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Waiting for the speech There are great expectations regarding what President Hipolito Mejia will announce in his speech today on the electricity situation. Two years into his government, the power situation seems to have hit rock bottom, as the power companies held Dominicans at ransom for the past two weeks. Protests in the ghettos made headlines in the DR and abroad. El Caribe speculates that the government will announce a program to provide 20 hours of power to the ghettos as these regularize their payment programs. Similarly, the government borrowed US$99 million from local commercial banks to pay their own debts to the power distributors. The loan takes place at the same time as the government’s announcement of a new agreement with the banks as to the Monetary Code that will regulate the operation of banks in the future. | |||
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The presidential hopefuls With the death of President Balaguer, things are being handled differently in the PRSC. The factions within the party are moving in to seize this political force that has about a third of the vote today. Balaguer had always been the last to announce who would run for the PRSC. Now, the party has been the first to register its candidates for the primaries. The PRSC candidates are: Jacinto Peynado, Federico Antun Batlle, Eduardo Estrella, Alexis Joaquin Castillo, Jose Hazim Frappier, and Victor Hugo Hernandez. Carlos Morales Troncoso has said he will not seek election because the party has not set out its philosophical platform. He alleges that some of the candidates are really covert supporters of the re-election of President Hipolito Mejia. Diario Libre goes on further to say in its last page commentary that Federico Antun Batlle, Eduardo Estrella and Amable Aristy Castro have the support of political kingmaker Guaroa Liranzo. This could prove a lethal combination to the aspirations of Jacinto Peynado, who independent polls rank as the No. 1 presidential hopeful. Meanwhile, El Dia newspaper, in addition to the PRSC candidates, names the other politicians who aspire to become their party’s presidential nominees in the 2004 election. These are: For the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), the ruling party: Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero, Hatuey Decamps, Rafael Subervi Bonilla, Jose Rafael Abinader, Jose Rodriguez Soldevila, Pedro Franco Badia, Eligio Jaquez, Miguel Vargas Maldonado, and Ramon Alburquerque. There are also expectations that President Hipolito Mejia will run again. For the Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana: Leonel Fernandez, Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal, Danilo Medina, Jose Tomas Perez. The law 175-97 opens the presidential campaigns 90 days prior to the election date. | |||
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Borrowing to pay power bills El Dia newspaper points out that the first US$90 million that the government borrowed from a pool of commercial banks to pay power companies is a repeat of a similar loan made around this time last year. El Dia says that in October 2001 the state borrowed RD$1.4 million from a pool of banks at 9.75% interest, with a grace period of nine months and payable in 30 months. | |||
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Parties lack support The Penn, Schoen & Berland-El Caribe newspaper poll shows that if the presidential elections were held today, none of the three leading political parties would have enough support to win in a first round. The PLD leads in voter support with 33%, followed by the ruling PRD with 28% and the PRSC with 19%. The undecideds make up 19%. A poll using possible candidates’ names showed that 38% would vote for Leonel Fernandez, 29% for Hipolito Mejia and 19% for Jacinto Peynado. | |||
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Questioning the support of the military Participacion Ciudadana, a leading civic group organization, urged the need to eliminate the government patronage of the Armed Forces. Coordinator Ramon Tejada Holguin concurs with political scientist Pedro Catrain and Daniel Pou of the Latin American think group, FLACSO (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales), which opposes strengthening the military and their right to vote in the upcoming presidential elections. Holguin says that the right to vote and to hold public office should be a right of all citizens, regardless of whether they are military or civilian. But he says the military institution is, at the present time, under the influence of the government. He doubts that members would cast an independent vote. Mr. Pou lamented the preponderance that President Mejia has given to the military in his government and said that while the government of Fernandez let the military fulfill its military roles, the present government is implementing the military in civilian roles to try to conceal the inefficiencies of government bureaucracy. “With Hipolito Mejia we are going backwards, with the Armed Forces now playing an important role in the political prevalence of today’s President. That is because President Mejia has a very traditional vision of political power,” said political scientist, Pedro Catrain. Catrain criticized the fact that the government has given priority to the military over more important areas for national development, such as education. Education has sustained budget cuts in order to transfer funds to the military. He said the military should not have a predominant role in the nation’s budget because there is no imminence of war against Haiti. | |||
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Coastal, the new gas station Coastal joins Shell, Texaco, Esso, Isla and another newcomer this year, Nativa, as a gas station franchise company operating in the Dominican Republic. The company’s first gas station opened in Cabarete, Puerto Plata. El Caribe newspaper reports that the company will open its second location in the Province of Santo Domingo, at the Avenida Sabana Larga. | |||
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Negative trade balance with the US An American Chamber of Commerce report indicates that the Dominican Republic imported US$211 million more from the United States than it exported in the first half of the year. Imports were US$2.130 billion, and exports reached US$1.919 billion, as reported in El Caribe newspaper. | |||
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Gusty rains fall yesterday It rained intensely in the Dominican Republic yesterday due to the passing of a tropical wave. But the forecast for today is for improved weather as the tropical wave, now Tropical Depression 10, moves on a west-northwestward track. The system was located this morning at 16 degrees north and 77 degrees west. The depression can be expected to pass Jamaica and then move on to Cuba. September is the peak time for the hurricane season. To follow information on any big storms in the area, see http://www.dr1.com/weather/hurricanes.shtml | |||
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Latin Grammy Awards With six Dominicans nominated in the 3rd Latin Grammy Awards, the ratings of the show in the Dominican Republic should be high. The annual awards ceremony brings together members of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking communities to honor creative and technical achievements in 41 categories from a range of musical fields. The Latin Grammy Awards recognize artistic and/or technical achievement, not sales figures or chart positions, and winners are determined by the votes of peers. TeleAntillas, Channel 2, will be transmitting the show on Wednesday, September 18, at 8:30 pm. Dominicans Eddy Herrera, Hector Acosta, Fernando Villalona, Kinito Mendez, Felix D’Oleo and Jandy Felix made the 3rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards nominations list for recordings released from April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002. Dominican merengue bandleaders dominated in the merengue music category this year. The six traveled to Los Angeles for the event. The nominees in the coveted category of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences are: Best Merengue Album category -- Eddy Herrera: Atrevido Los Toros Band: Pa’ La Calle Kinito Mendez: A Palo Limpio Fernando Villalona: Mal Acostumbrado Best Contemporary Tropical Album Felix D’Oleo: Frutos Best Tropical Song category Jandy Feliz: La Pasion For a complete list of the nominees, see http://www.grammy.com/ | |||
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