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Board of Generals investigates colossal fraud Colonel Pedro Julio Goico (Pepe), the trusted head of President Mejia’s principal team, is under arrest at the Ministry of the Armed Forces regarding fraudulent credit card charges and illicit use of an airplane and helicopter. Goico is being investigated on charges of credit card fraud for an amount of RD$40-million. The credit cards under investigation were issued by Baninter for use by President Hipolito Mejia to pay for trip expenses abroad and locally. Also under investigation is the use of an airplane and a helicopter by the President’s principal team under the command of Colonel Goico. The airplane was confiscated last week and sent to the San Isidro Air Base, along with one helicopter. The investigators have also confiscated cars, houses and even Rolex watches as part of the ongoing inquest. The Investigative Board is made up of Army General Rafael Cruz Duran, who is the legal advisor to the Armed Forces, Police generals Mariano Madé Ramirez and Crescencio Jaquez Hernandez, as well as Rear Admiral Hector Lizardo Jorge, Inspector General of the Navy. According to an El Caribe newspaper report on the matter, the high level commission is investigating Goico and other officers regarding claims of trafficking money and weapons. Listin Diario, however, an affiliate of the Baninter, reports that their military sources clarified that the investigations have no relation to any drug dealing, money laundering, or governmental corruption. Diario Libre had reported on 1 November the confiscation of the airplane, but the Minister of Armed Forces, Major General Soto Jimenez, had skirted reporters’ questions. Yesterday, after visiting President Mejia at home, Colonel Goico presented himself to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, where he was arrested for interrogation. Soto Jimenez is heading the investigation, the results of which have been turned over to President Mejia. Mejia stated that there would be “no sacred cows” in his administration and that the law will be applied neutrally to all those involved. The rumors that the Intercontinental Bank (BANINTER) had discovered a RD$40-million fraud in the form of the misuse of official credit cards, which have been circulating for days, are now confirmed. The bank published paid advertisements in the daily newspapers detailing that “of the total, RD$16-million pesos of credit card charges were rejected as they represented charges that were, at face value, fraudulent. Another RD$24-million will be covered by our insurance policies.” The bank says that President Mejia authorized the exhaustive investigation by the Ministry of the Armed Forces. At the time of his arrest Goico was to head security operations for the Iberoamerican Summit to take place in Bavaro, and had recently returned from Ottawa, where he accompanied the President on official business. He had also traveled to Tokyo earlier to prepare for the President’s trip there later this month. Goico is regarded as a remarkable character, well known for his brusque dealings with the press. | |||
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Changes in electoral law The Executive Branch sent to Congress yesterday the new changes proposed for the Electoral Law during the recent National Debate meetings. President of the Chamber of Deputies Rafaela Alburquerque said she expected the new measures to be approved on Tuesday. Senator Cesar Matias hopes to use the opportunity to negotiate from the parties a change in the Constitution that would lower the percentage needed to win a first round to 40%. National Debate coordinator Monsignor Agripino Nuñez Collado said that the country needs tranquility and that the President’s word has been given in favor of the passing of the amendment as is. The spokesman for the opposition PLD party, Reinado Pared Perez, said that to change the Constitution at this time would be reckless. | |||
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Correction: RD$60-million not US$ The Iberoamerican Heads of Government and State Summit set for 15-16 November in Bavaro will cost the country RD$60-million, not US$60-million, as was erroneously reported previously. 23 heads of state from Latin America, Spain and Portugal are expected to attend the event that will take place in Bavaro. The previous ACP Summit of Heads of Government that took place in Santo Domingo cost the country RD$48-million. King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia have confirmed their attendance, as have Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Prime Minister of Portgal Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampio, Presidente Vicente Fox of Mexico, President of Cuba Fidel Castro, President Hugo Chavez, and President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, along with their wives, as well as many more heads of state. Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp told the press that the Summit would not concentrate on just one item but rather a wide spectrum of global issues of top priority. Reports from Mexico seem to point towards a joint declaration being issued regarding the situation between Iraq and the United States. | |||
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Sports equipping loan criticized Hoy newspaper is highly critical today of a controversial new loan sent by the Executive Branch to Congress for approval in connection to the construction of sports facilities. The US$54.1-million loan is being addressed precisely at a time when the government is urging the approval of a US$600-million sovereign bond placement in order to restructure commercial bank loan debt. The newspaper says there are very questionable clauses in the loan, aside from the fact that it will cost the nation a US$4.7-million to secure. In the shadow of the new loan controversy is the fact that the country has just taken on US$27-million of debt from Venezuela for construction and reconstuction of works at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center. Newspaper reports cite the delays in the funding of sports venues under construction for the Pan American Games in August 2003. Hoy newspaper says that it is incredible that under the present circumstances, the government continues what it describes as an unbridled race for foreign indebtedness. | |||
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Possible acid spill The recent rains forced Rosario Mining to partially empty the slurry and trailings ponds, averting a potentially catastrophic rupture of the Mejita holding dam, according to Mario Peña, president of Rosario Dominicana, and Miguel Peña de los Santos, head of the mining business development division of the government called the Corporate Mining Unit. The dam has been in the news lately after the deputy minister of Environment harshly criticized the unilateral decision to lower the water level of the dam. Peña de los Santos defended the call, explaining that the rains that raised the water levels far above normal caused cracks to form in the earthen dam and magnified smaller pre-existing leaks. El Caribe reports that while Mario Peña admitted that the company discharged untreated toxic waters into the Maguaca River, Peña de los Santos said that the company took action to reduce the acidity of the waters. Peña de los Santos says that the state signed a contract with Placer Dome for the exploitation of the mine that has been out of operation since 1999. El Caribe explains that the maintenance of the Mejita Dam costs the government around RD$45-million a year. Peña de los Santos explained that the contract signed with the Canadian company states that the authorities are responsible for ecological damages and if these cannot be resolved, the cost of the solution would be deducted from the state’s earnings in the gold mining venture. | |||
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Poverty is down in the DR According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Dominican Republic and Peru could become the only countries in Latin America where poverty levels could see a slight decline for 2002. In spite of global tendencies towards recession, the report states that the Dominican Republic has achieved 98% of its goals towards reducing poverty. In addition, the DR is ranked as one of the countries that will achieve its goal of reducing poverty by 50% by the year 2015. The current issue of Social Panorama of Latin America 2001-2002 reports that the most favourable situation has occurred in Chile and Panama, both of which countries successfully cut extreme poverty by half in 2000, while Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay managed some partial but significant progress toward realizing the objectives, reaching more than 95% in the case of the first two countries and 82% in the case of the third. For more information, see http://www.eclac.org/ | |||
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