President Hipolito Mejia, speaking yesterday at a political rally in Villa Duarte, called on his followers to close their ears to the polls. He said these are merely "interpretations to try to drive us nuts." President Mejia spoke to his supporters at the event, where the television crew's equipment provided the only lighting, as the barrio was in the midst of a four-hour blackout. The recent Penn Schoen and Gallup polls were the offensive surveys Mejia was referring to, as they showed former President Leonel Fernandez with a considerable lead over any of the potential PRD candidates. Legal advisor to the Executive Branch, Guido Gomez Mazara, said that the results should promote a greater union between PRD members. Gomez Mazara is a spokesman for the PPH faction of the PRD, which seeks to re-elect President Mejia to a controversial second term of office and has split the party. Gomez contended that the polls only depict political sympathies, not actual votes.
It appears the government convinced Reformista deputies to vote for the RD$5.1-billion domestic bonds that would it asked to be issued to refinance public debt with the Banco de Reservas, the private banking sector and the state-run Banco Agricola. The bill's approval had been delayed as PLD deputies felt it was unclear where the money would be used. The billed passed when 86 deputies voted in favor and 37 against. The PLD deputies did not vote.
The Chamber of Deputies continues to approve pensions despite the financial authorities' warning that there are no funds to pay them. The deputies place an average of 10 pension petitions on their agenda every day.
Senator Ramon Alburquerque (PRD-Monte Plata) called the bill for the placement of sovereign bonds in international capital markets for US$255 million for the construction of the Coral Highway linking La Romana to Punta Cana a "crime" to defraud the Dominican people. According to him, this would represent the most expensive 73 kilometers ever built in the country. He admonished the bill for lacking a feasibility study, environmental impact study and cost analysis to justify the US$4.40 million per linear-kilometer cost. Furthermore, he took issue with the fact that the contract was awarded to the Grupo Moya without any tender being held. In a contribution to Hoy newspaper, the senator said: "If the National Congress passes this bill it would be responsible for a capital scam perpetrated on the Dominican people. Its presentation and handling deserves a complete rejection. The Chamber of Deputies should request that the Senate return this piece of legislature because it was voted on based on a report that is misleading. The work does not have the required studies. The technical and economic feasibility presented is absolutely superficial." "Remember," he cautions, "this is a US$255-million project."
Economist Eduardo Tejera viewed the increase in the exchange commission from 4.75% to 10% as a desperate act of the government and the Central Bank. He said the measure violates the Monetary Law that calls for a gradual reduction of the exchange rate and that yesterday's announcement signifies that the private sector alone will pay the price for domestic fiscal deficits. "The government is not sacrificing anything, it is not trying to lower its payroll or its spending. This is a negative solution for the production sector and yet another blow to the competitiveness plan of the country," said Tejera, who forecast increased inflation and a soaring cost of living. The exchange commission measure also met with opposition from the president of the Dominican Federation of Merchants (FDC), Ivan Garcia; the president of the National Council of Business (CONEP), Elena Viyella de Paliza; agriculture spokesman Osmar Benitez; the president of the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE), Marisol Vicens and others. Vicens said it is a matter of great concern that the exchange rate commission that was instated by the Monetary Board 12 years ago as a temporary measure should now be increased. She said that the situation calls for a complete fiscal reform, not by applying patches.
Anibal de Castro, the Diario Libre's executive editor, writes today on Page 2 of that newspaper about how the current government appears not to have a belt, and that it could be in danger of losing its pants or letting them fall so low that it verges on indecency. "Since the government never tightens its belt, in these times of crisis the conclusion is obvious," he writes. In contrast, Dominican society is showing a belt with more holes on it than the streets of the poorest barrios, and one that is skimpier than that of a "megadiva" after leaving the hands of a plastic surgeon. He says that every measure is about "tightening the belt of the population." De Castro mentions that belt-tightening for the government would mean establishing real austerity and a discontinuation of the practices that dip into the pockets of others and yet fill their own, such as the measure that obliged taxpayers to pay a fee to be weighed to get their drivers license. Some measures that could make a difference would include cutting the public payroll once and for all, without regard for whether re-election goes ahead or not. Others, says De Castro, would be to declare it a national priority to eliminate all non-governmental agencies of the Congress and order that official vehicles be used only for official work. Cutting the prolific military spending would also be a step in the right direction in his opinion. With these measures, the authorities would barely have to use a different notch in the governmental belt, but it would be a sign that, first, the pants are being held up and, second, that the example starts at home. For comments, write to acastro@diariolibre.com
Hoy today criticizes the government's call for a consensus on paying the increased exchange rate commission. The newspaper says that in the past, there has been no official interest in reaching an agreement with the business sector and the writer recalls how the government discarded the recommendations made by a private and public sector mixed committee it had appointed regarding reductions in government payroll. "The sectors whose help is now being solicited are those that time after time have warned of the potential damage to the economy - precisely what we are seeing now - caused by excessive foreign borrowing and extravagant government spending," says today's editorialist. "Similarly, despite warnings against the practice, the government has gone far beyond a rational framework to help financial institutions in difficulty, with ill-fated results for the public finances." The newspaper is very critical of the government's economic decisions and the contradictions between President Mejia's announcements that he would continue spending and Central Bank Governor Jose Lois Malkum's recommendations for reduced spending until economic indicators show an improvement. The newspaper says that the problems of the country belong to everyone: "When that is understood, then matters of the state should not be in the same league as politics. The country would then be free of watching its problems worsen and the cooperation of the government would be there before any crisis obligates an undertaking of heroic measures."
Santo Domingo City Mayor Roberto Salcedo (PLD) received an approval rate of 69% from potential voters interviewed for the October CID-Gallup poll. Salcedo ranked second only to the mayor of Tegucigalpa, Honduras in the category of Central American city mayors. The regulation of garbage collection is mentioned as Salcedo's greatest achievement by 54% of those polled and 58% think Salcedo is keeping Santo Domingo in better condition than at the time he took it over from his predecessor, Johnny Ventura (PRD).
The Dominican ambassador in Caracas, Manuel Morales Lama, has expressed optimism for a diplomatic reconciliation between the two countries, currently locked into a dispute over alleged Dominican complicity in a conspiracy against the Venezuelan government, which led to the present suspension of Venezuelan oil exports to the DR. Morales Lama feels, however, that an end to the conflict is in sight: "The important thing is that we are on that route and the situation is improving. Nothing has happened that is beyond repair." He made this statement following his meeting with Venezuelan Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel. The Dominican ambassador said that former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, believed by the current administration in Caracas to be at the head of the alleged plot, left the Dominican Republic on 9 August, and according to Morales Lama, he has no plans to return to the country.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Environment Minister Frank Moya Pons was not guilty of defamation or injury towards former Listin Diario director Miguel Franjul. The two were engaged in a war of words over the newspaper's allegations that the government was allowing the environmentally sensitive area of the sand dunes at Bani, in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, to be harmed by economic interests.
News reports carry the story of the eight-person dwelling of the Benzan Mendez family in San Juan de la Maguana. El Caribe newspaper says that dishware and glasses are known to take flight and crash against the walls. All the neighbors are reportedly praying for the family that was visited by a priest. While the military and police are investigating, Altagracia Mendez says the strange activity is being caused by a bad spirit. El Caribe says the family does not know whom to turn to - perhaps a ghostbuster is needed.
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