According to a report in Hoy newspaper, the Dominican air force is about to acquire 20 new aircraft, including planes and helicopters. There are also plans to build new airstrips, said the air force chief Virgilio Sierra Perez, who did not reveal the costs involved. Speaking at a parade at the San Isidro Air Base, he thanked President Hipolito Mejia for his support to the air force. On the subject of the Mejia government's continued support of the military, Hoy newspaper reports that the Executive Branch sent the Senate a bill requesting the approval of a US$47-million loan for the second phase of equipping the vocational schools of the Armed Forces. The Deutsche Bank and Sociedad Anonima Espanola commercial banks would provide the five-year funding. Meanwhile, US envoy Roger Noriega announced that the Dominican military will remain in Iraq until August. President Hipolito Mejia had earlier this month suggested that the Dominican soldiers would be back in February.
Finance Minister Rafael Calderon has said that the proposed 5% tax on exports which has caused such dismay amongst the business community is not flexible. "Come rain or shine," he said, the legislation for the tax would be passed through Congress next week, despite opposition from the private sector. "It is not negotiable and the business community knows it," said Calderon, following a meeting with deputies. "They know that we must come up with additional resources in order to sign the IMF agreement. The crisis was not generated by the government, but by the private sector." Calderon also criticized Marisol Vicens, president of the Young Entrepreneurs' Association (ANJE), who had called for the government's economic team to resign. "Tell her that when she is President of the Republic she can fire whoever she likes. That's what she aspires to, after all." Congress president Alfredo Pacheco called the finance minister's declarations "unfortunate and regrettable", saying that the legislative body would have the final say on the matter. Pacheco said Calderon's statements would only serve to put more distance between the government and the private sector, when what he should be doing is seeking entente. "These declarations are inappropriate at a time when the country is in crisis," said Pacheco.
Presidential Office Technical Secretary Carlos Despradel has said the rising cost of living means that more and more Dominicans are finding it hard to make ends meet, and he called on all parties to unite in a crusade to save the peso. Despradel accused the business sector of self-serving behavior in its statements against the recent government drive to lower the dollar-peso rate of exchange. "They are looking for pretexts, because they do not want the exchange rate to fall." Yesterday's rate actually rose slightly to RD$37.8 to US$1. Despradel said that negotiations with the IMF delegation were at the final stages and that an "understanding" was already in existence. He predicted that the IMF agreement would be signed by this weekend, saying that all that was needed was the rubber stamp of the top executives in Washington for it to be a fait accompli.
Cristian Reyna writes in a letter to the editor of Hoy newspaper that the government should look elsewhere for its revenues and not burden the business sector with more penalties. According to Reyna, business is not to blame for having contracted -against the advice of most of the private sector - the direct and indirect commercial loans of the past three years. The business sector did not issue US$1.1 billion in sovereign bonds for which the government has not produced any report on the benefits of this scheme. The private sector did not sign the Madrid Accord that extended the same "bad deals" this government said the past government had negotiated for a further 10 years. Similarly, he writes, the private sector did not negotiate the buyback of the bankrupted Ede-Norte and Ede-Sur, a move that thereby jeopardized the International Monetary Fund agreement and entailed a steep price tag to Dominican taxpayers. The business sector did not promote the Plan Renove, or the Pan American Games that cost over RD$20 billion. He says the Dominican business sector is not responsible for the fact that the monetary authorities went above and beyond banking law to honor the deposits of a small group of investors, some of whose accounts were very big indeed, but to the detriment of the finances of the vast majority of Dominicans. Neither did the business sector oblige the Central Bank by committing to pay up to 36% in interest on deposits lured to the Central Bank to demonetize the money released following the collapse of Baninter. Nor has the business sector been responsible for the mismanagement of the erstwhile healthy Intercontinental and Segna insurance companies, which had market values of RD$3-RD$4 billion but were forced into bankruptcy by the managerial incapacity of the authorities to understand the importance of creating, not destroying, value. The defender of the business community also comments that the business sector cannot bare the brunt for mismanagement by 3 or 4 businessmen of their companies. He also says that business is not to be blamed for the perception of heightened risk and general lack of confidence in its institutions that is created when a President decides to seek re-election in the midst of a crisis such as that being suffered by Dominicans today.
El Caribe newspaper's "En la cosa" column reported yesterday that despite the calls from the International Monetary Board and the country for more financial transparency of government and banking accounts, the Central Bank economic reports are being thinned out. El Caribe comments that the September 2000 report, without attachments, had 73 pages. That of June 2003 had 39 pages, but the latest report from September 2003 has only 24 pages. The columnist wonders how many pages the December 2003 report will bring.
Bienvenido Alvarez Vega alerts that the RD$125-billion national budget for 2004 to be proposed by the government breaks the pattern followed in previous years - that of presenting a budget at the same level of the previous year's budget. This year, the government has prepared a budget whose spending level will be 60% more than that of 2003. "We will dance a true dance of taxes, because some way this budget needs to be met and if it is not met, then the new agreements with the IMF, presently under discussion, will not be fulfilled. And it is a known fact that without the agreement with the IMF, the Dominican economy is not going anywhere," writes the well-known journalist. Alvarez Vega says that through November of this year the government had revenues of RD$72 billion, including the bonds, multilateral organization loans and millions from domestic banking. By maintaining these levels of revenues, the year would end at RD$78.5 billion in revenues, following the trend of the government that is lagging behind in payments. But instead, the 2004 budget will not be for RD$78 billion, but for RD$125 billion - 60% more. The government economic team says that RD$25 million will come from external resources - IMF, World Bank and the IDB. The remaining RD$22 billion will have to come from taxes. The government has said that RD$25 billion will go to service foreign debt and another RD$25 billion will pay for the savings certificates issued to honor deposits, the subsidies for propane gas and power service, the organization of the 2004 election and to city governments. But he says there is a contradiction: the Dominican economy is forecast to grow less than 1% next year, prompting him to ask, how can there be such a drastic increase in taxes in a stagnated economy?
US envoy Roger Noriega, United States Assistant Secretary to the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, continued his high-level visit to the Dominican Republic yesterday, with a meeting with President Hipolito Mejia along with US ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Hans Hertell. Finance Minister Rafael Calderon, Central Bank Governor Jose Lois Malkum, Presidential Technical Secretary Carlos Despradel and Senate president Jesus Vasquez were also in attendance. Noriega called Mejia "a trusted friend", saying that "the US wants to help the Dominican people overcome the crisis, but this requires concrete measures on the part of Congress and the President." In a program that highlighted his government's emphasis on the importance of clean and transparent elections, Noriega also met with the Central Electoral Board (JCE) and civil society organization Participacion Ciudadana, which acts as an electoral observer.
The opposition PLD party interpreted Noriega's earlier pronouncements, as reported in yesterday's DR1 news, as a message that the United States government, with its call for transparent elections, did not wish to see President Hipolito Mejia consolidate his power. PLD politician Felix Jimenez said that the US "would not allow Hipolito or anyone else to believe that they own the country, that they can do what they wish with the country." Economist Frederic Emam-Zade was more critical, saying that Noriega's statements "reflected dangerous prejudices and violations of principles" with his references to the Baninter fraud case. "Noriega - like the rest of us - will have to wait and see whether the Dominican justice system rules that the accused are guilty or not," said Emam-Zade. Flavio Dario Espinal, writing in El Caribe, says that Noriega's visit highlights the importance the Bush administration is giving the situation in the Dominican Republic. It is the highest profile visit since the electoral crisis of 1994, according to Espinal, and comes hot on the heels of a visit from John Taylor, the US Treasury Under-Secretary for Trade. It appears that George W Bush is concerned about the forthcoming elections, as well as the current economic crisis in the framework of the imminent IMF agreement, continues Espinal. "Neither do they want to see another country in the region go the same way as Argentina," he points out. The US emphasis on clean elections demonstrates they value the relative stability represented by the Dominican Republic, in contrast with Haiti, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia, which are all in the throes of serious political conflicts and crises of governance, concludes the lawyer and political scientist. Listin Diario's main editorial examines the reasons behind the US focus on Dominican affairs, saying that although the DR is a small country, it is within the US sphere of influence and is a long-time trading partner with a significant amount of US investment. Hundreds of thousands of Dominicans live on US soil, including most of their top baseball players. In addition, there is a strong bond between the two countries' leaders, sealed by the dispatch of Dominican troops to Iraq. The writer recalls the darker days of US intervention in the region, including the 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, continues the writer, there is nothing wrong with the current interest in Dominican affairs. In fact, it is a welcome change that after so much focus on regions such as the Middle East, the US is turning its attentions to matters closer to home. The vast majority of Dominicans are in favor of the IMF agreement, and it is no secret that the US government has major influence on this global financial institution, says the editorial. Noriega has stated that his government does not favor any of the Presidential candidates, continues the writer, and ends with a note of warning to what are termed as "romantic nationalists… an endangered species" to desist from "tired nationalist posturing." "How times have changed!" exclaims Hoy newspaper's "Que se dice" column, in a reference to the fact that in times past any criticism of Dominican internal affairs from a US official would have led to accusations of unwelcome US meddling. The fact that all three parties agree on this is also unprecedented in Dominican political history, says the writer.
Congress president Alfredo Pacheco said yesterday that the advice dished out by US envoy Roger Noriega, United States Assistant Secretary to the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Pacheco said that legislators were open to all suggestions that would help the country tackle the current crisis. His views were shared by Senate president Jesus Vasquez, and both agreed that the government had to work together with the business community, political parties and civil society to forge an economic program aimed at getting the country out of the predicament in the short- and longer-term. Vasquez said, "We value the fact that they have made observations about the situation that favor the country's interests. (Noriega has) come to help with the difficult situation the country is experiencing." Pacheco said, "There is no doubt that the country is in crisis. There is no doubt that we have economic problems and (Congress) will be considering the medicines being prescribed. He added that there is widespread consensus that the IMF agreement is imperative, and would take on any proposals made with this aim in mind. Both legislators said they would analyze and discuss Noriega's suggestions within respective chambers.
David Anthony, country-risk director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, warned that the President's re-election ambitions are harming the country's image and deterring investment. Anthony was visiting the Dominican Republic at the invitation of Fundacion Global Economia y Desarrollo. He said, "There is no doubt that this is affecting (the country's) image and investment. Mejia is associated with this period. Maybe his government cannot be blamed for everything, because not everything is his fault, but he is linked with it." Changing the rules of the game is another factor that undermines confidence. Re-election used to be unconstitutional and now there is uncertainty about whether it is allowed or not. If the PRD were to present a united front behind the President, things might be different, said Anthony. He observed that the electoral system was very tight and advised wider margins between the winner and the runner-up, to ensure that fraud would not affect the result. Whoever the winner is, they must give a clearer signal about where the country is headed, declared Anthony.
Today marks the second anniversary of the murder of Senator Dario Gomez, and yet no one is the wiser about the perpetrators or the motives of the crime. The late senator's sister, Celeste Gomez, and the family lawyers say that the process has been in "legal limbo" since the case judge, Nelson Rodriguez Solis, died suddenly a year ago. The details of the case remain shrouded by mystery; despite there being five suspects, it is widely believed there is a more powerful "intellectual author" at large, and that the five accused were hired hit-men. The official version is that the killing was a straightforward criminal case, having taken place as part of a bungled robbery. Dario Gomez had been in favor of stronger legislation against the laundering of drug money and it is presumed he had made himself unpopular with certain interests. He was also a supporter of the constitutional change which reinstated the validity of Presidential re-election.
El Caribe reports that the authorities appear to be sidelining the serious matter of the high incidence of dengue fever. It uses Santo Domingo's UCE, a large private clinic, as a barometer for the high number of reported cases of the fatal disease spread by mosquitoes. It is more common in the wet season, when the stagnant water created by rainfall becomes a breeding ground for insects. Of particular concern is the rate of the hemorrhagic dengue fever, a more serious variety of the disease. Of the 42 cases reported so far this month at the UCE clinic, 34 were hemorrhagic dengue. Other clinics in the capital surveyed by the newspaper report similar volumes. The Health Ministry is playing down the gravity of the situation, says the report: if you go by SESPAS figures, only 70 deaths are attributed to dengue this year, while at the Robert Reid Cabral children's hospital alone 95 deaths have been linked to dengue fever. Several of the pediatric doctors interviewed shared this view, and Dr Lidia Lahoz of the UCE clinic told the paper that the authorities are definitely not doing what is needed to tackle the problem: "What are they doing to eradicate the mosquito breeding grounds? I haven't seen a single educational advertisement on television… My patients call me and say that no one from Public Health has gone to their neighborhood, but what can I do?"
Diario Libre's opening comment takes on a Biblical tone this morning, as it compares the country's current woes to the plagues of Egypt. Editor Anibal de Castro, who writes the "Adc. Antes de comenzar" column, looks at what he calls those who engage in "DEME" - translated to mean "Gimme" and also an acronym for "Donde Esta lo Mio Enseguida?" or "Where what's mine right now?" in reference to greed and government patronage - and compares them with a plague of locusts. He lists September's earthquake, the flooding in the northwest, tropical storm Odette and the damage caused in the southwest, the financial crisis, inflation, the public sector bankruptcy, the gas shortages, dengue… and finishes on a mischievous note: "For the next one - with its similar or worse punitive effects - we will have to wait until Sunday." Write to the commentator at acastro@diariolibre.com
The judge handling the proceedings against the killers of alleged domestic abuser Jose Castro has decided to treat the case of family employee Deidania Gonzalez as criminal. Gonzalez has been sent to Najayo prison until her case is brought to court. This is in contrast to the ruling on the case of Castro's widow, Miriam Brito, believed to be the instigator of the killing and who was set free earlier this week.
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