In a meeting that lasted several hours, the government's Economic Cabinet and the IMF delegation currently in country hashed out the structure of the 2005 budget law. Sources close to the action told Hoy newspaper that there were hopes that the negotiations would be finalized by week's end. One source said there had been "significant advances" towards establishing an agreement by the end of this month. The government team included the ministers closest to the President, as well as the governor of the Central Bank and top technicians from the Ministry of Finance. Steve Phillips headed the IMF team. The PLD government squad had structured a budget for 2005 that neared the RD$150-billion mark. The source told Hoy that each of the different items was examined and that a final decision would be made shortly.
Hector Valdez Albizu's speech to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the Dominican Republic's Central Bank pointed out that the "preliminary result of the overall balance of payments during the January 2004-September 2004 period was US$158 million in favor of the Dominican Republic," and that this will continue to the end of the year and close at US$200 million. This means that from the global financial standpoint, there will not be a foreign gap in payments. Luis Manuel Piantini, a former member of the Monetary Board, told El Caribe reporters that there is no foreign gap, but that there is a problem for the government to make the debt service payments. Luis Nunez, a former director of the CB's International Department, said that "from a purely public finance point of view, there is a problem because the government has to find the pesos to buy the dollars and pay the debt." A source close to the IMF and the Paris Club said, in a diplomatic fashion, that "the public sector may have a financial problem with regard to their budget, even though the balance of payments shows a surplus, and that is what we are facing."
The National Salaries Commission, a subordinate group of the Ministry of Labor, has warned the National Business Council (CONEP) that the agreement for a 25% increase on the salaries ranging between the minimum wage and RD$20,000 per month carries the validity of the law. The resolution that announced the new wage increase was reported last week, but CONEP has taken the stance that it would not be mandatory for those workers earning more than the minimum wage if their employer had already awarded a 25% or more increase to their personnel. CNS director Gloria Hernandez said that Resolution 2-04 established wage increases of 30% for those earning the legal minimum wage and 25% for those earning above the minimum wage but below RD$20,000. She said that the new resolution was ratified as the substitute for the former wage agreement that had been settled by the unions and employers. She told reporters that there is no clause in the document to indicate that the 25% increase would be "voluntary." CONEP says that it has not broken any agreement and that they have limited their comments to placing the resolution in the context of the current conditions existing in the Dominican industrial and commercial communities. They said they had agreed with labor "that the 25% wage increase...would not be applied to those entities that had already increased salaries by 25% this year and in many cases by more than 25%." CONEP reaffirmed its support of Resolution 2-04, however, and urged its members to conform to the terms set out therein.
The industrial sector represents one of the major fraud problems for the electrical distributors known as the EDEs, who are now talking lawsuits in order to collect sums that ascend into the millions of pesos. According to Ruben Bichara, EdeNorte and EdeSur have 47 clients that owe a combined RD$154 million, and if some payment plan is not reached with these clients the distributors will go to court and expose the names of those businesses as "deadbeats." Bichara said that the Edes have given these companies two weeks to mull things over. Speaking to Hoy newspaper, Bichara also said that once this time has elapsed, they would proceed to take legal action. He pointed out that industrial fraud is most worrisome because this is the sector that consumes the most electricity. He complained of how in one case EdeSur cut an industry's electricity for non-payment and a judge issued a sentence that fined the electricity company RD$3,000 per day of non-service. Bichara, the official spokesperson for the two distributors that are once again under governmental control, said that the distributors would no longer tolerate these sorts of judicial decisions regarding service and non-payment. Speaking about other areas that have been problematic for the distributors since their takeover by the government in 2003, Bichara announced that all of the accumulated debts incurred by government institutions had been paid in full for 2002 and 2003. He did add that several municipal governments owed the entities RD$500 million and that the case was being handled in such a way as to cause the least amount of problems to the municipalities.
The mayors of Boca Chica, Santo Domingo North and Santo Domingo East issued a joint declaration that states the problem with the Duquesa Refuse Depository was financially-motivated above all else. They laid the blame on the mayors of the National District and Santo Domingo West for having broken the working agreement. This pact was signed just last week and dealt with the maintenance of the Duquesa site. The Duquesa Consortium says that it is only receiving half of the money needed to operate the site and that it furthermore needs RD$25 million to convert the site into a sanitary landfill and recondition the access ways. The three mayors said that the National District and Santo Domingo West have debts with Duquesa that are nearing RD$200 million and that this is the cause of the accumulation of garbage throughout the city. Carvajal Louis, Batista and Ozuma, the mayors of Santo Domingo North, Santo Domingo East and Boca Chica, told reporters that their municipalities do not owe any amounts to the refuse collection site. They said that the National District was supposed to pay RD$4 million monthly since this is the area that produces 52% of the refuse collected for Duquesa. The manager of the Duquesa Consortium told reporters that a lack of resources has forestalled their plans to convert the site into a sanitary landfill that will permit the operation of the airport at La Isabela.
In four years the National Office on Drug Control (DNCD) has confiscated RD$40 million and US$1 million, and has indicted 16,000 people on various drug charges. So far, 2004 looks like a small victory in the war on drugs, with only 599 kilograms of drugs having been confiscated and destroyed, down from a high of 1,900 kilos in 2001. Of those indicted, 94% were Dominican nationals, with Haitians, Columbians and Venezuelans making up the largest percentage of the foreigners charged. In the 16-year history of the DNCD, 49,000 people have been arrested for drug-related issues. Ivan Pena Castillo, the vice-admiral in charge of the DNCD, and Richard Hawkins, the head of the DEA office at the US Embassy, joined forces and told reporters that the majority of drugs entering the Dominican Republic do so by crossing the Haitian border. Hawkins pointed out that the total drug flow through the DR was difficult to ascertain, but that estimates could be made based on the amount that is confiscated. Over the past five years there have been 6,000 kilos of cocaine and 238 kilos of heroine seized. The DNCD has also confiscated 415 cars, 87 SUVs, 21 Jeeps, 58 pickups, 19 trucks and 16 ships.
US Ambassador Hans Hertell went to the Presidential Palace yesterday for a long meeting with the Presidential legal consultant. The agenda of the meeting covered the new procedures for the extradition of Dominicans to the United States and the 10 cases that currently pending extradition. Hertell and Cesar Pina Toribio met for discussion, after which Pina Toribio told El Caribe reporters that the Executive Branch has the 10 extradition files ready for the President's signature. Hertell told reporters that the new Penal Code, instated just last month, necessitated new procedures for the expatriation process. The 10 files awaiting the Presidential signature were devised under the former Code of Penal Processes.
The Dominican government has paid RD$1.542 billion to the nation's political parties over the last six years. This sum will increase markedly with the new Primary Law that obliges the governmental electoral board (JCE) to organize each party's primary elections. At RD$257 million per year, the sum spent on political parties, which does not include private contributions, nears RD$1 million for every working day over the past six years. The Diario Libre points out that these funds are disbursed on a monthly basis during non-election years, and that during an electoral year the parties receive just one big check. Although the parties are required to present a report on how they spend the monies, there is no adequate system of auditing these statements. The Electoral Law of 1997 was supposed to reduce the dependence of political parties on lobbyists and industrial and financial institutions, but, so far, this has not been observed. Article 49 of the law says that the financing of the political parties will be half of 1% of the national income during election years and a quarter of 1% of the national income in non-election years. The payouts are governed by the proportion gained by each party during the most recent election. In 2004, the government distributed RD$412 million between the various political organizations.
El Caribe reports on the ongoing investigation into the San Rafael de Yuma orphanage, where children were reportedly raped and subject to other forms of abuse. Such accusations against the Church-run institution first emerged two years ago, although since that time the number of residents has doubled, said a former employee.
Currently, there are four people incarcerated for charges related to the mistreatment of children at the orphanage: the former cook (a 53-year-old woman who is serving a sentence of 15 years for the rape of nine children), two other women and one man, who have been implicated in the most recent rapes of 13 minors that emerged last March. The four former orphanage workers were apparently unknown to each other before meeting within the prison's walls.
The Ciudad de los Ninos San Francisco Javier home for children first opened its doors in 2000 and was founded by Deacon Rigoberto de Jesus Padial. The incarcerated cook, who maintains her innocence, told El Caribe that at the time of her departure in 2002, the institution was home to eight girls and one boy. "Those girls never left the house. They would go to church and school accompanied by [Padial]."
Another of the women being detained was pinpointed as a perpetrator of the rapes in the victims' declarations, which also assert she had sexual relations with her own son – a charge she flatly denies. According to a press conference held by Higuey's Bishop Nicanor Pena yesterday, at least one of the young victims has named a priest as a participant in the sexual offenses.
The 2005 Dominican American National Roundtable event will be held next 7-9 October in Boston, Massachusetts. The Dominican American National Roundtable is a non-partisan Washington, DC-based organization that advocates the empowerment of Dominicans in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino is very supportive of the event. "The diversity of our city is the strength of our city," he said. "I am very pleased that the Dominican American National Roundtable has chosen the city of Boston to host the 8th Annual DANR National Conference in October 2005. The fast-growing Dominican community enriches the city of Boston in many disciplines. It will be a great pleasure to work with the National Conference's hosting committee to make it a memorable one for all Dominican Americans."
Boston currently holds the fifth highest population of Dominicans in US cities and at least 73,000 Dominicans reside in the state of Massachusetts. The city known as Bean Town will be the fifth chosen site to host the DANR in the US, with previous locations including Miami, Providence, Washington, DC, Atlantic City and New York City.
A record turnout comprising 1,000 Dominican leaders, activists and students is expected to descend on Boston from all over the United States. The DANR is the foremost event that trains its focus on Dominicans living in the United States.
For more information, see http://www.danr.org/ip.asp?op=news
Last night a solar eclipse turned the full moon red over the Dominican Republic, perhaps a sign that the Boston Red Sox would end their 86-year drought in the World Series. Dominican outfielder Manny Ramirez was voted the Most Valuable Player in the now-concluded Major League Baseball 100th World Series. The Red Sox beat the St Louis Cardinals 3-0 last night and pulled off a historic four-game sweep of the National League championship. All told, Boston won eight straight games, something that had never been done before in all the years of the playoff system. The Red Sox beat the New York Yankees four games to three after being down 0-3, racking up yet another first for this team. Dominican pitcher Pedro Martinez, infielder David Ortiz and MVP Manny Ramirez were key players in the Boston victories. Ortiz was voted the MVP of the playoff series. Ramirez, who hit safely in all of this year's playoff games, has not extended his hitting streak to 17 games, tying Yankees' Derek Jeter and Hank Bauer as the only players to have reached this mark. The streets of most of the major cities in the DR were deserted last night as just about everyone was glued to the game. When Boston retired the last St Louis Cardinal batter shortly before midnight, the streets filled with people celebrating the victory into the wee hours. Manny, Pedro and David are expecting a fabulous reception upon their arrivals in the country.
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