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DR1 takes a break The Dominican Republic One daily news service will not be published on Tuesday, 24 September. Tuesday is an official holiday in the Dominican Republic, which honors Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, the Dominican patron saint. Many private schools and businesses gave their students and employees Monday off, so families could enjoy a long weekend. For most, though, it is a normal workday. Monday’s news will be compiled for the Wednesday edition. Those interested in keeping in touch with what is happening in the DR on Monday, can always view the DR1 Forum that provides news and information 24 hours a day. | |||
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President Mejia’s US tour President Mejia will be in the United States from 26 September through 5 October, according to a special report in the Listin Diario today. President Mejia will be making visits to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Lawrence, New York, New Jersey and Miami. In Washington he will speak at the Dominican Week luncheon organized by the US Chamber of Commerce. Listin Diario explains that also on his agenda is a meeting with former US Ambassador Charles Manatt and a medical check-up scheduled at an undisclosed hospital in Maryland. Listin Diario says that the true motive of the visit is to promote his candidacy for President in the 2004 election. To prepare for his trip key officers of the Proyecto Presidencial Hipolito (PPH) faction of the PRD, such as Tomas Hernandez Alberto and Eligio Jaquez, have traveled previously to New York. In the remaining cities, President Mejia will be meeting with Dominican community leaders. In New York, he is scheduled to visit Governor George Pataki and will receive an honorary doctorate from Mercy College. | |||
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Bankers bullish on Dominican economy Speaking during the opening of Dominican Week in Puerto Rico, Dominican banker Luis Molina Achecar admitted productive sectors need access to lower-cost financing. Interest rates at present in the Dominican Republic are near record highs. Molina forecasts that more low-cost financing will become available once the new pension plans program is introduced in February as part of Social Security System Law 87-01. This law will oblige all employed Dominicans to contribute monthly to the system. He said that within 10 years the pension plan funds will have grown to RD$145 billion, which is 30% of the present assets of the Dominican financial system. In 20 years, he said the funds would be equal to the assets of the entire Dominican banking system. Executive vice president of the Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Jorge Junquera, says that now is an ideal time to invest and he encouraged Puerto Ricans to visit the Dominican Republic. He said that he is optimistic about the country’s future and would stand before any audience to urge investors not to waste time by delaying their investment plans. The lack of foreign competition in the banking sector has made banking one of the most profitable and dynamic sectors in the Dominican Republic. | |||
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Free zone recovery Dominican free zone manufacturing exports were up in July. El Caribe newspaper says that for the first time in two years, the trade exchange with the United States shows a balance of US$30.8 million in the Dominican Republic’s favor. US Department of Commerce statistics show that Dominican free zone exports to the United States grew 8.4%, after several months of negative growths. The report shows that July apparel exports were US$206.9 million, up from US$190.7 million in July 2001. Total exports were also up to US$391.4 million, from US$369 in July 2001. Analysts forecast the recovery will continue throughout the second half of the year. | |||
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Tragedy in La Vega 29 Dominicans died in the fire at the Army-run Fortaleza de la Concepcion jail in La Vega. Listin Diario sources say the fire was caused by a group of 13 inmates who had recently arrived at the central city jail from the Victoria Jail in Santo Domingo. Diario Libre reports that witnesses say a fight broke out in a cell when eight of the new arrivals attempted to control the other inmates and the security guards intervened to frisk these for drugs and arms. The new arrivals protested by burning mattresses and sheets. While the Institute of Forensic Pathology has not issued an official report, most deaths are attributed to burns and smoke inhalation. Family members of some victims, however, say their relatives’ corpses show stab wounds. According to the Listin Diario, the records of the Direccion General de Prisiones, the prisons department, show that the jail housed 594 prisoners at the time of the fire. Of these, only 101 were serving sentences. 80% of those in jail were awaiting trial. The government is building a new jail in Bonao in order to alleviate the overcrowding in prisons and has recently begun a program by which the courts will hear cases on prison grounds. The La Vega tragedy is considered the worst jail rioting in Dominican history. | |||
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Abortion is routine in the DR Listin Diario published a special report on abortion in the Dominican Republic in its Sunday edition. The newspaper does not focus on the morality or immorality of the issue, instead saying that abortions are routine procedures conducted in the country. While the Dominican Penal Code establishes penalties of 5 to 20 years in jail for the patient or practitioner of an abortion, the penalties have rarely been applied. The newspaper reporters were only able to find one case in which a sentence had been pronounced. Two supposed physicians were found guilty in the death of a woman and sentenced to two years and fines of RD$600,000 and RD$1 million, although today both are free on bail. The woman died as a result of a botched abortion. While in the past, studies have shown there were about 80,000 abortions carried out per year, today’s numbers are harder to estimate. Abortions are safer and more accessible after the advent of the new drug Cytotec. While supposedly requiring a medical prescription, the cheap ulcer medication is sold over the counter in most pharmacies, and is more frequently used to induce abortions. While the wealthy have access to the best clinics, the poor have very few resources and may view this method of abortion safer than a surgical procedure in a makeshift clinic. Dr. Andres Reynoso Jimenez, chief of obstetrics at the San Lorenzo Maternity Hospital in Los Minas says the drug has reduced the number of childbirth complications in public hospitals. He said that ever since Cytotec became available, the hospital rarely has to treat women for complications resulting from abortions performed in substandard clinics. He said they see only two or three cases in six months. Cytotec is known generically as misoprostol and is manufactured by Pharmacia. In the United States the low-cost drug is widely used by doctors to induce labor and delivery and is also part of the FDA-approved regimen for inducing medical abortion. It may be combined with the drug mifepristone (RU-486) to induce abortions early in pregnancy. Obstetrician Bernardo Fernandez Dilone stresses the need for a change in public and social policies regarding teenage sex and abortion. He says the government needs to face reality and take a proactive stance by encouraging young people to use condoms and prevent unwanted pregnancies. He says that studies show that 70% of Dominican females will have had intercourse before their 18th birthday and that preventive sex education and family planning programs are essential. | |||
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Repairing cell phones Listin Diario reports that small cell phone repair shops have sprung up in tune with the increase in the use of mobile phones in the Dominican Republic. Repair shops say that people primarily bring the phones in after they have been dropped, or damaged by the common practice of being kept in the pockets of tight pants. As of March 2002, government statistics show there were 1,436,906 cell phones in operation. The use of cell phones grew 73% last year, signifying a substantial increase when compared to the 6.8% increase in domestic and business phone lines during the same period. The Dominican Telecommunications Institute data shows that there are 961,560 residential and commercial phone lines currently in existence. Speaking during Dominican Week in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ernesto Selman forecast that the teledensity will have grown to 19% by the end of this year, meaning that there are 19 phones in use for every 100 people. This number has risen from 1.1% in 1996. Codetel leads with 458,664 cell phones in operation, followed by Tricom with 302,613, and newcomers Orange with 215,000 users, and Centennial with 68,000. | |||
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Watch for Tropical Storm Lili Those living in the Dominican Republic should monitor Tropical Storm Lili. According to the US weather forecasters, the Dominican Republic is on the track of the storm that was born last Saturday. The forecasts say it could be in our neighborhood by late on Tuesday. The storm had been keeping a westward track but as of 2 pm on Monday, 23 September it began to move on a NWN route that would take it to the vicinity of the southwest of the Dominican Republic. To follow the storm, see http://www.wunderground.com For general information on hurricanes in the Dominican Republic and more good hurricane links, see http://www.dr1.com/travel/expect/hurricanes.shtml | |||
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Julia Alvarez wins award Dominican novelist Julia Alvarez received her Hispanic Heritage Award at a 20 September 20 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Dede and Congresswoman Minou Tavarez Mirabal traveled to Washington, D.C. to present the award to Alvarez for her contributions to literature. Alvarez is the author of: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of Butterflies, Yo and In the Name of Salome. Others honored at the 16th annual Hispanic Heritage Awards were Ricky Martin, speed skater Derek Parra, theologian Reverend Virgilio Elizondo, and magazine publisher Liza Quiroz. Pedro Jose Greer Jr, chairman of the board of the Hispanic Heritage Awards Foundation, said: "Ricky, Derek, Liza, Father Elizondo and Julia serve the needs of the disenfranchised in America, and in some cases all over the world, beyond the immense talents for which they are commonly known." | |||
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Felix Sanchez does it again Dominican Felix Sanchez was part of the 4 x 400 meters relay team that ran for the Americas and set a world record in the 9th International Association of Athletics Federations World Cup in Spain. The relay clocked in at 2:59.19 seconds, with Sanchez running the first leg. For more information on the event, see http://www.iaaf.org | |||
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Pedro wins 20 games Pedro Martinez won his second 20-win season of his career in the Sunday game against the Baltimore Orioles. This year the Dominican Republic has had two Major League pitchers winning 20 games; Martinez and Bartolo Colon. Martinez is a contender for the Cy Young award for the fourth time. The Boston Red Sox superstar called the season quits with a 20-4, with a 2.26 ERA and 239 strikeouts. This was a special year for Pedro Martinez, after being limited to seven victories last season due to injury. He began this year’s season doubtful over whether his arm had fully recovered and ended by exceeding all expectations. | |||
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