DR1 Daily News - Friday, 2 June 2017

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Tolentino Dipp calls for investigating the Presidents
Attorney General: Bribes were paid for financing of Punta Catalina
Attorney General sends different requests to Brazil for Odebrecht accusatory instruments  
Attorney General sends different requests to Brazil for Odebrecht accusatory instruments  
Andres Mateo: new Dominican spirit rejects hyper-corruption
Catholic Church celebrates ban on abortion
Colonial City streets closed for electrification works
Port Authority increases maritime surveillance
City College of New York creates master’s degree program in Dominican studies
Isla gas stations will carry the brand Shell as of 2018
It is not too early to think about winter league baseball
Mozart La Para Santiago concert
Pochy Familia & su CocoBand 30th anniversary
RD Fashion Week will be held 



Tolentino Dipp calls for investigating the Presidents
Former deputy Hugo Tolentino Dipp spoke up yesterday calling for all former presidents and incumbent President Danilo Medina also be included in the Odebrecht bribes scandal investigation. 

In a televised interview on Channel, he called the relationship between the Dominican government and Odebrecht “a scheme that certainly involved more than 14 people in and out of the government.” 

He questioned how President Danilo Medina and President Leonel Fernandez could not have also been embroiled in the investigation by the Attorney General Office (PGR) that identified 14 officials, former officials, legislators and suppliers who have been accused of accepting bribes.  “I’m thinking: Is it possible that the both of the PLD Presidents of the Republic stay cleared of this scandal?”

"All presidents (from 2001-2016) should be investigated for the benefit of the country, the Dominican nation, the Dominican citizens who deserve transparency, because it is our country’s reputation that they are playing with and with our money, with the future of our children and their grandchildren," said Tolentino Dipp when interviewed on Enfoque Matinal on Channel 37.

Tolentino said that Angel Rondón is not the key person in the bribery scandal. 

The scandal in which Odebrecht officials admitted in a New York court to have bribe Dominican officials spans the terms of three Dominican Presidents, from 2001 to 2014. The Dominican presidents during those years were: Hipólito Mejía (2000-2004), Leonel Fernández (2004-2008, 2008-2012), and Danilo Medina (2012-2016). 

Tolentino Dipp is a well-known historian, politician, lawyer and former Minister of Foreign Relations. Tolentino was the minister of Foreign Relations during the Hipólito Mejía administration (2000-2004), but resigned in protest when Mejía did not heed his recommendation to not send Dominican troops to the Iraq war. Likewise, Tolentino is known as one of the few deputies that did not vote in favor of Odebrecht contract work or financing in Congress when representing the PLD in the Chamber of Deputies.  

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2017/06/...nte-deben-ser-investigados-por-caso-odebrecht


Attorney General: Bribes were paid for financing of Punta Catalina
The Attorney General (PGR) Office said on Thursday, 1 June 2017, that in none of the documents provided by the Brazilian authorities of Brazil does it refer to paying bribes for the tender for the Engineering Procurement and Construction Contract for the Punta Catalina thermoelectric central. Nevertheless, in the same press release, the PGR says that as was indicated in the request for preventive custody, there is convincing evidence that bribes were paid out to secure international financing for the project. 

The PGR note indicates that there are two persons against whom they are requesting preventive custody in the group of 14 submitted to Judge Francisco Ortega. 

Diario Libre publishes the specifics of the accusations of each of the 14 accused. El Nuevo Diario publishes the complete file of the Odebrecht bribes scandal in the Dominican Republic. 

http://elnacional.com.do/pese-a-sobornos-no-hay-sometidos-por-punta-catalina/
http://almomento.net/procuraduria-a...pero-si-para-aprobacion-financiamiento/322014
http://eldia.com.do/procuraduria-ex...d-de-medidas-de-coercion-imputados-odebrecht/
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...-imputados-en-sobornos-de-odebrecht-ID7234596
https://elnuevodiario.com.do/expedi...los-implicados-en-el-caso-sobornos-odebrecht/
http://eldia.com.do/procuraduria-aclara-licitacion-de-plantas/


Attorney General sends different requests to Brazil for Odebrecht accusatory instruments  
The Attorney General Office claims it “adhered to standard procedures to request information and documents” related to the scandal that encompassed the years 2001-2014. The Attorney General Office was compelled to respond to accusations that there was apparently a discrepancy in the original Spanish text and subsequent Portuguese translation of request for Odebrecht documents related to Dominican Republic sent to the Brazilian authorities in regards to the scandal.

The Attorney General was responding to a report in Acento that suggested that the Attorney General Office had sent two documents to Brazil requesting the accusatory instruments in the Odebrecht bribes scandal. One of the documents, in Spanish, requested the documents for the years 2001-2014, but the other, translated to Portuguese, only requests documents referring to years 2001-2004. 

Odebrecht company officers admitted in a New York Court that they had made bribes for US$92 million to obtain contract work in the Dominican Republic. 

The media has speculated that this is why in the 14 arrest orders submitted by the prosecuting judge Francisco Ortega there are no officials included for events that occurred or were carried out during the administration of President Danilo Medina, who has governed the country since the year 2012.

http://acento.com.do/2017/actualida...-portugues-y-en-espanol-sobre-caso-odebrecht/
http://acento.com.do/2017/actualida...n-traduccion-dice-que-lo-hizo-de-2001-a-2014/
http://www.mpf.mp.br/pgr/documentos/oficio-recebido-da-republica-dominicana


Andres Mateo: new Dominican spirit rejects hyper-corruption
Andres Mateo writes in Hoy today that the Odebrecht scandal has brought a new spirit prevailing in the Dominican Republic that works against those who felt secure in their niches of power, well covered by the blanket of impunity. 

Mateo writes that the public has discovered its power and are obliging the Dominican political bestiary to act. “Nothing of what is now happening in the country is due to the political bestiary of the traditional parties. On the contrary, what can best explain the present crisis is the questioning of the whole political system,” he points out.  

He explains that the two majority parties are wobbling on the tight rope. “The country has to change its traditional political structures that are sclerotized, corrupt, and without any true vocation for the common good. "The palace of jade was cleaned of dust." That is what this is about, that the popular mobilizations, the indignation, the disgust of seeing a corrupt and cynical ‘leadership’ administering the destiny of all have pushed the country to the largest and most significant protest of the last half century of republican history,” he observes. 

Referring to the Green March protest movement, Mateo states: “Without the sea of green at all these protests, there would have been no justice served for those ensnared by the Odebrecht case. We must all continue to protest so that "The palace of jade is cleaned of dust".

Mateo stresses, nevertheless, that Odebrecht bribery scandal is not the only one. He writes: “Odebrecht is not the only case of hyper-corruption in the country, perhaps a government has not had so many cases  of hyper-corruption at the same time.” 

He goes on to mention those of the Tucanos aircraft, the State Sugar Council (CEA), INAPA, the renovation of the Darío Contreras Hospital, the case of Diandino Peña, the scanners of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), OISOE, the sale of an entire barrio to Titulatec, among others. 

“We are living the refreshing effluvium of self-recognition of the power of the masses. And as a result, the traditional political system staggers. The ruling PLD party corruption has reached unimaginable levels, and the falsification that has been made of what a politician must represent must be repudiated. 

Mateo brings to the limelight the comment of the president of the Senate Reinaldo Pared Pérez told reporters on why he did not appear on the accusatory file of those bribed by Odebrecht “because I crossed the mud and I did not get soiled." And one thinks that the cynicism of Dominican politicians makes us jump from fright, because he is the one who presided over that mire, the same one who signed 60 contracts with Odebrecht (and does not even appear in the investigations of the examining magistrate), the "Marquis of Barrilito ", the" Czar of arrogance”, who after making the statement looked at one of his watches from his Rolex collection, and mounted his Rolls-Royce, to go and rest in his villa in Los Mogotes.”

http://hoy.com.do/los-sobornados-los-enlodados/#.WTANp8nKSKQ.whatsapp


Catholic Church celebrates ban on abortion
The Episcopal Conference of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic congratulated the Senate for rejecting the observations made to the Penal Code on abortion. The Senate passed the Penal Code leaving out exceptions to the ban on abortions in the cases of rape, incest or malformation of the embryo. 

Women’s rights groups protested that the senators preferred to please the churches that have pressured them to maintain the ban on abortion. They said the decision condemns women to death. 

The Penal Code now returns to the Executive Branch for the signing of the President. 

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...-del-aborto-es-una-condena-a-muerte-HA7233584


Colonial City streets closed for electrification works
The Colonial City renovation program announced that EdeEste will be working on the intersections of Arzobispo Meriño and Emiliano Tejera streets to advance in works for the installation of underground electrical systems. The streets will be closed to traffic on 3 and 4 June. To facilitate traffic, drivers circulating north to south on Arzobispo Meriño street will be given access to an alternate route. 


Port Authority increases maritime surveillance
The Dominican Port Authority together with the Specialized Corps of Port Security invited reporters to see for themselves the new patrol vessels to be used for maritime surveillance. The new ships will operate out of the port of Santo Domingo and will later be stationed in other major shipping terminals. 

The inauguration of these new patrol boats was presided over by the executive director of the Dominican Port Authority, Victor Gomez Casanova, together with Rear-Admiral Emilio Recio Segura, the head of Port Security. 

In his address, Gomez Casanova said that the acquisition and deployment of the new patrol units was a joint effort with the Ministry of Defense and the Specialized Corps of Port Security. He said that one of the objectives of the incorporation of these new units is to reduce “risks of accidents during port operations.”

http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...nuevas-embarcaciones-patrullaje-maritimo.html


City College of New York creates master’s degree program in Dominican studies
City College of New York (CCNY) announces a new masters program focusing on Dominican studies. The program, the Dominican Studies Track, is part of the Master in the Study of the Americas Program in the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education. The Dominican Studies specialization will focus on the legacy and the socioeconomic development of the Dominican people in the Dominican Republic and in the United States and on the relationships between the two countries. Registration is open for students to start in fall 2017. 

“City College’s new master’s degree recognizes the importance of the Dominican Republic and Dominicans in our city, in our culture and at our university,” said CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken. “Nearly 10 percent of CUNY’s students are of Dominican ancestry, but we expect that students from many backgrounds will be interested in a program that examines and highlights the Dominican society and economy. 

“I commend the students, faculty and administrators at CCNY on today’s launch of the new Dominican Studies specialization in the Master in the Study of the Americas Program,” said Congressman Adriano Espaillat. “This Master track program is a first of its kind in the United States and offers participating students a unique perspective into the legacy and socioeconomic development of the Dominican people in the Dominican Republic, the United States, across the Americas, and in communities around the world. Through their studies, scholars will gain an invaluable understanding of the Dominican culture and have the ability to produce and disseminate research based work as part of the program’s comprehensive approach in Dominican Studies.”

The MA in the Study of the Americas, under the direction of CWE Assistant Professor Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken, is an interdisciplinary, 30-credit graduate program that addresses questions and concepts about the Americas as it focuses on topics such as racial and ethnic identities, migration and immigration, popular culture, politics, gender, and human rights. 

The Program finds a natural home at City College, where the Dominican Studies Institute of the City University of New York (CUNY DSI) is the nation’s first and only university-based research institute devoted to the study of the history of the Dominican Republic and people of Dominican descent in the United States and across the wider Dominican Diaspora. 

https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-launches-new-master’s-program-track-dominican-studies


Isla gas stations will carry the brand Shell as of 2018
170 Isla gas stations will be renovated and branded as Shell gas stations by the first quarter of 2018, according to Gilberto Villanueva, director of sales and marketing of Isla Dominicana de Petroleo. He said the investment is being made by the Mora and Corripio families, shareholders of the company. 

The agreement was signed between Isla and Shell for the company to represent Shell fuels in the Dominican Republic. He said Isla has the largest number of gas stations in the country, as reported in Hoy. The company will be investing RD$400 million in the renovations. 

http://hoy.com.do/estaciones-isla-se-convertiran-en-shell-a-partir-del-2018/


It is not too early to think about winter league baseball
The board of the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League has unanimously approved the starting date for the 2017-2018 Professional Winter League Baseball Season. The season will begin on Friday, 13 October 2017 with a single game in Santo Domingo between the two most popular teams in the country: the Aguilas Cibaeñas and the Tigres del Licey. 

It is interesting to note that the Aguilas will not play a home game until the third game of the season when they receive a visit by the Estrellas Orientales to the Estadio Cibao in Santiago. 

There will be a total of 150 games played during what is called the regular section of the tournament, with each team playing 50 games. This part of the tournament ends on 17 December with games between the Aguilas and Tigres in Santo Domingo. 

The great Santo Domingo rivalry between Escogido and Licey will see its first game on Sunday, 15 October. 

The meeting of the board of directors was headed by Leonardo Matos Berrido and attended by delegates from all six teams that will take part in the tournament.

https://www.diariolibre.com/deporte...rneo-de-beisbol-invernal-dominicano-CY7221859


Mozart La Para Santiago concert
Urban music singer-songwriter, award-winning Mozart La Para will be performing on Sunday, 4 June 2017 as of 7pm at the Monumento in Santiago.  “Mozart La Para directo al corazón” (Mozart La Para straight to the Heart) is the name of the concert. The concert is free. Special effects are part of the concert. 

He will be singing: “El sapito”, “Llegan los montros”, “Pa’ gozar”, “Qué buena tu tá”, o “Fiesta y vacilón”, among other best hits.


Pochy Familia & su CocoBand 30th anniversary
Merengue Band Pochy Familia & Su Coco Band will be playing at 10pm on Saturday, 17 June at the Hard Rock Live in Santo Domingo. Special guests include Henry García, Josee Veras and Rafy Díaz. Tickets are available at Ticketexpress.com.do


RD Fashion Week will be held 
Organizers of the RD Fashion Week announced the event will take place this year at the Catalonia Santo Domingo Hotel on the Malecón and the Acrópolis Center shopping mall on Av. Winston Churchill. More than 40 designers will be participating in the event set for 18-23 July 2017. 

In addition to runway shows with 40 designers, highlights of this year’s extravaganza are the “No Discrimination” event and the runway show on Venezuelan fashion designs featuring 15 designers, models and leading personalities from the fashion industry in Venezuela. Another highlight is the Size Plus runway show, another dedicated to petite women, and an event programmed to protest bullying. 

On Saturday, 22 July, the traditional RD Kids Fashion Week day will be celebrated. 

During RD Fashion Week, a trade show will be held showcasing fashion world products and services. 

http://elnacional.com.do/el-rd-fashion-week-2017-ya-tiene-fecha/