Forty-five environmental defense and tourism industry organizations have requested that the Chamber of Deputies postpone until after the election the study of a bill passed in the Senate that tampers with the protected areas established by the Environment Ministry and Environmental Law 64-00. If ratified, the action would reduce the protected status of 30% of the national territory to 15%, as it grants access for touristic development of beaches located within the National Park of the East and the Jaragua Park (in the Southwest), as well as areas in the southwestern Bani dunes and along the Costa Azul Panoramic Highway in Macao in the East. Likewise, it authorizes mining exploitation at the Pomier Caves in San Cristobal. The senators, supposedly in the name of pragmatism, removed from the national parks bill practically any area that could be developed touristically or for mining purposes.
The senators blandished a group of Catholic Church bishops, who have supposedly joined the support for the mutilation of the parks law. The bishops allegedly endorsing development versus protection are headed by Monsignor Jose Dolores Grullon, the brother of Sergio Grullon (present Secretary of the Presidency and Hipolito Mejia’s brother-in-law). But even Monsignor Grullon distanced himself from the bill, telling El Caribe newspaper reporters that the bishops have not been informed of the changes made by the senators. Referring to the support, Grullon said, “That is what they say so that the bill passes in Congress.”
Meanwhile, PLD Deputy Teodoso Ursino Reyes called his fellow deputies to their senses. “Before the election, we deputies all have lots of political work to do, and we do not have sufficient time, if we are to be honest with ourselves, to study a bill as important as this one,” said Reyes.
Rosa Lamelas of the Consorcio Ambiental Dominicano, the organization that assembles leading environmental groups, went on record to say that making changes such as those proposed by the Senate is dangerous so close to election time, and that the Senate had not considered the impact on the natural resources of the area before making its decision. The group claims that the plan to use 25% of the park areas for commercial development is akin to vandalism and an act national shame, as reported in El Caribe. Hoy newspaper highlights her saying that the Senate decision would be in violation to national laws and several important international treaties and conventions the country has signed. National Hotel & Restaurant Association president Johnny Bernal said the use of National Park areas for tourism development is not necessary as there are many other areas outside of the protected parks where hotel construction is allowed that are still pending development.
Under the premise that you can only defend what you know about, the Association of Hotels of Bayahibe and La Romana, one of the most vocal opponents to the mutilation of the parks, is inviting the public to the presentation of a documentary on the environmental and cultural wealth of the National Park of the East. The documentary will be followed by a talk on Taino Culture with the participation of Charles Beecker and John Foster of the University of Indiana, and archeological advisor to the association, Adolfo Lopez. This event is open to anyone interested in the cultural and environmental heritage of the National Park of the East, and will take place on Tuesday, 27 April at 6pm at the auditorium of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in Santo Domingo.
Following the lead of Spain and Honduras, General Lieutenant Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez announced yesterday that the troops would be home in two weeks, or as soon as the logistics can be implemented to remove them from Iraq. Hoy newspaper quotes Soto Jimenez as saying that President Mejia’s wishes are the same as the army’s – to have them home as quickly as possible. Honduras, too, is moving to hasten the return of their troops. The DR presently has 302 troops deployed in Iraq and Honduras has 369.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said yesterday that the US deeply regrets the withdrawal of Dominican and Honduran troops from Iraq, according to El Caribe. McClellan said the situation has reached a crucial juncture as the coalition tries to restore democracy to Iraq and the enemies of that state try to destroy it. He said the coalition would remain strong in its determination and efforts without the Dominican and Honduran support.
Speaking to the American Chamber of Commerce yesterday, PLD Presidential candidate Leonel Fernandez outlined the key challenges his administration will face, if elected. Top on his list are the billions in savings certificates deposited at the Central Bank, the financial sustainability problems of the electric sector, the 100% increase in the nation’s foreign debt and four times increase in the government’s domestic debt in the past three years, and the implementation of fiscal reform within constraints of the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund, as reported in Hoy newspaper.
Fernandez highlighted he has a team of top-level international consultants (Harvard University, Earth Institute of Columbia University, and The Economist Intelligence Unit) at work at the Fundacion Global. So far among his proposals is one to separate the handling of the short term debt generated by the salvaging of the commercial banks and the assets of these banks from what should be strictly Central Bank monetary policy. He said that monetary policy should be put to work exclusively to recover and maintain exchange stability, strengthen the financial sector and reduce inflation to single digits in a reasonable timeframe. During a question-and-answer period, when asked how long would it take for his administration to get the economy back on track, Fernandez said efforts to take the economy out of stagnation would begin to be felt as of 2005.
Furthermore, regarding power sector matters, he said that his government would need to correct market distortions created by the Mejia administration’s signing of the Madrid Agreement and its buyback of the Union Fenosa distribution companies that led to a US$400-million deficit. The PLD candidate proposes setting up a fund to provide compensation for the sustainability of the electric sector, using as collateral the state shares in the privatized power companies.
Regarding the nation’s foreign debt, he said he would avoid the worse of scenarios, which is default on payments, by stepping up efforts to renegotiate the debt and extend its terms. He said his government would give preference to borrowing from multilateral organizations with soft terms.
As to fiscal reform, Fernandez said this must be undertaken by consensus and within the framework established by the International Moentary Fund. Its main objective should be to replace the distortionary taxes of recent years, while compensating the government for losses in fiscal revenues when the FTA with the United States goes into effect. In his speech, he mentioned that while both Mejia and Bush were elected in the same year, Bush had reduced taxes to stimulate the US economy at a time of crisis, while the Dominican statesman chose to increase the tax burden, with much of the monies generated going to pay for an additional 77,500 government jobs, most of which have been criticized for their unproductiveness.
A copy of the speech in Spanish is at http://dr1.com/news/2004/FernandezAmCham.html
During a campaign event at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center Sports Palace yesterday, President Hipolito Mejia promised he would defeat his top rival Leonel Fernandez with a knockout. Mejia told the crowd of white shirt-wearing PRD fans that he would connect an upper cut to Fernandez and defeat him “with a quick punch to the ribs so that he feels the vibration of the fist of a man!” Mejia said to his audience at the event organized by Sports Minister Cesar Cedeno: “One of these days, I am going to invite Leonel Fernandez to play ping-pong and I am going to leave the game at 11-0.” He promised that the next four years of his government would be known as “Dominican Athlete” years in which he would spend numerous resources on sports. He credited his government with successful athletic policies that have led Dominican competitors to prevail at important international events, such as the Pan American Games in which the DR won 10 medals. He said that money spent on sports installations benefits thousands who practice sports. He attached importance to the government spending that built the Pan American Games venues and the 115 multi-use sports installations nationwide, the latter of which were funded with a controversial foreign commercial bank loan. Furthermore, at the event, Mejia promised to make the investments necessary to stage the Monte Plata Games this summer.
President Hipolito Mejia, campaigning on distributing state assets or at least promises of something for everyone, has gained popularity with the Dominican Republic’s poor, according to a comparison made in the most recent Gallup poll. Mejia has been delivering state land, promises of motorcycles and more. Some times these promises are conditioned to his being reelected, other times the goods are delivered to commit influential persons and their families to vote for him in the May election – and the Gallup poll shows that people have been buying in. President Mejia is dedicating himself fully to promoting his re-election ambitions after garnering the support of fellow-PRD leader Rafael Subervi Bonilla and neutralizing the Presidential aspirations of Vice-President Milagros Ortiz Bosch, who, while not campaigning for Mejia, is not campaigning against him, either.
As reported in Diario Libre, the DL-Gallup poll shows that since February, Mejia has gained considerably. April’s Gallup poll shows his support rising from 14.9% in February to 28.5% among the poorest segments. Mejia has also gained popularity with the middle class, advancing from 12.6% in February to 21.6% support in April. The wealthy are not buying his promises, however, with whom he has increased his support by a meager 1.7%.
Diario Libre reports that the reverse seems to be true of frontrunner Leonel Fernandez. The popularity of the former President, running on the PLD ticket, declined from 62.9% to 53.5% among the poor and from 66.1% to 60.1% among the middle class. Support for Fernandez among the wealthy increased from 58.5% to 66%.
The third candidate, Eduardo Estrella of the PRSC, has seen his popularity stagnate. Political analysts say that Estrella’s votes are more likely to go to Fernandez than to Mejia if more Dominicans perceive the election can be concluded in a first round.
While Mejia’s something-for-everyone campaign strategy is gaining, he is still way behind Fernandez. The April poll shows Fernandez leading 54.8% over Mejia’s 27.1% of Mejia and Estrella’s 14.4%. There are 23 days to go until the 16 May election.
The ruling PRD yesterday submitted a written warning to the Central Electoral Board (JCE) that said it might be subject to attacks during the May 16 elections, according to Hoy. The communique, which asked the electoral board to take measures to ensure that the violence of 1982 and 1986 is not repeated, was signed by political delegate Dario de Jesus. He recalls the death of Cloroaida de Tineo in a grenade explosion weeks after the 1982 election and other casualties caused due to gunfire during the 1986 election.
De Jesus says that the elections should not cost human lives and urged the JCE to take strong measures, such as metal detectors at the doors of the JCE building, to avoid the possibility of violence.
Interestingly, the PRD mention of the violence at the JCE during the 1982 elections is directly linked to Vicente Sanchez Baret, the former director of Customs in the Mejia administration and currently one of the foremost re-election campaign directors. History tells that when the results of the 1982 election came in, showing that Salvador Jorge Blanco of the PRD had defeated PRSC Joaquin Balaguer by 854,868 votes to 706,951, Balaguer’s followers, led by PRSC leader Mario Read Vitini, caused the announcement of victory to be stalled, at a time when the JCE judges were notably partisan to the PRSC. Then on 18 June, a grenade exploded at the JCE and the incident is known as “El Granadazo.” According to the report produced by an investigative board composed of officers of the police and the Armed Forces, the grenade slipped from the hand of one of the bodyguards of then-PRD senator Vicente Sanchez Baret. Five people died in the incident, in addition to the one person mentioned in the PRD’s recent letter to the JCE. Another 20 were injured.
For more on violence at the JCE during Dominican elections, see http://www.ahora.com.do/Edicion1298/DEPORTADA/tema2.html
In a related story, PRD spokesman Tomas Hernandez Alberto cautioned the PLD against acts of violence if their candidate, Leonel Fernandez, does not win on 16 May, according to El Caribe. He said that Leonel has been creating the image that he will walk away with the election, but that more recent data the PRD has on hand indicates the candidates might end up in a statistical tie in the first round. Despite the opinion of Hernandez, all independent polls carried out by international companies published so far suggest that Fernandez will take the election in a first round. The same polls indicate he would comfortably take the election if a second round were necessary.
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) announced yesterday it will conduct a test run this weekend of the electoral computation systems for the 16 May elections. Judge Nelson Gomez, the president of the Administrative Chamber of the JCE, said that this test will prove that the informatics systems of the JCE are effective and safe from hackers. The test run, suggested by Santiago Murray of the Organization of American States, will be conducted on Saturday in the voting areas where 65% of the vote (Santiago, Santo Domingo, Bonao, La Vega, Puerto Plata, Moca, San Pedro, San Cristobal, and La Romana) are concentrated. On Sunday, the remaining 35% will be covered.
United Kingdom Ambassador Andy Ashcroft announced yesterday that the UK will donate US$9,000 worth of computers, printers and other supplies to Participacion Ciudadana, the civic society group. The equipment will be used by the civic movement to monitor the 16 May election, as reported in Hoy newspaper.
Ashcroft said that as a friend of the DR, with extensive ties through tourism and other economic investments, the UK is pleased to contribute to the successful staging of the upcoming elections.
Participacion Ciudadana’s director, Javier Cabreja, general coordinator Alfonso Abreu Collado and electoral observations director Vianela Diaz accepted the donation and thanked the government of the United Kingdom for its assistance.
The director of public relations at Santiago’s Cibao International Airport, Carlos Manuel Estrella, announced that technicians are at work installing a new US$200,000 landing system, as reported in the Listin Diario. The innovation will allow pilots to take off and land without full visibility, thereby augmenting security. Estrella said the new system became a necessity last year, after numerous flights were suspended due to fog. The new hi-tech system will be put to use as soon as it is certified by US aviation authorities.
The seventh annual Santo Domingo Book Fair officially opens this evening in a ceremony to feature President Hipolito Mejia and Puerto Rican Culture Minister Teresa Tio at 8:30pm in the Manuel Rueda Hall of the National Music Conservatory. The fair will open to the public as of tomorrow, with daily hours from 9:30am – 10pm.
This 10-day fair includes more than 450 exhibitors from more than 20 countries and will feature a photo tribute to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. Puerto Rico is this year’s special guest and the neighboring island will send approximately 80 delegates to the event. The Puerto Rican Symphony will also put on a free concert at the National Theatre. Some 500 events and activities are scheduled to take place during the fair and books will be on sale for as little RD$10.
El Caribe reports that preparations did not seem ready yesterday, as reporters wandered through the room and inspected the exhibitions in construction. Nevertheless, the event’s director, Miguel De Camps, indicated that there is nothing to be concerned about and that everything will be in place for tonight’s opening. Libreria Mateca owner Santiago Povedano quipped that it is an election year and something always goes awry at the book fair during election years.
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