United States Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Dominican President Leonel Fernandez in Panama yesterday, where the two discussed the reactivation of the IMF Stand By Agreement, and the support that the US would give such a move. Powell expressed his interest that the DR renew the IMF agreement.
The news was relayed to the press by the Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, who said the 20-minute meeting with Powell emphasized the cordial relations between the two countries and the intentions of the Bush administration to "strengthen commercial, business, cultural and scientific" ties. Fernandez explained the difficult economic situation the country is experiencing, and also extended an invitation to Powell to visit the DR. Morales also told reporters that President Fernandez conveyed his belief that the Dominican economic sectors were reacting with confidence, as shown by the strengthening of the peso versus the US dollar. The President also explained the austerity measures that were in place to reduce spending in the public sector, as well as how the propane and electricity subsidies are to be redirected to only the neediest members of the nation's society. The meeting in Panama was attended by Presidential Technical Secretary Temistocles Montas, US ambassador Hans Hertell and former US ambassador to the Dominican Republic Linda Watt. President Fernandez also met with President Ricardo Lagos of Chile, where they discussed the possibility of a bilateral free trade agenda within the accords of LAFTA, the Latin American Free Trade Agreement. Other topics addressed were Chilean support for judicial reforms, prison reform and modernization of the state for the Dominican Republic. The two leaders agreed on an exchange of technicians in order to assist educational reforms in the DR's public schools.
The top leadership of Dominican businesses have united with PLD party leaders in their rejection of a wage hike as part of the tax reform package, particularly the 30% wage increase proposed by Senator Ramon Alburquerque. Elena Viyella de Paliza, the head of CONEP, told reporters that her group was opposed to the wage increase because such a motion should be initiated at the National Committee of Salaries and not in Congress. The CONEP statement follows the PRD legislators' introduction of a motion to include a 30% wage increase for the Senate's consideration. The often fiery business spokeswoman told reporters she found it "curious that at a time when the exchange rate is falling, the peso is getting stronger and the interest rates are dropping, there should be a proposal of this nature." Viyella spoke after a long meeting with fellow business leaders that included Campos de Moya, Yandra Portela, Arturo Peguero, Guillermos Leon Nouel, and Jorge Ivan Ramirez.
The Ministry of Industry & Commerce has decided to place inspectors at propane distributors's sites in order to ensure the fuel is being sold is for domestic and not industrial or other use. They will also be tasked with making sure no price speculation is attempted given propane's current nationwide scarcity. The Listin Diario's Bredyg A Disla reports on her visit to six different gas distributors, where she found inspectors on hand at each one. According to them, they represent only the first group of 50 officials being trained to assure that propane is being sold in tanks of 100 lbs or less, and anything over that to be considered as for commercial or industrial use and charged at the higher rate of RD$62 per lb. The fuel's shortage, according to Disla, has not abated, and the head of the Association of Propane Distributors, William Melo Alcantara, says the situation will continue for at least the foreseeable future, since current demand does not allow distributors to stockpile any propane reserves. A ship with five million gallons of propane is expected to arrive today, but with demand running between 22 and 23 million gallons a month, this is barely enough fuel for one week.
Economic consultant and politician Guillermo Caram urged the senators to give priority to the passage of a tax reform that stimulates the economy without levying more taxes that would only serve to curtail production activity. He writes in El Caribe newspaper today that the Dominican people have already paid a high price for the economic crisis that was caused by errors committed in the previous government in terms of heavy taxes and swelling inflation. The former governor of the Central Bank said that the Dominican people are counting on the Senate not to give precedence to the particular interests of powerful groups that back tax increases as long as their interests are not affected. He said that, instead, the tax reform should be integral so that it fairly distributes the burden. He hoped that the Senate would not fall prey to foreign interests that seek, among other things, to collect on loans that should never have been contracted, and that they would act only in the nation's best interest. He writes that the Senate needs to act swiftly and take into consideration how national experience has shown the negative results will be forthcoming when a government begins increasing its spending and imposing more taxes. In his view, this juxtaposes the benefits won by administrations that begin with measures of austerity and stimulation of the economy and productive sectors by reducing taxes.
Lastly, Caram was critical of the latest Presidential appointments that seem to contradict President Fernandez's austerity plan for the government, as proclaimed in his inaugural speech.
The new director of AMET and the mayor of Santo Domingo have agreed to fine all those caught littering in the capital city. AMET will impose fines that range from RD$500 to RD$30,000. Jose Miguel Martinez, the man in charge at the municipal level of keeping the city clean, says that trash tossed onto the streets produces 5% of the 1,300 tons of garbage that the city government collects every day.
Santo Domingo's District Attorney (Fiscal) Jose Manuel Hernandez told reporters he would investigate several ministries regarding the handling of RD$2 billion to determine where this money was spent. The prosecutor reminded the reporters that the Controller's Office had published information about the handling of funds by officials of the former administration. In a rather startling comment, Hernandez said that "colonels and their mistresses" were enjoying the use of seized properties or evidence in pending judicial cases. He reported that a former assistant district attorney, Felipe Herrera, had returned four motorcycles that had been seized and resurfaced in his possession. Another case to be investigated is that of the shipment of shoes that was appropriated from a well-known store on Duarte Avenue and later sold by an assistant DA. Former District Attorney Maximo Aristy Caraballo ultimately had to pay for the shoes from funds from the DA's office budget.
With much attention being given to questionable releases granted to prisoners in the DR, it comes to light that former Attorney General Victor Cespedes Martinez ordered the release of his first cousin, Roberto Cespedes Martinez, who had been in jail for 16 months on a charge of homicide.
The freed man, who is related to both sides of the previous DA's family, is himself a former official with the National Police. He had been held since January 2003, when Judge Doris Pujols sentenced him to jail for the murder of Abraham Lincoln Perdomo. The former attorney general told El Caribe reporters that he freed his cousin because he was "sick." The incumbent District Attorney for the National District (Santo Domingo) has summoned his predecessor to appear before him today to answer questions regarding all the releases that were granted just days before the PRD government handed the nation over to the PLD. According to the information in El Caribe, Roberto Cespedes Martinez was examined by Dr Abel Marte Hernandez from the Department of Health, part of the Prisons Office. The doctor reported that the inmate was suffering from high blood pressure and occasional irregular heart beats. During his trial, witnesses said that Roberto Cespedes Martinez shot his victim "without saying a word."
So far in 2004, 300 vehicles with a combined insured value of over RD$350 million have been reported stolen. While approximately 100 of these vehicles have been recovered by police, not all have been returned to their owners. National Police Chief Major General Manuel de Jesus Perez Sanchez gave a 72-hour period, beginning at 8am today, for all agents, no matter their rank, to return such vehicles. If not returned within the time allotted, anyone found to have recovered stolen vehicle in their possession will be indicted as accessories to theft. The case of stolen vehicles was presented to the police by the Dominican Chamber of Underwriters and Reinsurers, and brought before Perez Sanchez, Insurance Superintendant Euclides Gutierrez Feliz, Minister of Interior & Police Franklin Almeyda and the Santo Domingo District Attorney Jose Manuel Hernandez. Perez Sanchez told the group that the police have sufficient investigative power to find, search and arrest any police officials or civilians with stolen property in their possession. Gutierrez Feliz told reporters that every month some 40 vehicles are stolen, whose combined insured value amounts to RD$70 million.
The secretary general of the Ramsar Convention reiterated his concern last week for the new law on Protected Areas, which has been approved by Congress but is currently under litigation with regards to its constitutionality. Peter Bridgewater of the Ramsar Convention sent a letter to President Leonel Fernandez to remind the new government of its international obligations regarding protected areas. Earlier, Bridgewater had addressed Fernandez's predecessor, President Hipolito Mejia, to express his apprehension of Law 202-04 signed by Mejia that allows the fragmentation and reduction of protected areas for development, primarily of hotels.
Bridgewater is especially concerned about Lake Enriquillo, designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on 15 May 2002. Enriquillo is the biggest lake in the Caribbean region and represents an extremely important site for the conservation of biological diversity in this area. The lake is home to the three largest reptile species on the island of Hispaniola, all three threatened with extinction. The lake is also an important habitat for more than 65 bird species, five of them endangered, besides being a place of great archaeological interest.
In his letter to the President, the secretary general exhorts the new government to adhere fully to its international responsibilities. Bridgewater explains that the recent landslides and floods that hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic are an example of how a sustainable tourism industry can be jeopardized by environmental damage (e.g., forest clearing and wetland drainage). He offered the full support of the Ramsar Convention in order to find acceptable solutions that would allow for sustainable development of the tourism industry in the DR, while simultaneously ensuring the preservation of its national resources. This attitude stems from the convention's basic philosophy, known as the wise use principle, according to Sebastian Semene Guitart of the convention's secretariat. For more information, see http://ramsar.org
Dr Segundo Armando Gonzalez Tamayo, who was the Republic's Vice-President alongside Professor Juan Bosch in 1962-63, died this morning at the age of 74 of leukemia. He is to be buried with state honors at the Cristo Redentor cemetery, and his wake will take place at the Funeraria Blandino.
Bosch's tenure of power was won in the first democratic elections to be held after 32 years of Dominican dictatorship. His Presidency was cut short, however, and an ouster took place seven months later.
Gonzalez Tamayo was a well-known physician who did not return to politics after the coup de etat. Diario Libre highlights his benevolence, reporting that as a general practitioner he offered his medical services for a symbolic sum of RD$10. After the coup, he dedicated his life to serve patients at the Clinic Dr Chang Aquino. He is described in the newspaper as a true philantropist who worked unconditionally for the welfare of his fellow citizens.
Gonzalez Tamayo is survived by his children Patria, Ivelisse, Manuel, Reynaldo, Oscar, Marcos and Leonardo. His daughter Patria Ramona Dominicana Gonzalez, MD is a prominent physician in the Washington Heights section of New York City. She has been following her father's footsteps in regards to her profession.
Police reported the capture of another of the men wanted in the brutal attack of a minor in Santo Domingo earlier this week. Jorge Alexander Reyes Alcantara (Satanas), 22, was injured in a shootout with police agents in the barrio Mejoramiento Social before his subsequent arrest and transport to jail. According to Colonel Jose Rafael Acosta Urena, and as reported in El Nacional, an exchange of fire broke out between the man and law officials, who attempted to stop Satanas and two others in his company. The agents were apparently unaware that Satanas was wanted for his involvement in the vicious rape for which two men are already being held and one more is being sought. The men in police custody have admitted to a spree of thievery and violence, stealing vehicles, jewelry and cash, and committing their crimes disguised as members of the military.
The police ask that the remaining fugitive from justice turn himself in to avoid any further bloodshed.
Hurricane Frances is tearing across the Bahamas today and expected to arrive at Florida's Gold Coast tomorrow. As she edged along the DR's North Coast yesterday, Frances left some rain, but not the amount that was predicted. Reports of damage were few, although six shacks located on the beach in La Playita, near the town of Nagua, were destroyed by wave action. The six families affected were able to find refuge with family and friends. In Nagua, the provincial head of Civil Defense, Minerva Santos, and the province's governor, Luis Cosme, told reporters that a red alert is still in effect for the coastline of that area and waves reaching eight feet continue to be observed along the beaches. The Civil Defense official told reporters that 53 families were voluntarily evacuated from their homes, but no widespread destruction was noted. In Puerto Plata, various households were evacuated from Playa Oeste due to dangerous wave patterns. Residences in the barrios of Aguas Negras and El Javillar were slightly affected by strong winds, according to the Red Cross chief, Sonia Hurtado.
A Latin Grammy was bestowed to Dominican merengue artist Johnny Ventura on Wednesday evening, as reported in El Caribe this morning. Ventura, who is also a former mayor of Santo Domingo, won his honors in the Best Merengue Album category that forms part of the Tropical field of recognition. El Caribe reports that Ventura was not able to attend the Los Angeles ceremony for reasons related to his health.
His winning album, titled "Sin Desperdicio," was in the running against Puerto Rican artists Limi-T 21, Giselle and Grupo Mania, and fellow Dominican Alex Bueno, whose album "20 Anos Despues" was also nominated.
Other Dominicans to earn Latin Grammy nominations this year were Frank Reyes, Andy Andy and Micky Taveras, all three in the Best Contemporary Tropical Album category, which was ultimately won by Cuban artist Albita. The evening's biggest winner, however, was Spanish sensation Alejandro Sanz, who was honored five times in various categories, but was not on hand to accept his awards.
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