students at the Texas Rangers Academy, Guillermo Antonio Villareal Mu?oz, Yohel Enrique Pozo Romero, Adrian Enrique Pernalette Velazquez and Rougned Jose Odor Zambrano are accused of sexually assaulting a group of foreign ball players staying at the sports complex. The accused baseball students defended their actions, saying that they too had been victims of similar initiation rites when they entered the academy.

The six minors, who are Colombian and Venezuelan, claim that the accused forcibly took them from the main dormitory to the bathroom where they were placed on a chair, their heads shaved, they were wrapped in toilet paper, beaten on the head, covered with talcum powder, milk, honey, water and cocoa, and one of the accused committed a sexual act on one of the victims while the others were shown pornographic material to stimulate them sexually before subjecting them to sexual assault. On this occasion, evidence of the initiation was shared. A video of these acts was uploaded to social media. The Texas Rangers Academy is in El Duey, in Boca Chica.
National District prosecutors are investigating the case.

http://eldia.com.do/rito-de-iniciacion-revela-caso-de-agresion-sexual/


Policeman killed in armed robbery
A police agent, Braulio Rosa Zarzuela was fatally injured during an armed robbery attempt in Santo Domingo on Saturday 26 November 2016. A Metropolitan Transport Authority agent who was with him, 22-year old Alfredo Mart?nez Aguero was wounded. One of the attackers was shot, while a second man escaped on a motorcycle.

As reported, the armed attackers were trying to disarm Mart?nez who defended himself and was shot in the incident that took place on Av. V Centenario on the corner of Jose de Jesus Street.

Diario Libre reports that so far in 2016, criminals have killed 23 of the 27 members of the police who have died in violent acts, according to PN statistics. In September and October, four police agents were killed in each of these months.

Their families receive RD$200,000 to RD$700,000 depending on rank. The family receives a pension equivalent to the full wage at time of death. The pension will last until the youngest child is 25 years old. They also receive a cash payment from the RD$1,000-RD$3,000 monthly savings deposited in a fund by each policeman depending on rank.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...-quitarles-sus-armas-y-motocicletas-HG5585382
http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...71/asalto-a-agente-amet-deja-un-hombre-muerto


Serious flooding in the Yuna River, rains to continue
The Ministry of Public Works is estimating rain damage at RD$20 billion nationwide as the fourth week of continued rains begins. There have been 11 deaths.

In a recent development, the Emergency Operations Center (COE) reported on the serious flooding of the Lower Yuna River basin. The flooding has cut off five communities and families have had to be evacuated. The worst affected towns are Los Peynados, Polvor?n, Los Contreras, Juana Rodr?guez, La Verde, Alto de Calpora, Reventaz?n, Ceiba de los P?jaros, Majagual de La Verde, La Reforma, El Guayabo, El Aguacate, Los Puentes, Loma Colorada, El Platanito, El Mango, Finca de Papito Campos, Las Coles and El Borojol.

On Sunday afternoon, 27 November 2016 the COE said red alerts remained in place for the northwestern province of Montecristi and for Duarte (San Francisco de Macor?s, especially the Lower Yuna basin area). Yellow alerts were issued for Mar?a Trinidad S?nchez (Nagua) and La Vega provinces.

Green alerts are in place for S?nchez Ram?rez (Cotu?), Hato Mayor, La Altagracia (Higuey), Saman?, Valverde (Mao), Monse?or Nouel (Bonao), Puerto Plata, El Seibo and Santiago.

The weather service (Onamet) says that the system affecting the country is moving from the northwest to the northeast bringing rains.

COE Bulletin No. 46 dated 27 November 2016 reports that 11,231 people have been displaced from their homes, and 626 are staying at shelters. Seven roads and 14 bridges are still affected and 69 communities have been cut off.

http://acento.com.do/2016/ecologia/...undado-se-rompe-muro-contencion-del-rio-yuna/
http://eldia.com.do/el-coe-amplia-el-nivel-de-alerta-verde-por-posibles-inundaciones/
http://eldia.com.do/la-onamet-preve-vaguada-provocara-chubascos-dispersos/
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/11/...erta-roja-nueva-vaguada-provocara-mas-lluvias
http://www.coe.gob.do
http://www.onamet.gob.do
http://www.diariolibre.com/medioamb...rtos-y-danos-por-rd-20-000-millones-CY5562510


Ilegales at Hard Rock Live
Sugar Events presents Ilegales live at Hard Rock Live at the Blue Mall in Santo Domingo. The Latin music group will be singing its hits including "La Morena", "Fiesta caliente", "A que te pongo," and more. Tickets for the 15 December 2016 concert are for sale at Uepa Tickets, CCN Jumbo and Supermercados Nacional.


Oscar D’Leon at Jet Set on 17 December
Venezuela salsa singer Oscar D’Leon, Dominican merengue singers Aramis Camilo, Peter Cruz, July Mateo (Rasputin), Henry Garcia, Fenix Ortiz, Diomedes Nu?ez and Raffy Arias will bring more Latin rhythms to Santo Domingo’s Jet Set Club Christmas bash planned for 17 December 2016 starting at 9pm.


Santo Domingo Music Festival set for May 2017
Maestro Jose Antonio Molina, conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, has been named as the new artistic director of the bi-annual Santo Domingo Music Festival. He replaces long time artistic director and festival founder, Frenchman Philippe Entremont.

In 2017, the classical music festival will be held from 18-27 May. The event is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism.

For 2017, the closing concert will take place at the Plaza Espa?a in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo. Cuban jazz player Arturo Sandoval is coming for the event. Caribbean Gems, the collection of works by Maestro Molina himself, will be played. Other highlights include a 100-voice choir singing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony during the 25 May 2017 performance.

The complete program (subject to change) is:

Friday, 19 May, National Theater:
Pianist Behzod Abduraimov and Festival Orchestra:
Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 in C minor for piano and orchestra
J. Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Listen to the music played by other orchestras at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJpJ8REjvqo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIWKLArPgxA

Saturday, 20 May, National Theater:
Cristian Chivu, director and violinist; Craig Mumm, viola; Jakob Keiding, French horn and Festival orchestra:
Mozart - Marriage Of Figaro - Overture
Mozart: Symphony no. 38 "Prague" in D major
Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E flat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikQNFqVkNNc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcE-i0eI4CQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL3xZ8Qlhro

Tuesday, 23 May, National Theater:
Gabriela Montero, piano and Festival orchestra:
J. Brahms - Intermezzo, Op. 117
F. Liszt – Piano Sonata in B minor
Gabriela Montero: Improvisation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4nnjhHe15U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCHE-UPwBJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwnGVIcHypc

Thursday 25 May, National Theater:
Jos? Antonio Molina, director
Ana Lucrecia Garc?a, soprano
Ana Moroz, mezzo-soprano
Francisco Corujo, tenor
G?nter Haumer, baritone
Festival Orchestra and Choir.
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 (Choral) in D minor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuYtRA-TXas

Saturday, 27 May, Plaza de Espa?a, Colonial City:
Jos? Antonio Molina, director
Arturo Sandoval, trumpet
Ed Calle, saxophone
Caribbean Gems
Festival Orchestra

Read more about the festival at:
http://www.sinfonia.org.do/festival/festival-musical-de-santo-domingo-2017/
http://www.sinfonia.org.do/festival/festival-musical-de-santo-domingo-2017/

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


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