President Leonel Fernandez announced he was suspending his trip to the United States (New York area and Chicago) where he would attend several events related to expatriate Dominicans, as reported by the Listin Diario. The announcement comes on the heels of Jeanne that today left Dominican territory as she heads north to Bahamas. While the brunt of the storm has passed, floods are happening in vulnerable areas nationwide. Most damages were suffered in the east and northeast.
Tropical storm Jeanne made landfall in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic yesterday, felling trees and power lines, causing houses to cave in and landslides that killed at least one child and injured nine others. At least three fishermen have been reported missing and are presumed lost at sea. Nearly 14,000 people were evacuated from their residences, sending 9,000 to public shelters and the rest to family and friends.
Hurricane-force winds affected the eastern provinces of La Altagracia (Higuey), El Seibo and Hato Mayor, while tropical storm winds affected the area near Nagua and Cabrera on the Northeast Coast.
The Ministry of Education announced the closure of schools in the eastern provinces, but most of the nation's public and private schools were similarly shut down as the day dawned. In Santiago all schools and universities were closed as the center of Jeanne hovered off the North Coast as of 6:30am this morning.
In the eastern part of the country, the rivers Duey and Quisibani overflowed their banks and inundated the city of Higuey, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of families. Trees lay blocking many of the roads and in some areas none were left standing. In Hato Mayor, the winds knocked down power lines and the entire eastern part of the country was nearly blacked out when the winds toppled two high-voltage transmission towers near the Cristobal Colon sugar mill. AES repair teams are on the job today trying to restore power.
The resort town of Bavaro was cut off from the rest of the country when the Bavaro Lagoon overflowed and made the road to Higuey impassable. The airport at Punta Cana was closed yesterday morning, but managed to re-open in the afternoon.
As Jeanne crossed the Samana Peninsula into the Atlantic, ten-foot waves and hurricane-force winds battered the towns of Nagua and Samana. In some parts of Samana not one house escaped without damage. The entire area was without telephone service, for the most part, and thousands were evacuated from the lower Yuna valley. The government announced that food and shelter would be provided for the refugees.
Las Americas airport in Santo Domingo cancelled flights to and from Puerto Rico, but, in general, operations continued unaffected. In Puerto Plata, all flights were cancelled at the Gergorio Luperon airport and the port of Puerto Plata was closed down.
In the Cibao Valley, tiny rivers such as the Gurabo, Tamboril and Canca are overflowing their banks and the Yaque River is cresting at near-flood levels. The Diario Libre reports that hundreds of residents in Higuey did not heed the Civil Defense advisories and remained in their homes until the water "was up to their necks." Civil Defense, the Red Cross and the Fire Department worked long hours to get these people into refuge centers at the governor's office and various schools.
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US Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States announced yesterday after a talk at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Santo Domingo that in March a committee of experts would evaluate the DR's fulfillment of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Maisto spoke out that corruption undermines the legitimacy of public institutions and strikes at society, moral order and justice, as well as at the comprehensive development of peoples.
He said there are now regional commitments in place following the Special Summit of the Americas in January 2004 in Monterey, Mexico now make difficult the harboring of corrupt government officers and the maintenance of their ill-gained assets abroad. He said that high-level efforts are in place in the hemisphere for cooperation in the struggle against corruption.
Participating in the panel about the summit and democracy were also deputy minister for foreign policy of the Ministry of Foreign Relations Alejandra Liriano; Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, rector of the PUCMM, and Flavio Dario Espinal, dean of the law school at the PUCMM.
A former US ambassador to Venezuela, Ambassador Maisto served as Special Assistant to President Bush and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs for National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice from January 2001 to April 2003. During his visit to Santo Domingo, he met with President Leonel Fernandez.
http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/Treaties/b-58.html
The Central Bank managed to lower the interest rates on its investment certificates by two points yesterday, selling them at rates of 34.5% on total sales of RD$5.816 billion. Over the past two months, the Central Bank has managed to reduce the interest rates on new certificates by 25%. This latest auction represented a notable decrease from the rate of 59.7% that was being offered just two months ago. With these new, lower interest rates at the certificate auction, many investors are attracted to the sale of 30-day certificates at a 36% A.P.R. The most recent offer for the certificates signified the first time that the offers to purchase were less than the total amount offered by the Central Bank. Initially, the bank was offering RD$6.5 billion, and received offers for just RD$6.1 billion. The bank eventually confirmed sales of RD$5.8 billion.
A bill that had been submitted in 2002 was finally voted on by the Senate in the first step towards approval. The bill will allow the use of fuels that contain 22% alcohol derived from sugar cane. The 17 senators present at the session voted to approve the bill. Alcohol fuels are cleaner-burning than normal fuels. Article 2 of the bill provides for tax exemptions, tariff exemptions, import tax exemptions, exchange commission exemptions or any other similar surcharges for a period of 20 years to the industries that start producing alcohol for fuels in the Dominican Republic. The tax exemptions would be extended to machinery to be used in the distillation of alcohol from sugar cane, whether these industries are related to an existing sugar mill or not. Any excess alcohol can be exported under the terms of the legislation.
A seminar titled "The Future of Economic Relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic" took place on Wednesday in Port-au-Prince, where experts spoke on the existing conditions between the two countries. Listin Diario reports that Pavel Isa, the director of the Center for Economic Investigation (CIECA) in the DR, stated that commerce between Haitian and DR markets is undermined by trade barriers that engender a "lose-lose" situation for both countries.
The economist indicated that these trade obstacles represent increased costs that put Haitian productivity at a great disadvantage. He believes that the DR's poor economic performance will affect exports to Haiti, the third biggest market for DR goods, not including free-zone products. Among the main items exported from the DR to Haiti are clay, eggs, herring, and soya oil. Haitians exports to the DR accounted for 9% of its trade, according to the report.
Zobeida de Jesus, a representative of the Latin American Faculty for Social Sciences (FLACSO), said that Haitian commerce was focused mainly on food items for popular consumption and noted that 51% of Dominican imports were food and drink items, the bulk of which were agri-products such as rice, chicken and pork items. These goods' allure was held primarily their prices, not their quality, said de Jesus.
Haitian expert Charles Clermont affirmed the need to regulate relations between the two neighboring nations, not only for the good of the state, but for the wellbeing of local education, culture and the private sector. He felt the development of a strategy to stimulate competition in the two nations was crucial, as the ability to compete is vital to the survival of each.
The effects of the new, lower exchange rate is now being seen on the new car lots of Santo Domingo, and prices have fallen as much as 20%. Used cars are also about 10% less in price. A 2000 Toyota Corolla that was once RD$450,000 is now RD$400,000, and a Mitsubishi Montero, 2004 model year, has a price tag RD$400,000 less than a few weeks ago. According to Japan Auto Comercial in Santo Domingo, car sales have picked up slightly, but are much better than four months ago when there was much uncertainty in the political and economic arenas. Over the first quarter of the year, car sales fell 27%. The New Car Dealers' Association told El Caribe reporters that new car prices were reduced by 20%, but Central Bank figures show just a 6.39% fall in car prices for the second consecutive month, since the dollar has dropped 1,000 points (RD$10.00) on the exchange markets. The spokesperson for the new car dealers, Enrique Fernandez, said that the current situation does not favor the dealers since they had obtained their inventories under a weaker peso and now are forced to sell at disadvantageous prices. The prime beneficiary according to Fernandez is the consumer, who is now able to save hundreds of thousands of pesos on their new car purchase. Prices vary by manufacturer and by the tax structure that is applied. All vehicles are subject to a 10% exchange commission tax, a 2% import tax (until December), a 12% VAT, and a Selective Consumer Tax that ranges from 10% to 80%, depending on the vehicle.
The sale of 67% of the shares of the Dominican branch of Parmalat, the Italian food giant that went bankrupt last year, will have a positive impact on Dominican farmers and ranchers, as well as the dairy industry in general. The Milk Producers' Association and the Farmers' and Ranchers' Association have issued a joint press release that emphasizes the re-capitalization of the local company and an aggressive participation in the milk and juice market. Tano Acebal and Cesareo Contreras, the spokesmen for the associations, told El Caribe reporter Mercedes Gonzalez that none of the state-owned property has been affected by the sale of the Italian shares. They pointed out that just recently the head of the Price Stabilization Institute (INESPRE), Jose Francisco Pena Guaba, suggested that the state sell its participation in Parmalat. The state won the grounds and one of the original buildings. The associations own 33% of the shares and, according to sources, the local investors are the Vicini, Leon Jimenes, Bonetti and Villanueva families. On 30 September there will be an assembly to choose the new board of directors. Parmalat acquires between 15% and 20% of the milk produced in the Dominican Republic, and purchases around 100,000 liters a day. The remaining milk is purchased by companies such as Leche Rica, the leader in the market, Ladom and Celia, as well as the cheese, yogurt, and ice cream industries. Each day there are 900,000 liters of milk produced in the DR and each year 32,000 tons of milk powder is imported.
Police have announced that 50 of the recovered vehicles that were illicitly in the hands of officials of that institution are to be returned to their legitimate owners on Monday. These are vehicles, mostly cars and SUVs that were stolen and recovered by police agents, but then "loaned out" to high-ranking officials. Among the vehicles for which the chemical engineers were able to establish definitive chassis VIN numbers, there were 14 SUVs and eight Mitsubishi L200 pickup trucks. Because the chassis numbers had been filed off, identification of the vehicles was difficult, and in certain cases impossible. Nevertheless, Police Chief Major General Manuel Perez Sanchez maintains that his officers acted in "good faith" by handing over the vehicles. Hoy newspaper says that the vehicles will be returned to the owners or the insurance companies that supply the documentation needed to prove ownership. At the Plaza de la Cultura, hundreds of people from all over the country were looking at the bevy of vehicles, hoping to locate their own. Other vehicles are being kept across the street from the Museum of Modern Art, and still more vehicles are in the parking lot of the SEGNA Insurance Company, across the street from the Plaza de la Cultura. A complete list of the vehicles that have been positively identified is available at www.diariolibre.com.do and www.hoy.com.do
The "must-read" column called "Que se dice" focuses today on possible internal tensions designed to frustrate the Attorney General. According to the columnist, the AG is not the only one who sees something "strange" in the recent attack on two young girls in their mother's presence after they were kidnapped at gunpoint in front of a major commercial establishment in Santo Domingo. The vicious, unnecessarily brutal nature of the crime caught the attention of Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, as did the confidence and ease with which the perpetrators acted. The editorialist goes on to say that Dominguez Brito does not want to say something that is in the minds of a lot of people, but his natural prudence and his job cannot permit such freedom, and that is that the wave of crimes over the last couple of weeks is completely out of proportion from what has been the norm. This change in the nature of the crimes and the frequency is being seen as a well planned criminal "offensive" specifically aimed at stalemating the efforts of the new Chief of Police Jose de Jesus Perez Sanchez and force his removal. This would not be the first time that our public safety institution has been hit with internal tensions that have a harmful spillover into the lives of "normal" society.
In another article in Hoy, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, the rector of the PUCMM university told reporters that he does not discard a political twist to the current violence that is being experienced. Pointing out that the violence has many facets, the rector mentioned the lack of effective leadership, especially within families, the lack of satisfaction within society, corruption and insecurity as components in the violence.
El Caribe reports on the latest from Azua, where Deivy Ramirez, aka "El Cojo," turned himself in to the authorities yesterday. Ramirez was wanted in connection with Tuesday's violent rampage that saw one journalist murdered and several injured. In the clash with law enforcement that sparked a convoluted quest for the gang members' revenge, four delinquents were also killed. The following day, as police attempted to negotiate the peaceful surrender of the remaining wanted men, another gang member was also killed in a shootout. The question on everyone's lips, however, concerned the whereabouts of gang leader Blas Pujols.
Heavily-armed agents and special forces descended on the town of Azua yesterday in a dragnet operation of the barrios where Pujols, who has evaded capture twice, was believed to be hiding. At 7pm, however, the agents gave up for the day and Pujols' whereabouts remain unknown. His ability to elude the authorities has given Pujols an almost mythical reputation, with residents of the area saying he moves through the streets at all hours, in various disguises, and always armed "with as many as four guns," says the El Caribe report.
As the town attempted to return to normalcy after three days of tension and bloodshed, a rumor circulated that Pujols had poisoned the water in the aqueduct. An analysis of the water was conducted and no evidence of any tampering was found. The local hospital was only accepting emergency cases and police kept a vigil over the facility for fear the gang members would appear there. Rumor had it that Pujols was planning to place explosives at the hospital, as well as at the Instituto de Formacion Tecnico Profesional (Infotep), a technical training college.
The town of Azua is not only reeling from the tension of the police presence, the murder of reporter and respected environmental activist Juan Andujar, the threats and attacks on other members of the local press and the knowledge that gang members are still on the loose, but from the charges that police agents worked in collaboration with and provided support to the criminal organizations. A Listin Diario report speaks of the complicity and negligence of the previous political, police and judicial authorities from which stemmed the high rate of crime in the Azua area this year, where more than 12 lives have been claimed. The report says that criminal elements acted in collaboration with political leaders, that police agents were accomplices to crime and that the justice system was weak, factors that all helped create the "monster" that has had Azua's 200,000 citizens at its mercy. Luis Sencion, the journalist whose arm was amputated due to injuries sustained by gang members on Tuesday, said in an interview with Hoy: "Everyone in Azua knows that...during May's election, many delinquents were provided with weapons." The newspaper blames the present situation on the arms that were distributed during the elections, drugs, poverty and police complicity. Yesterday, according to El Caribe, the authorities suspended Lieutenant Vitelio Ramirez Feliz, who is now charged with the murder of one person in Azua and under investigation for alleged ties to the gangs.
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