Venezuela will finance 25% of its oil exports to the Dominican Republic. The announcement took place at the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo. The agreement will allow the Dominican government to defer payment of around US$150 million per year, and this money can be used for infrastructure improvements.
Venezuelan Energy & Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez Montas, Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas and Secretary of the Presidency Danilo Medina made the announcement. Hoy newspaper reported that Montas, Medina and ambassador Miguel Mejia were the chief negotiators for the DR. Ramirez head the delegation of technicians from Petroleos de Venezuela (Pedvesa).
The announcement was made after the Venezuelan minister met with President Leonel Fernandez for over an hour to round out the assistance package. Still pending in the agreement are the exact credit terms and the amounts of petroleum that will be involved in the deal.
According to Ramirez, they met to get the Caracas accords back on track, since petroleum prices can affect the amounts of oil that will be made available for this special treatment. Ramirez said that the technicians will work out all of the details at later meetings.
Sources in Caracas said that the Dominican Republic is looking to obtain the same deal that the Chavez government has given to Cuba. This would permit the financing of about 50,000 barrels of oil per day at current rates of consumption. The Dominican oil bill for the year is calculated to be between US$1.5 and US$2.0 billion.
After several long, drawn-out meetings over the past few days, representatives of both the business and labor sectors arrived at a resolution for a new scale of minimum wages. This announcement was made at the Ministry of Labor, where the National Committee on Salaries' office is located. Those small businesses, with declared capital of between RD$200,000 and RD$500,000, will offer a minimum wage of RD$4,400 per month. Micro-establishments whose capital is less than RD$200,000 will pay RD$3,900. Those businesses that declared capital of more than RD$500,000 will offer a minimum wage of RD$6,400 per month.
The most significant news was that the business and union leaders did not abandon the final meeting after three hours of what El Caribe described as "face-offs", and the parties agreed that those workers earning from RD$5,000 per month to RD$20,000 per month would also see a 25% wage increase.
Representatives from the Dominican Committee on Small and Medium Business were worried about the effect a substantial increase to the minimum wage would have on their membership, and were not in agreement with the RD$200,000 level that the National Commission on Salaries finally accepted. One other disconcerting note was made when the president of the Chamber of Deputies announced that the deputies would continue to discuss an overall wage increase of 30% for all salaries, including those above the RD$20,000 benchmark set by the CNS and the business and union leaders.
The new wages would go into effect as of November.
This is the second raise that workers making less than RD$20,000 receive in the DR. Last month, workers benefited when the level at which wages are exempt from paying income taxes was pushed up 25%, as part of the new tax reform package.
Lawyer Julio Cury voiced accusations yesterday that the previous government irregularly negotiated the extension of the Jaragua Hotel's lease, as reported in today's Listin Diario.
The addendums to the original contract were drawn up in November and December 2002 by then legal advisor to the Executive Branch, Guido Gomez Mazara and Jose Lois Malkun, at the time Finance Minister. These amendments increased the transfer of property terms from 30 to 40 years, without explanation or justification, as is usual in such matters. Cury complained that the legal advisor and the minister of finance did not take into account stipulations of the Law 141-97, which regulates the transfer of state property. Cury, told the Listin Diario that he prefers to view the amendments as a "pathetic expression of incompetence." The law reguired that a nationally and internationally publicized legal tender would have been held for the lease extension to be valid.
Central Bank governor Hector Valdez Albizu announced that inflation by the end of 2004 is supposed to be below the 36% level, about 9% less than the levels predicted by the IMF in its monetary program. The Consumer Price Index fell by 1.13% last September, the first time this has happened in the last twelve years. Valdez Albizu offered his statements during a speech at the San Pablo House where the Catholic organization was celebrating the 57th anniversary of its founding. Valdez Albizu said that between January and September, the GDP rose by 1.4% due to greater spending before and after the May elections, as well as some recovery in industrial production and the service sector. The Central Bank chief said that if the recovery continues, the GDP could grow by as much as 1.8% for the year, far above the -1.0% predicted by the IMF and the Central Bank back in the earlier part of 2004. Expressed in dollars, the GDP per person is at US$2,019.70, which is a 5.7% growth over 2003. September saw a US$1.26 billion surplus in the balance of payments that Valdez Albizu feels could be maintained until the end of 2004.
Commenting on the just released figures, Bear Stearns research analyst Franco Uccelli forecasts that for the year as a whole the current account surplus will likely be around US$1.5 billion, equivalent to 8.3% of the GDP. "As the Dominican Republic's real economy ad monetary accounts continue to recover, government and market attention will remain focused on the country's fiscal and public debt situation, with the government vehemently working to bring a consolidated deficit (which we believe will be equivalent to some 6.8% of GDP in 2004) under control and to reduce the country's hefty public debt service burden (which at the moment consumes about 40% of fiscal revenues) by restructuring some of its components, including its sovereign bonds."
Democratic representative Charles Rangel of New York called the Bush Administration tactics regarding the 25% tax on HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) "...inappropriate and unfortunate". Rangel said: "If the administration thinks that the tax is inconsistent with the obligations of the Dominican Republic in the World Trade Organization, then its efforts should be directed by the obligations that both countries have with the WTO; and if they can't find a mutually satisfactory solution, then the dispute should go to an arbitration panel." Rangel pointed out that this was what happened with the negotiations with Mexico and the US. The US did not threaten to void the Free Trade Agreement in that case. The press release said that Rangel felt that the attitude shown by the Bush spokesmen "does not reflect a balanced, respectful and fair approach to this vital bi-lateral relationship."
The director of the Department of Migration, Carlos Amarante Baret said that his predecessors had operated an illicit operation to facilitate irregular travel to Spain, the United States, and Canada. Interested parties were charged between US$10,000 and US$15,000 per person, as reported in the Listin Diario. According to Amarante, a lawyer himself, the illicit traffic was promoted within the department using military coordinators who were the real chiefs of immigration controls at the nation's airports. At the same time, the official said that the section that took care of foreigner's residence permits had become a center for extorting money, and made between three and four million pesos each month to irregularly legalize foreigners' residence status.
He told the Listin Diario that former officials sold illegal residence permits to Chinese and Indian citizens, several of which have been stopped at local airports. Recently three brothers from India were stopped with fake residence permits as they tried to enter the country for the first time and a week before two Chinese had been caught with irregularly issued papers.
Amarante told reporters during his visit to the newspaper that migration officials at the ports and airports of the country were under pressure from military personnel that participated in the "illegal human traffic." He admitted that it would be difficult to prove that the military had operated without the fore knowledge of the migration officials.
Amarante announced that working together with the Attorney General he and his staff would be creating an office just to deal with the white slave traffic that operates in the country. He warned that his team of investigators would remove any person linked to white slavery from the Dominican Republic.
The Foundation for Institutionality and Justice (Finjus), a non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting the establishment of an independent and efficient judiciary in the Dominican Republic, favors that there be a "de-concentration" of the power of the Supreme Court, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Speaking for the organization, the president of the board of directors of Finjus, Fabiola Gonzalez Garcia recommended that justices over the age of 75 be retired automatically, as has been established in the law that governs the Judicial Service. She spoke yesterday during an event that celebrated the 14th anniversary of the institution. Present at the event were the chief justice of the Supreme Court Jorge Subero Isa, Attorney General of the Dominican Republic Francisco Dominguez Brito, the PUCMM rector, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado and the Spanish ambassador, Maria Figa-Lopez Palop.
The current structure of the justice system does not guarantee the efficient decision making process, creating an organizational model that promotes excessive role-playing by the magistrates.
FINJUS also wants to rebuild the National Council of Magistrates in order that its decisions are not contaminated by strategies coming from the different political parties. They would like for more members to participate in the council, expanding this to include representatives from the appellate courts, the courts of first instances as well as meritorious academic figures. The Finjus study recommends that the council itself be chosen in a transparent and less arbitrary manner.
The positions are explained in the recently released study entitled: The Re-launching of the Judicial Reform.
The must-read column "Que se dice" (What is being said) reports today that a lack of understanding and knowledge about the newly instituted Penal Code has been brought to the forefront in last week's headlines. The columnist says that one month is not enough time to give a proper evaluation as to the successful application or not of the new Penal Code. As the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Jorge Subero Isa has said, it is evident that one of the principal problems, that the promoters of the new code will have to face, is the population's overall ignorance of the breadth, the procedures and the legal environment that the new code encompasses. This lack of understanding includes, of course, public officials, obliged by their jobs to know a judicial tool but which unfortunately they have had little time to become familiarized with.
The bitter confrontation that was seen last week between the head of the Customs and the District Attorney for the National District over the Plaza Lama case is a sufficiently clear example of what is happening. It showed that a lack of knowledge of the new code could provoke open discord among public officials.
A mob of PLD members sacked offices of the Luis E. Aybar Hospital's Center for Gastroenterology in Santo Domingo in demand for employment. According to Carmen Baez, the director for the hospital, the PLD mob wrecked the furniture of her reception area and scared the wits out of her secretary, as they demanded to be hired. Today, police and military units are providing security for the hospital that was built and donated to the Dominican Republic by Japan, thirteen years ago. According to sources, the workplace has returned to normal under the heavy security. Dr. Baez told Listin Diario reporters that she was not harmed in the small riot only because some of her doctors took her out a back door during the hottest part of the scene. She said that she cannot understand the attitude of the party members since she has been receiving their representatives ever since she was put into office two months ago.
Orlando Gil, the political columnist of the Listin Diario, writes today to speculate that former President Hipolito Mejia is supporting the organization of a new foundation, such as President Leonel Fernandez set up his Fundacion Global, Democracia y Desarrollo upon leaving office in 2000. Orlando Gil speculates that a meeting held at the new San Cristobal plantation house of the former President with the participation of former economic advisor Andres Dauhajre and his associate Jaime Aristy Escuder could have served this purpose. Dauhajre is the president of the Fundacion Desarrollo y Economia, a long-standing economic research center. Also participating in the San Cristobal meeting were Eligio Jaquez (former minister of agriculture), Peggy Cabral, Miguel Vargas Maldonado (former minister of public works), Fernando Duran, Ana Maria Acevedo, Pastora Mendez (former national treasurer) and Jose Lois Malkum (former governor of the Central Bank).
Commenting on the meeting, that he said was called in a hushed, almost hidden manner, he said that there was speculation that the meeting was a way of former President Hipolito Mejia assuming leadership in the PRD party, over the heads of Vicente Sanchez Baret, president and Rafael Subervi Bonilla, secretary general.
Another rumor that he shared with his readers is that the new foundation would be financed with money left over from the presidential re-election campaign, at a time when many in the PRD say the election effort left the party with debts. He speculates that the PPH faction of the PRD that backed the failed reelection of former President Hipolito Mejia has an abundance of funds, despite claims to the contrary. He speculates on who would be the director of the new foundation, mentioning Fernando Duran, Ana Maria Acevedo (the PPH cheap pollster) or Miguel Vargas Maldonado, commenting that the latter has political aspirations.
Two Dominicans made the difference in the National League playoff last night. Alberto Pujols, the powerful St. Louis Cardinals infielder, pushed across the tying run as the Cards broke through the pitches from Houston Astro star Roger Clemens to win the National League Playoff Series. Santiago-born Julian Tavarez, the volatile pitcher who broke two bones in his non-pitching hand five days ago in a dugout tirade, delivered his second consecutive sterling performance, stopping the Astros cold. Pujols was voted the Most Valuable Player in the series, batting .442 with four homeruns and nine runs-batted-in. With Houston and New York now eliminated, St Louis will face the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, marking the third time the two have vied for the championship over the past 50 years. In 1946 and 1967, Boston and St Louis squared off in the World Series, each time with St Louis winning in seven games. This year's series will feature Dominican pitchers Pedro Martinez for Boston and Julian Tavarez as relief for St Louis, as well as MVPs David Ortiz for Boston and Alberto Pujols for St Louis. That is in addition to Manny Ramirez, the leading Boston Red Sox slugger.
See http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?...
Today will be a day of intense baseball action in the Dominican Republic. While fans gear up to root for their favorite team in the World Series that begins tomorrow night in Boston, tens of thousands of baseball enthusiasts will fill the local stadiums tonight as the Winter Baseball League gets underway. The six-team league will feature current Major League players and many, many future stars. Licey, Aguilas, Escogido, Azucareros, Estrellas and Gigantes at 8pm this evening as the fifty-first edition of Dominican professional baseball gets underway. The Tigres of Licey and the Aguilas del Cibao have each won 19 tournaments, while the Leones of Escogido have won 12 times, the Estrellas Orientals just twice, the Azucareros once and the Gigantes, the newest team, came close last year but finished second. Tonight's games will take place in Santo Domingo's Quisqueya Stadium, in San Francisco de Macoris' Julian Javier Stadium and in the Tetelo Vargas Stadium in San Pedro de Macoris.
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008. DR1. All Rights Reserved.