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Daily News - 5 February 2001
Social compensation program to be announced tonight
President Hipolito Mejia is scheduled to speak to the nation at 9 pm. He has announced he will explain his administration's social compensation program. The social program has been promoted as a way to lessen the effects on the lower brackets of the population of the new taxes that have rippled through the economy, increasing prices in general.
Channel 4 (RTVD) will transmit the broadcast nationwide. The talk can also be heard on Dominicana FM (99.9) and the state radio station 620 AM frequency. Several private television and radio stations are expected to retransmit the broadcast.
US$23 million for better equipping the Navy
The Dominican Navy is calling it operation Centennial of the Sea. Chief of the Navy, Rear Admiral Luis A. Humeau Hidalgo told the Listin Diario that the government has authorized an investment of US$23 million to better equip the Navy. Reportedly, 12 new coast guard ships, and two helicopters will be acquired, as well as five speedboats. The ships will enable the Navy to improve its watch over Dominican coastal waters, primarily reducing human and drug smuggling operations. The Navy will also be able to assist those that have been shipwrecked.
President Mejia to make controversial trip to Haiti
Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp confirmed that President Mejia will travel to Port au Prince, Haiti for the inaugural of Haitian president-elect Jean Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday, 7 February. Reportedly, President Mejia will be the only head of state to attend the inaugural of Aristide. The Dominican Republic is also the country to have most at stake as it shares a frontier of more than 300 kilometers with Haiti.
Notwithstanding, there has been much opposition to the trip in the DR and in Haiti.
Minister Tolentino said, "Above all there are political relations that the two countries have to keep with tact, care and respect to our sovereignties." He explained that the two governments have a commitment to keep open a dialogue and work in harmony for the solution of common problems.
High-ranking politicians within the ruling party in the DR, the PRD, have lobbied with the Haitian opposition seeking an agreement that would bring stability to Haiti. The Haitian opposition has threatened to inaugurate a parallel government.
The DR is the most interested party in political, social and economic stability in Haiti. When things improve in Haiti, trade is up and migration of indigent Haitians is down.
Ambassador Alberto Despradel said that President Mejia will travel to Haiti in the morning, leaving on the same day.
It is the first time that a Dominican head of state attends an inaugural of a Haitian president.
DR authorities are hoping for better relations with Aristide this time around. During his first seven month presidency in 1991, Aristide was known for his antagonistic statements against the DR in Haitian and international forums.
Economist hopeful things will improve by spring
Analyzing the economy in an interview in Hoy newspaper, Father Jose Luis Aleman, of the team of economic advisors of President Hipolito Mejia, said that the economy is starting to feel the effects of the deceleration of the US economy. He said this is evident in the slow down of contracts for work at the export free zones. Aleman, nevertheless, is optimistic that the Dominican economy will perform better than what most people perceive, as he believes that the negatives being felt now, such as increases in prices, are only temporary.
Aleman told Hoy that the DR economy will find its due course this year, forecasting that by April all will note a substantial improvement that will change the pessimistic mood of people. He said that the fall of the peso versus the US dollar in the first part of the year, together with significant and generalized price increases strengthens the negative perceptions.
"There has been an increase in prices, and there has not been an increase in salaries; if there is an increase in salaries, then one would suppose there will be greater unemployment. These are practically unavoidable things," said the well known economy professor.
He said that he expects the government will soon have the necessary resources to start major projects that should reactivate the economy following the passing of the initial shock of the inflationist price adjustments in the first month of the year.
"I believe the first months of the year are going to be a big hard. Now, as of March and April, things will get better," he said.
He said that government efforts will result in an increase in farm production entering markets as of the start of spring.
He favors that the Central Bank eliminate the exchange duty and allow the entrance of foreign banking to Dominican market. This he said would result in a lowering of interest rates, which he said is one of the most serious economic problems.
Slow down in Presidente Beer expansion
Carlos Guillermo Leon, administrative vice president of Grupo Leon Jimenes, manufacturer of Presidente Beer and Marlboro cigarettes in the DR, said that the company has postponed expansion plans for Presidente Beer for the time being. He said due to the economic reforms implemented by the government in January, beer sales have been down in the first five weeks of the year. The company is now adjusting its sales projections for the Dominican market. He said, nevertheless, that they will strengthen their export efforts.
In an interview for Listin Diario, Leon said, "Pessimism is a luxury we cannot afford at this time."
He spoke while participating in the business seminar fostered by the US Embassy in Casa de Campo over the weekend.
Less free zone contracts being received
Fernando Capellan, president of the Dominican Association of Free Zones, confirmed that free zones have experienced a lull in contracting for 2001. He said that it is true some free zones have had to fire personnel. He said this is primarily a result of the slow down in the US economy. Nevertheless, he said that the cancellations are not significant.
"Orders are down; it is not something to be alarmed about; sales are down, Americans are being cautious, buying less," said Capellan.
Nevertheless, he believes that in the next three years some 65,000 new jobs will be created in the sector as a result of the process of growth and diversification of export manufacturing in the DR. Free zones today employ about 200,000 people.
US Customs returns valuable Taino pieces
Thanks to the efforts of the Miami Customs Department, 48 valuable Taino period items were returned to the Dominican Republic. In a press conference, Minister of Culture Tony Raful said that US Customs agents detected the contraband during a routine check of luggage on 1 September 2000. The US government returned the pieces to Miami Consul General Manuel Duran on 29 January 2001 who sent them back to the DR. The details of who was attempting to introduce them into the US were not revealed.
US-DR Entrepreneurial Conference held in Casa de Campo
The United States Embassy organized the international conference "Fostering Enterprise: The Entrepreneurial Experience," 1-4 February at Casa de Campo convention center. Speakers at the event were Frederick W. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of FedEx; John Zeglis, CEO of AT&T; Nelson Rising, president of Catellus Development Corporation, one of the US' largest real estate operating companies; and Raul Fernandez, CEO of Proxicom, a leading internet and e-business consulting and development corporation. The program also featured professors Leonard Lodish and Stephen M. Sammut from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dominican business sectors were represented by Manuel Tavares, Tavares Industrial; Fernando Capellan, president of Grupo M, a leading free zone manufacturing company; Carlos Guillermo Leon, of Grupo E. Leon Jimenes (Presidente Beer & Marlboro cigarettes); Tony Rivera, Industrias Veganas (Induveca meat products); Arturo Pellerano, Tricom and Bancredito; Jose Miguel Bonetti, Mercasid; Luis Alvarez Renta, Bernardo Vega, Ricardo Brugal, Brugal & Co., among others.
The Dominican government was represented by Orlando Jorge Mera, of INDOTEL and Danilo del Rosario, of the Office of Overseas Investment Promotion.
The conference was an initiative of Ambassador Charles Manatt and was designed to foster greater economic ties between the US and the DR by bringing together entrepreneurs to exchange ideas on how their companies have achieved, and can continue to achieve, sustainable growth in a global economy.
In his opening talk he highlighted that trade between the US and the Dominican Republic is presently close to US$9 billion dollars a year.
The conference was organized with the collaboration of the American Chamber of Commerce in the DR.
First tourist charter flight lands in La Romana
The first tourist charter flight to land in the new La Romana International Airport arrived last week. Transglobal brought the first 126 sun-needy tourists from Minneapolis, US. Transglobal has programmed 12 charter flights for the winter season. Tourists will be staying at the Casa de Campo, Amhsa Marina Casa del Mar, Coral Canoa, Gran Dominicus Palace and Viva Dominicus Beach hotels in the area.
American Airlines and American Eagle serve the La Romana International Airport that opened in December.
Food Festival in Sosua and Cabarete
Chefs Juan Bautista of the Hotel Sol de Plata was the big winner during the Vth Gastronomical Festival of Sosua and Cabarete. Miguel Tapia of the Restaurante La Carreta won a special award for Best Dish, and Chef Leonel D'Orville of the Hotel Playa Escondida was all smiles for winning the Best Presentation award.
Winners of the Vth Gastronomical Festival of Sosua and Cabarete were as follows:
Salads and snacks:
Guinea Romance de la Montana. Chef Juan Bautista, Hotel Casa Marina,
Salpicon Tartas Tropicales. Chef Rafael Cruz, Hotel Casa Marina. Soups and creams:
Cream of Corn with Crab. Chef Gabriel Nolasco, Hotel la Esplanada.
Jundiao de Garbanzos. Chef Juan Bautista, Hotel Sol de Plata. Rices and pastas:
Moro Choncho, Hotel Sol de Plata.
Canelones del Mundo Marino. Chef Leonel D'Orville, Hotel Estrella del Mar.
Fish and Seafood:
Camarones al Pescador. Chef Miguel Tapia, Restaurante La Carreta.
Medallones de Langostas. Chef Rafael Cruz, Hotel Casa Marina
Meats:
Tronco en Salsa Roquefort y Pimiento. Chef Juan Bautista, Hotel Sol de Plata.
Filete en Salsa de Chinola. Chef Jose Apolinar, Hotel Paraiso del Sol.
Tropical fruits:
Evolucion del Paraiso. Chef Jose Apolinar, Hotel Paraiso del Sol.
Renacimiento Tropical. Leonel D'Orville, Hotel Estrella del Mar.
Pastries:
Sinfonia de Mani. Chef Juan Bautista, Hotel Sol de Plata.
Flan de Cajuil. Chef Oscar Silverio, Hotel Playa Escondida.
Tale of a woman missing for 20 years
Maria Alejandrina Mercedes Castro agreed to talk to the Listin Diario newspaper to fill in for where she had been for the past 20 years. Her family thought she had drowned on a boat trip, as they never heard from her again, after she left her El Seibo hometown in the East in her quest for a better living. Surprisingly, and without notice, she returned last month. She explained that she traveled to Curaçao. From Curaçao she attempted to get to Venezuela on a boat with 36 other clandestine travelers. The boat didn't make it and she was deported back to the DR. At the time, instead of returning home, she accepted a work offer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, falling for a scheme that in the end turned out to be a prostitution operation. She said that despite the sufferings, she rejected making easy money, remembering the upbringing of her parents. She said that in Haiti a pastor introduced her to God which gave her the strength to return home. She said she was too embarrassed to come home before. When she left in 1981, she left behind a daughter. She told the newspaper that communication is still strained between her and her daughter who today is 27 years old. Otherwise, her seven brothers and sisters received her with hugs and kisses. Her father died three years ago, thinking that his daughter had passed away.
The story was first reported by DR1 Daily News in its http://www.dr1.com/daily/news020101.shtml edition.
Pedro Martinez would pitch for DR in Pan Am Games
Pedro Martinez told the Listin Diario that Boston Red Sox allowing, he would pitch for the DR in the Santo Domingo 2003 Pan Am Games. Responding to a Listin Diario journalist's inquiry as to whether he would wear the DR uniform in the Games, he said, "Oh, and I am not going to want my country to win?"
He said the DR needs to prepare well-organized games so that there are no complaints.
"Anything that I can do for my country, count me in," he told the newspaper.
"If the Pan Ams are organized, and Boston allows me to, I would like to represent my country," he said.
DR loses two, wins one so far in Caribbean Baseball Series
The Dominican Republic lost its first two matches in the Caribbean Baseball Championship, and won its third. The Aguilas Cibaeñas, representing the DR, lost to Puerto Rico 7-4 and to Venezuela 11-1. On Sunday, the Dominican team achieved its first victory, defeating Mexico 4-2. The standing of the Series so far shows a tie between Puerto Rico and Venezuela (two wins, 1 loss) and Mexico and the DR (one win, 2 losses).
The schedule of the games continues as follows:
Monday, 5 February, 3 pm: DR vs. Puerto Rico
Tuesday, 6 February, 7 pm: DR vs. Venezuela
Wednesday, 7 February, 10 pm: DR vs. Mexico
The games are being transmitted by Channel 7, Antena Latina.
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