DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 12 April 2018

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DR1 Daily News next update on 16 April 2018
President Danilo Medina in Peru for Summit of the Americas
SICA gathers here to discuss social policies
Las Americas Free Zone greets medical devices company
ECLAC sees big growth for DR in 2018
Senators vote for open primaries to elect political party candidates
Simon Hart MP meets President Medina
Baristas institute now open
Ligia Portalatín, Helados Bon founder passes away
13,000 Dominicans to benefit from migratory amnesty in Chile
Duquesa is a garbage dump, but it Is a mine for pickers
Marcha Verde calls for completing the Odebrecht corruption file
Babynapper “wanted to do good”
Yuniol Ramírez’s killer arrested in United States
Rains continue over many parts of the Cibao
Drama at Teatro Guloya
“Aló Dios” continues at Sala Ravelo
Comedy at Casa de Teatro



DR1 Daily News next update on 16 April 2018
The next DR1 Daily News update will be published on Monday, 16 April 2018. The Monday issue will compile headline news for the previous Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Breaking news can be followed 24/7 in the Forums. See the DR1 Forum at http://www.dr1.com


President Danilo Medina in Peru for Summit of the Americas
President Danilo Medina and First Lady Candida Montilla arrived to Peru at 8:39pm to participate in the
8th Summit of the Americas and the III CEO Summit of the Americas taking place from 12-14 April 2018 in Lima, Peru.

The Heads of State and Government of the Americas Summit’s central theme is “Democratic Governance against Corruption.” The summits are held every three years, and offer the opportunity for the regional leaders to jointly define a hemispheric agenda at the highest level that addresses urgent challenges and promotes positive change.

A parallel summit is organized by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), the III CEO Summit of the Americas is taking place 12-13 April 2018 at the Westin Lima Hotel in Lima, Peru. The theme of the summit is “Made in the Americas.”

President Medina is scheduled to speak on Thursday, 13 Aril at 1:35pm (Dominican time). On the next day he will participate in a lunch with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada is interested in advancing on talks for the signing of a free trade agreement with the Dominican Republic.

The Presidency announced that traveling with President Medina are Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas, Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ramón Peralta and Finance Minister Donald Guerrero. Also legal advisor to the President, Flavio Darío Espinal, the director of the Government Ethics & Integrity, Lidio Cadet and the president of the National Business Council (Conep) Pedro Brache.
https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...n-iii-cumbre-empresarial-y-viii-cumbre-de-las


SICA gathers here to discuss social policies
The countries belonging to the Central American Integration System (SICA) are meeting in Bavaro, central Punta Cana for high-level policy discussions intended to implement a regional agenda on social policies and inclusion towards the year 2030. The assembly seeks to promote equality, fairness and wellbeing and close the social gaps. The activity is organized by the Office of the Vice President of the Dominican Republic and the Secretariat for Social Integration in Central America at the insistence of SICA. Dominican Vice President Margarita Cedeño said that she wants this meeting to mark before and after points regarding social policies in the Central American region.

The Dominican Republic is currently the pro tempore president of SICA. Authorities from Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are taking part in the assembly. The governments of Costa Rica and Belize are also present at the ministerial level.

https://vicepresidencia.gob.do/vice...-rd-trazar-agenda-regional-proteccion-social/
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...da-regional-sobre-proteccion-social-GM9608091


Las Americas Free Zone greets medical devices company
The COSMED Group and the Las Americas Free Zone announced yesterday a US$20 million investment in a new facility at the Las Americas Free Zone. Cosmed was founded to sterilize cosmetics and medicines using proprietary processes and contracting its services. Most recently the company has specialized in the sterilization of food products such as nuts and spices, but has decided to return to the sterilization of medical equipment, and thus the investment in Las Americas Free Zone. The new facility will provide manufacturers of medical supplies to finalize this manufacturing process with the sterilization of their products.

According to Claudia Pellerano, the president of the free zone, Cosmed will begin construction this year of its installations and will begin operations towards the end of 2019. The chief executives of the Cosmed and the Las Americas Free Zone met with President Danilo Medina at the Presidential Palace to share details on the investment.

Originally named ETO Sterilization, Inc. (ETO), the company was founded in 1981 to sterilize medical devices and spices in Newark, NJ. The company grew to be among the largest contract sterilization companies in the United States, until it divested its medical device sterilization assets – 5 locations – in 2005 to focus on the food safety. The company continues to market technologies to pasteurize spices, nutmeats and other agricultural commodities. The company recently reentered the medical device sterilization market and is manufacturing and selling ethylene oxide sterilizers, scrubbers and related accessories.

https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...mpresa-esterilizacion-dispositivos-medicos-se


ECLAC sees big growth for DR in 2018
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said on 11 April 2018 that a 2.2% forecast for the growth of Latin American and Caribbean economies in 2018 is solid, and they stressed that there is an international context that is more favorable than former years but that there are still “important uncertainties.”

ECLAC says the countries expected to grow the most this 2018 are Antigua and Barbuda (5.8%), Panama (5.6%), Nicaragua (5.0%) and the Dominican Republic (5%). The only countries that are facing a forecast of recession are Venezuela (-8.5%) and Dominica (-5.0%). The rest of Latin American and the Caribbean will see growth between 4.0% and 1.6%.

The English and French speaking Caribbean will grow at about 1.4% with the good numbers for Antigua and Barbuda offset by the recession and Dominica.

https://www.cepal.org/en/pressrelea...-activity-latin-america-and-caribbean-it-will
https://www.cepal.org/en/news/economies-central-america-and-dominican-republic-will-grow-44-2018
https://www.cepal.org/es/publicacio...na-evolucion-economica-2017-perspectivas-2018


Senators vote for open primaries to elect political party candidates
Incorporating the holding of simultaneous and open primaries to choose the presidential candidates for the 2020 general elections, the Senate passed the Political Parties Bill as drafted by the senatorial commission in charge of studying the bill. This means that on the same day eligible voters can vote for any candidate of any party, regardless of their political affiliation.

The bill orders that the primaries be organized by the Central Electoral Board (JCE). Advocates of the open primaries say that by making these happen simultaneously, voters would only be able to vote once. The open primary would replace the party convention mechanism.

Open primaries have had the support of backers of President Danilo Medina. The measure had been rejected by most politicians of most of the opposition parties, and by the Leonel Fernández sector within the ruling PLD party. Those against the provision say it would facilitate a second constitutional amendment to enable a second reelection of President Danilo Medina. In 2015, the 2010 Constitution was changed to enable the re-election of President Medina.

Six PLD senators and two PRM senators abandoned the voting hall. But the 24 yes votes were enough for the bill to pass in the first reading.

Participants in the senatorial commission that voted in favor of open primaries were Aristides Victoria Yeb, Ruben Darío Cruz, Félix Vásquez, Rafael Calderón, Julio César Valentín and José Hazim Frappier. José Rafael Vargas voted against the initiative. And senators Charlie Marrioti and Jose Ignacio Paliza left the meeting.

Separately, senators Vargas, Félix Bautista, Prim Pujals, Manuel Guichardo, Amarilis Santana and Dionis Sánchez said it is illegal to obligate the parties to use the voting list of the Central Electoral Board to elect the internal candidates in open primaries. They say to impose that candidates of the political parties be elected in simultaneous open primaries would be in violation of the Constitution. The measure had already been rejected by the Supreme Court of Justice in 2005.

http://eldia.com.do/mayoria-peledeista-aprobara-primarias/
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...as-y-simultaneas-en-ley-de-partidos-MA9615259


Simon Hart MP meets President Medina
Prior to traveling to Peru, President Danilo Medina met at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, 11 April 2018 with visiting Simon Hart MP from the United Kingdom. The Embassy of the United Kingdom says that the visit is evidence of the commitment of the United Kingdom to the strengthening of commercial ties with the Dominican Republic. The DR is the leading trading partner for the UK in the Caribbean.

In the UK parliament, Hart is a member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and several All Party Parliamentary Groups. The main UK export to the Dominican Republic is whisky. The DR is a leading exporter of bananas to the UK.

https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...ial-del-reino-unido-destacan-fuertes-vinculos
http://www.simon-hart.com/home/


Baristas institute now open
The Instituto del Café Santo Domingo (ICSD) is offering since March 2018 barista certifications. Those completing the studies receive a certificate from the “Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). The ICSD offers the Coffee Skills Program for training in all the phases of the barista career.

The program includes introduction to coffee, barista skills, brewing, green coffee, sensory skills and roasting in the foundation, intermediate and professional modules.

The educational institute is located at Calle Francisco Prats Ramírez 251 in Santo Domingo, Tel 809 533-1984. The center has the backing of Café Santo Domingo, the leading Dominican coffee brand.


Ligia Portalatín, Helados Bon founder passes away
Ligia Portalatín passed away on Tuesday, 10 April 2018. She was 93 years old. She is best known as the founder together with her husband, the late Alfonso Moreno, and their children, Jaime, Jesús and Ana Angélica Moreno of the very successful Helados Bon, the country’s first national franchise and largest ice cream company.

Born in 1924 in La Vega, she supported her husband’s anti-Dictator Trujillo efforts, his first years as a politician for the Social Christian Party, his founding of the very successful ice cream manufacturing company, and his activities as an environmentalist and founder of the Quita Espuela Scientific Reserve in his hometown Duarte province. She was a schoolteacher for many years, but was best known for being an epitome of unconditional love, strength, resilience and grace in he roles of wife, mother and company founder since 1972. The wake is at Funeraria Blandino and the burial on Thursday, 12 April at 11am at the Cristo Redentor Cemetery.

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/04/11/fallece-fundadora-de-la-empresa-helados-bon/
https://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2018/04/12/510252/fallece-fundadora-de-helados-bon
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...fundadora-de-la-empresa-helados-bon-YN9609634
http://eldia.com.do/fallece-fundadora-de-la-empresa-helados-bon/


13,000 Dominicans to benefit from migratory amnesty in Chile
Some 13,000 Dominicans could legalize their status in Chile after Pesident Sebastián Piñera announced a bill for migratory reform and a decree that orders that foreigners who entered prior to 8 April 2018 could begin the legalization process if they have no criminal record in Chile or abroad. Listin Diario reports that another 18,000 would already have legal status in Chile, citing statistics provided by Francisco Beriguete, president of the Dominican Society in Chile. He said of there are approximately one million immigrants in Chile, a third are undocumented. The number of those with irregular migratory status has doubled in the past four years.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...n-bani-enfrentan-intranquilidad-y-nerviosismo
http://www.emol.com/noticias/Nacion...ye-a-quienes-tengan-antecedentes-penales.html


Duquesa is a garbage dump, but it Is a mine for pickers
The Duquesa refuse dump is an open sky blot of contamination and bad smells, but it is considered a “free zone” for the garbage pickers – called divers – who work there on a daily basis with little or no protection of any sort.

Do you think that garbage is everything we put in the garbage can? According to El Dia, the answer is no, because many of the things that we throw away actually provide a living for hundreds of men and women of all ages who get up each day to pick through the garbage of more than two million people in Greater Santo Domingo that is deposited at the Duquesa refuse dump. The presence of the divers means that the dump is poorly administered and managed.

There are 127,000 m² of land at Duquesa and the dump receives between 3,900-4,000 tons of refuse each day since 2006.

El Dia reporters visited Duquesa to find out what it is really like. They found that the divers are about 95% Haitian, and many are “specialists” who only look for certain things such as clothing, metal, or plastic.

According to the report in the newspaper, divers can earn between 1,000 and 3,000 pesos a day. The reporters cited the case of a woman who specialized in clothing, which she takes home, washes and then goes out and sells. She usually earns between RD$500 and RD$1,200 on her sales. On Mondays she goes to the dump to find clothing; on Tuesdays she washes clothes and prepares them for sale, and on Wednesdays she takes to the streets to sell her wares. On Saturday she goes back to Duquesa. Thursdays and Fridays are rest days.

The reporters found out that those who look for metal, plastic, cardboard and wood usually sell their product to buyers who then sell wholesale. According to the reporters these divers can pocket as much as 3,000 pesos a day.

http://eldia.com.do/vertedero-de-du...-dependen-cientos-de-personas-en-los-casabes/


Marcha Verde calls for completing the Odebrecht corruption file
Marcha Verde called once again for the public ministry to present a comprehensive Odebrecht corruption case including the recommendation of the indictments of those responsible for the bribes and overvaluations. The Attorney General has presented a case against 14 persons, the majority of whom are former government officers and legislators. The list of the accused does not include officials that signed or entered into dubious contracts or agreements during the Medina administrations. The AG’s office also has not brought charges against officials involved in the Punta Catalina thermoelectrical plant, the largest contract work with Odebrecht.

Leaders of Marcha Verde say that the Attorney General Office needs to carry out a rigorous technical investigation into possibilities of overvaluation of the 22 contracts signed with Odebrecht from 2002 to 2016. Likewise, it requests that the suspect illegal financing of the ruling PLD party election campaigns be investigated. The Attorney General has until May to file the definite accusations.

"In these corruption cases, many potential guilty people have not been investigated,” says Marcha Verde. In a statement, the Green March movement alerts that Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez’s activities have been largely a distraction for citizens and his office has abandoned its prosecutorial responsibilities and seems to be only defending the interests of his party and the government. "That is why the citizens who suffer from our country, our taxes and the future of our children can not rest until all those responsible are investigated and submitted to justice," reads the statement.
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...ir-caso-odebrecht-todos-los-responsables.html


Babynapper “wanted to do good”
Four persons from East Santo Domingo who are accused of forming a gang of criminals that stole a baby girl last week in a park in Los Mina say that they are innocent and that they were only trying to do a good deed. Evelyn Moronta Inoa, one of the accused, said that she was a childhood friend of the baby’s mother and she said that the mother did not have the means to maintain the baby and that she was going to sell the child for RD$5,000. She describes herself as a pastor.

Moronta Inoa, 40, said that her daughter-in-law, Jessica Castillo, was going to take care of the baby. Moronta says that she is a good woman, the mother of six children, who has grandchildren and is not a criminal. Jessica Castillo, who is married to one of Moronta’s sons, said that they are innocent. She assured reporters that she wanted to raise the little girl. The case is scheduled to be heard in justice on Friday, 13 April 2018.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...e-que-solo-trataba-de-hacer-un-bien-YM9608023


Yuniol Ramírez’s killer arrested in United States
The man accused by the public prosecutors of the murder of the lawyer and university professor Yuniol Ramirez has been arrested by Interpol agents in New York. According to different news sources the location of Argenis Contreras was known to the authorities for some time, and according to El Nacional, he decided to turn himself in.

The National Police Major General Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte shared the information with the press, according to Diario Libre. The general added that the authorities are proceeding with the extradition of the suspect. He may travel to the Dominican Republic within the next two days.

According to statements by José Antonio Mercado (El Grande) who is another of the suspects in this case and who supposedly, together with Contreras, kidnapped Ramirez on the campus of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), the professor was then executed by Contreras inside the vehicle they were using.

Yuniol Ramirez was killed after completing an investigation into the corruption inside the Metropolitan Office of Autobuses (OMSA), during the administration of Manuel Rivas, another of the suspects in this crime. Argenis Contreras was the assistant to Rivas at the OMSA. The case file also includes Faustino Rosario Diaz and OMSA supplier Eddie Rafael Santana Zorilla.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/apresan-a-argenis-contreras-en-nueva-york-AM9608233
http://hoy.com.do/video-los-detalle...genis-contreras-por-muerte-de-yuniol-ramirez/


Rains continue over many parts of the Cibao
Thunderstorms and stiff breezes continue over large parts of the Northeast, Northwest and the Southeast as a result of a low pressure trough, according to the National Metereological Office (Onamet). Most of the rain will fall in Santiago, La Vega, Monseñor Nouel (Bonao), San Cristobal, Samaná, Duarte (San Francisco de Macorís) and La Altagracia (Higuey and Punta Cana).

For Santo Domingo, the forecast is for partly cloudy skies with scattered showers and some isolated thunder and lightning. Temperatures continue to remain high. Onamet recommends avoiding the noonday sun and the use of light clothing.

The marine forecast says there are small 2 to 5 foot waves in the Atlantic and Caribbean and there are no small craft warnings.

http://elnacional.com.do/el-cibao-continuara-afectado-por-lluvias/


Drama at Teatro Guloya
Teatro Guloya presents “La otra orilla” on weekends from 12 to 29 April 2018. The play by Cuban Ulises Cala Roger looks into human relations, with insights into physical and emotional relations, and the ghosts in everyday life. Scenography is by Fidel Lopez. Starring in the drama are award winning actors Orestes Amador and Isabel Spencer.


“Aló Dios” continues at Sala Ravelo
After receiving high praise, the monologue starring Georgina Duluc will continue this weekend, 13, 14, 15 April at the Sala Ravelo of the National Theater. Shows on Friday and Saturday are at 8:30pm and at 6:30pm on Sunday.


Comedy at Casa de Teatro
Eduardo Santos and Noel Ventura have the lead roles in the comedy, “Me quitaron la casa,” that opens at Casa de Teatro in the Colonial City on the 20-22 April 2018 weekend. The shows will be Friday and Saturday at 8:30pm and Sunday at 6:30pm. The show is produced by Puerto Rican Raul Mendez, directed by Richardson Díaz with play by Puerto Rican Carlos Vega. It tells the story of Juan who is holding on to his last possession his home, and Eduardo who needs to evict Juan in order to keep his job.