President Leonel Fernandez sent two loan proposals, for a total of US$35 million, for the Senate's approval in letters dated 1 October. The missives were received by Senate leader Andres Bautista. The first loan was underwritten in June of 2003 and ties the Dominican Republic with the World Bank (IRDB) and, according to the note that Fernandez sent to the Senate, the money would be directed to the Program to Support the Reform of the Health Sector. The project has a total cost of US$42 million, with the Dominican government putting up US$12 million in counterpart funding. The other loan is for US$5 million and involves the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) and the Dominican government. The purpose of these funds was cited as to "strengthen the management of foreign commerce." The program has a total cost of US$5,555,555. Both contracts were sent to the Senate Finance Commission, as presided over by Samana Senator Ramiro Espino.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has observed some improvement in the DR's monetary and public financial areas, according to Jacques Mandeng, the IMF representative in the Dominican Republic. The IMF team visited the Dominican Republic recently for talks on the resumption of the suspended StandBy Agreement, an event that complemented the trip made by the Dominican financial team last week. Mandeng was clear as he pointed out that steps have been taken towards a renewal of the IMF Stand By Agreement. Recently, it was revealed that the IMF and the DR were discussing a sum between US$800 million and US$1 billion. After the initial ratification of the Stand By, the PRD government received almost US$200 million, but subsequent government actions voided the accord and the IMF stopped all disbursements. Sources close to the Listin Diario revealed that, apart from the tax reform that was just put into effect, the IMF also wants changes made in the electric system. Mandeng revealed that electric sector's financing is being negotiated with the World Bank on one hand and with the USAID on the other, both of which negotiations are independent of the ongoing IMF talks. The idea, according to the IMF economist, is to obtain solid financing and to sharpen the collection for energy use.
The Venezuelan government has decided to ratify its decision to augment the supply of oil to the Dominican Republic, but only under the condition that the deal be made directly between the two nations, without any involvement of businesses or individuals thought to have conspired against President Hugo Chavez in any way. Miguel Mejia, a minister without portfolio, was the source of this news item, and according to whom the Venezuelan government's sole interest is to help the Dominican people. Also according to Mejia, the Venezuelan embassy and its intelligence personnel had just recently identified enterprises and persons with ties to the former (PRD) government who had attempted to destabilize the Chavez government. The minister was emphatic in stating that the Dominican Republic cannot afford to jeopardize the more lenient conditions now being offered by Venezuela.
The Ministry of Police & the Interior reported that, of the nearly 700,000 weapons estimated to be in the hands of civilians, only 6,611 weapons have regularized the holding of these under new rules of the present government, accounting for perhaps a trifling 1%. Despite the fact that the grace period to renew gun permits expired over a week ago, sources from the ministry revealed to El Caribe that of the 6,611 gun licenses that were issued or renewed, 24 were official licenses. In view of this, the ministry has extended the grace period to 30 October. Minister Franklyn Almeyda confessed to reporters that he was "afraid to give numbers on the total amount of illegal weapons or licenses that were issued in an irregular fashion or by military personnel." He did say, however, that the ministry operates an electronic database containing information on 400,000 individuals with guns, and nearly 700,000 files on people who were issued weapons. The minister said that while their information encompasses weapons with legal status, they do not have statistics on those weapons that enter the country as contraband, sold illegally, or illicitly distributed by the members of the Armed Forces. "There are many weapons in the Dominican population with not-quite-legal permits, ones we call 'friendly permits' out of respect for the Armed Forces," said Almeyda. He cited the National Intelligence Directorate, the narcotics agency and the Armed Forces as three examples of institutions that issue permits without the legal capacity to do so.
Armed Forces Minister Sigfrido Pared Perez believes that the number of generals in the Armed Forces is still too high, despite a review process that saw 99 generals placed into retirement, thereby the diminishing the number by almost half. As reported in Hoy newspaper, while it is customary to retire generals upon a change of government, the Fernandez government broke all records by retiring more than 100 generals from the Armed Forces and the National Police combined. These departures, however, have been accompanied by the reintegration of others, a bad thing, according to Pared Perez, "if they are allowed back in after having committed harm to the institution."
While the word "cleanup" has been used to describe the whittling down of the Armed Forces' upper ranks, Minister Pared Perez prefers to refer to it as a revision. "This is not a prophylaxis, but a revision of official cases that have been readmitted improperly. For example, there have been academy students suspended for various reasons who have been taken back and promoted, and that is not correct."
Generals who are retired enjoy comfortable pension plans at the expense of Dominican taxpayers.
Following a meeting yesterday with representatives of the CONEPREC (Industrial Council to Prevent Crime), National Police Chief Manuel de Jesus Perez Sanchez said that a "prophylaxis" of the institution's ranks would be conducted in order to render the force more professional in technical matters and to strengthen moral values. Perez Sanchez explained the need for agents who know how to handle evidence and treat the scene of a crime. He promised that the reorganization would not be based on retaliation or vengeance, and said that most of the NP's members were "serious-minded men and women." Perez Sanchez admitted that the cleanup would be a challenge, but said that they must give clear signals to the population that they are working to meet expectations, and he cited the crackdown on the illicit use of stolen vehicles and the increased patrols of city streets as evidence of the direction they are taking. According to a report in Diario Libre, the details on the purging of the organization's unwanted elements will be made known today by the NP's spokesman, Simon Diaz.
Celso Marranzini, a past president of CONEP and the new president of the private sector support group, expressed his concern over the recent number of assaults and robberies. CONEP's leader, Elena Viyella, echoed this sentiment and said the business council would support the police institution in whatever way necessary. "We all want to live in a peaceful country," she said.
The PRD party has rejected accusations that it has played a vital part in the latest wave of violence that is shaking the country's population. The party also issued a statement criticizing the massive firings that are affecting the government patronage jobs, as well as the demotions and forced retirements in the ranks of the Armed Forces. The uppermost officials within the PRD, headed by former President Hipolito Mejia, met and discarded the suggestion that elements of the PRD were behind the crimes directed at prominent members of the citizenry, as well as normal, everyday folks. El Caribe says ex-President Mejia told reporters that there is absolutely no link between the assault on commentator Euri Cabral and the PRD. Party leader Eligio Jaquez said the accusations that originated from within the PLD government are "careless and superficial." In his first public appearance since his overwhelming defeat in last May's elections, Mejia was his usual, jocular self, telling reporters that if he had wanted to do harm to Cabral, he "would have done it while in power."
El Nacional afternoon newspaper yesterday carried a headline whereby former President Hipolito Mejia asks President Fernandez to not "throw wood in the fire." Mejia spoke up to defend his former chief of the Police, retired general Jaime Marte Martinez from accusations that the latter had retained 20 vehicles that had been reported stolen, as per a statement from District Attorney Hernandez Peguero. Mejia joked about how many asses a person would have to have to sit in that number of vehicles. As reported in El Nacional, he said that when he appointed Marte he recommended that he do things that were done normally, "because one cannot change things from one day to the other."
The PRD officials' meeting lasted from 9am until 6pm, and Tony Raful, as the acting president of the party, reported that the group had decided to ask President Fernandez to respect the Civil Service law and to stop the massive firings.
http://www.elnacional.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=16007
A group of 10 PRD senators sat down with the party's ex-president Hatuey Decamps yesterday, with the aim of unifying the PRD's membership. The meeting with Decamps, who was unseated from the head of the party after refusing to support Hipolito Mejia's bid for re-election, took place at the home of Senator Celeste Gomez Martinez in the capital city, said Senator Vicente Castillo (PRD-Peravia) to Hoy newspaper. Castillo also said that the members of the Senate's PRD block would become the party's front line and could greatly contribute to fortifying the PRD family.
Nevertheless, Senator Castillo also expressed his view that party unity should be achieved by leaving some members behind because of questionable, improper actions during the Mejia government that have tainted them. While Castillo did not identify who these undesirables were, he said that they hold no appeal, neither to the party nor to society, and could not be involved in the upper ranks of a rejuvenated PRD organization.
Just as the PPH faction of the PRD, composed of Mejia loyalists, had met yesterday, Castillo said another faction was planning to hold a party-wide convention that would revamp the party's structure. While the event wouldn't be the most "elegant" of affairs, said Castillo, it would serve to stimulate PRD unity and elect its new leaders.
Decamps reportedly said to those present at yesterday's encounter that he is willing to collaborate on any project that would resolve the PRD's internal conflicts and that the senators could count on his assistance when needed. Castillo said that Decamps demonstrated his support for and adherence to the party's rules and principles, and that "he would fight to the finish alongside all PRD members."
Employers and workers' representatives will renew their talks designed to achieve a new minimum wage and comparable wage increases across all levels of the work force. The workers' unions are requesting a 60% increase in the wages between the minimum wage and RD$20,000 per month. From this point on, the unionists want each business or industry to adjust salaries according to their own situation. As yet, the position of the business community has not been made public, although yesterday, according to El Caribe, a 30% wage increased was allegedly agreed to during a meeting of held by CONEP (Private Business Council). CONEP leader Elena Viyella de Paliza denied such an agreement, however, saying only that they had met and decided to go to the National Commission on Salaries so that some agreement may be reached. Viyella said that the best thing to do at this time would be to call the National Commission into session. Upon hearing of the union proposal that pegged the increase at 60%, most industrialists and business community members rejected the idea, although Celso Marranzini, a former CONEP president, conceded that the proposals should at least be studied. As reported, consumer prices increased by 42.6% in 2003 and between January and August of 2004 the cost of living increased by 32%, making for an 89% increase in the cost of living index over the past two years. The last general wage increase was set at 25% and only affected those earning the minimum wage, and even this was conducted in two stages: a 10% increase in 2003 and a 15% increase in 2004. Many firms did not follow suit among those earning higher wages, however, a source of agitation for many workers. Thousands of businesses closed last year, unable to pass the increasing costs of doing business on to consumers.
The state-owned Minmetals Corp, the most powerful mining group in continental China, has been announced as a possible buyer of Falconbridge, the company that operates the nickel and iron mine in Bonao. The US$5-billion price tag represents one of the largest investments of the Chinese company outside of its borders. The Listin Diario says that Minmetals was founded 50 years ago and in 2003, according to Wall Street Journal figures, had an income of US$11.7 billion. Noranda, the Falconbridge parent company, put itself on the market earlier this year after Branscan Corp, a 42% shareholder, said it wanted to get out of mining. The purchase of Noranda seems to have been a good deal, according to the WSJ, as Brazilian mining giant and operator of the largest mining enterprise in the world, the CVDR Company, had expressed its interest in Noranda if talks with the Chinese should break down. Falconbridge has been the prime employer in Bonao for over thirty years and major contributor to the municipal treasury through the Falconbridge Foundation.
Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox and Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees were three of the most outstanding players in yesterday's American League Playoffs game. Pedro and Manny guided Boston to a convincing 8-3 win over the Anaheim Angels. Anaheim's Vladimir Guerrero batted two runs in, but his team went down 0-2 in the best-of-five series. For Boston, Pedro Martinez pitched seven fairly good innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out six. His Angels counterpart, the DR's Bartolo Colon, pitched six good innings, too, giving up just three runs on seven hits. The key moment was a sacrifice fly by Manny Ramirez, which capped a four-run seventh inning for the Bosox and sealed the victory. Dominican shortstop Orlando Cabrera was responsible for three runs batted in, while the much feared David Ortiz was walked three times out of respect for his enormous power.
In the other playoff game, the New York Yankees came from behind and beat the Minnesota Twins 7-6 in twelve innings. Alex Rodriguez went four for six, scoring two runs and batting in another three. A two-base hit in the twelfth inning got things tied up for the Yankees who were trailing 5-6. The man known as A-Rod also hit a homerun in the fifth inning.
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