President Leonel Fernandez is scheduled to speak today at 8pm from the Presidential Palace. Fernandez's address, which will deal with his first 100 days in government, will be televised locally.
Diario Libre's back-page editorial comments that President Leonel Fernandez, who has a reputation for always being late, is changing his tardy ways and arriving at events on time. The editorialist reports that the DR's head of state was on time for his meeting with newspaper editors that took place on Thursday at the Presidential Palace. The editors were there at the designated hour, when one of them checked the clock to begin counting by how many minutes the President would be late. To his surprise, however, the President arrived on time.
The Customs Department has expanded the government measure that allows expatriate Dominicans returning home for the holidays to bring gifts from abroad without paying duty. The ceiling amount, which was previously set at US$1,000, has been augmented so that Dominican ex-pats may bring in US$1,500 worth of gifts. Customs' Deputy Director Luis Sanchez also reminded those Dominicans who wish to avail themselves of Law 14-93 that allows them to import their household goods duty free should begin the procedure at the New York City consulate so as to expedite the processing and avoid the long lineups upon arriving at their Dominican port of entry.
Lawyer Luis Miguel Pereyra concurred that former President Hipolito Mejia should be questioned regarding the RD$1-billion fraud case pending against the state in connection with Plan Renove. Speaking on the D'Agenda TV show that is produced by Hector Herrera Cabral on Channel 11, Pereyra agreed with those who have said that since former Interior & Police Minister Pedro Franco Badia stated in El Caribe newspaper that he was only following the orders of his superior, then-President Hipolito Mejia, it is only logical that Mejia should be called on to answer questions regarding the case.
Nevertheless, in an interview with the Listin Diario, Pereyra said that Franco Badia's statement that he merely followed orders does not absolve him for carrying out instructions that violated the law. Pereyra's legal opinion is that the only government employees who must follow the orders of the President without any kind of objection are the military, with the exception of being asked to kill someone, a request they are entitled to deny.
Lawyer Vinicio Castillo Seman, who has had a high profile recently for being part of the legal counsel for Ramon Baez Figueroa of the collapsed Baninter bank, told the Listin Diario that the ongoing investigations are aiming the responsibility at President Hipolito Mejia and his "compadre" (close friend or godfather to one of his children) Johnny Morales as the main economic beneficiaries of the plan. Castillo said the evidence warrants that the President be accused as one of the principal players involved in the Plan Renove transport program fraud.
"Johnny Morales was the key individual to handle the deals and the man that met with Mejia on a daily basis," said Castillo, as reported in the Listin.
Over the weekend, businessman Johnny Morales said he would sue District Attorney Jose Manuel Hernandez and the director of Depreco, Octavio Lister, if proof was not presented of his alleged involvement in the billionaire scam in 24 hours. Lister told El Caribe that he would establish in court that Morales is the real owner of Hyundai Americas Corporation, which Lister described as "a ghost company" that was awarded without tender the purchase of vehicles and equipment under the Plan Renove.
Meanwhile, Diario Libre reports today that the extradition of the supposed front man of Hyundai Americas Corporation, Shlomo Ben Tob (alias Sam Goodson), from the United States could happen sooner rather than later. The newspaper says there is a tax information sharing treaty dating back to 7 August 1989 that could apply to this case.
Morales's lawyers appealed the judge's decision that put their client under domiciliary arrest. Radhames Cornielle, Eric Raful and Joaquin Zapata said last week that the Attorney General's charges against the defendant were filed despite the absence of Morales's name in both the audit that was conducted by the Chamber of Accounts and by another performed by the General Controller's office and originally released in early 2004. These investigations are serving as a base for the case's preparation. District Attorney Hernandez responded that the law establishes he has three months to prepare the case and will not be intimidated by the defense bar.
Salvador Ramos, the president of the Disputes Chamber of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), told the Listin Diario yesterday that the JCE could organize the primaries in which the political parties are to elect their municipal and congressional leaders for a sum of RD$60-70 million, and not the RD$700-million budget that the electoral college had originally requested. Ramos said that such an extravagant budget would only be necessary if an electronic voting system were implemented. If conducted manually, however, the JCE's organization of the primaries would only cost 10% of the originally proposed budget.
Ramos said: "The Law of Primaries is a sure thing, come rain, thunder or wind". He said that the only thing that could impede the law's implementation would be if it were declared to be in violation of the constitution by the Supreme Court or derogated by the Executive Branch." The new law releases the political parties from having to choose their own candidates in political elections at all levels (municipal, congressional and presidential), transferring this responsibility to the JCE, with the budget to come from the taxpayers.
While the JCE judges support the law's implementation, they disagree over the rulings needed to put it into effect.
During its convention held on 26-27 November at the Club Mauricio Baez, the PRD party decided it would propose to reinstate the ban on Presidential re-election that it has traditionally upheld. More than 2,000 PRD leaders participated in the event. Former President Hipolito Mejia broke with tradition in 2003 when he went against the collective will of his fellow party members and amended the Constitution to allow him to run for a consecutive term of office. At this week's convention, the party agreed to 207 modifications in their rulings as part of an attempt to restructure the political organization. These changes included the decision that the PRD's president, secretary general, organizational secretary and director of electoral affairs may not aspire to the Presidency, even if they resign from their positions. The key members of the party will be elected for four-year terms. Former President Hipolito Mejia was seated at the main table, but El Caribe newspaper pointed out that he was not his usual loquacious self and limited himself to the comment: "I back the process in every way."
Eligio Jaquez, a top figure in the PPH faction of the PRD that supported the failed Mejia's failed bid for re-election, is quoted in El Caribe as saying that the PPH group's support of decisions made does not mean they are admitting to mistakes made in the most recent electoral campaign. "I voted ardently for this because the great majority of the party's National Executive Committee made this determination. Politics has a lot to do with circumstances, and while at one time it was good to be in favor of re-election, today the circumstances demand a revision."
On Saturday, Vicente Sanchez Baret, the PRD party president, former Customs director and one of the strongest supporters of President Hipolito Mejia's re-election, was reported to have announced his resignation from the political organization, along with his family. His wife was the Minister of Women's Affairs during the Mejia government. While in his written resignation the reasons are not stated, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, said that the resignation came after Pacheco introduced a motion to publicize findings made in extensive consultations with PRD members. These findings, reports El Caribe, condemn President Mejia's attempt to be re-elected and perceive the past administration as corrupt. Tony Raful, who will act as president in view of Sanchez's resignation, said these opinions would be released on Thursday. Sanchez Baret had opposed releasing the findings and a decision to this end had been reached in a meeting of the Central Executive Committee of the party held over the weekend in Boca Chica.
Journalist Juan Bolivar Diaz writes in Hoy newspaper that a major effort should be made to lessen the discretionary powers of the government so that never again could it use billions of pesos to purchase buses, vehicles, trucks and fork lifts to be distributed however it saw fit, among other ignominious acts, such as occurred with the Plan Renove. The writer examines further negative effects of such discretion in government and asks what difference is there between Plan Renove and the allocation of government-built luxury apartments to those with ties to influential figures in the government, without the holding of legal tenders. Diaz also disparages the government's discretionary power to maintain "botellas," the unneeded public jobs that are given to those with ties to the authorities and squander government resources.
The Dominican community in the United States is the most generous to its relatives in the home country. According to lawyer Roberto Alvarez, the DR will have received some US$2.7 billion in remittances in 2004 from Dominican residing in the United States, as estimated by the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB). This is the highest volume of remittances from any Latin American group. Alvarez says that two out of every five DR citizens receive remittances from abroad. The Listin Diario reports on an interview he gave to Orlando Jorge Mera on TV. Alvarez estimated that 1.3 million Dominicans live in the US, including their US-born offspring. In the interview, Alvarez said that from 1960 to 2003 the US has granted 904,000 permanent residencies to Dominicans and that 36% of the legal residents are either born in the US or have taken US citizenship. He referred to a study carried out by the US Migration Service that showed that only 21,000 of them are there illegally.
Puerto Plata's Deputy Tourism Minister Cesar Jose de los Santos lamented last week's ambush of a busload of US tourists on their way to Paradise Island, as reported in the Listin Diario. The vacationers were reportedly returning from a day of snorkeling on the sand bar near Punta Rucia in the province of Puerto Plata. De los Santos said that the Puerto Plata region has demonstrated itself to be one of the safest destinations in the country, where the level of delinquency is comparatively low. The deputy minister said that while the assault is a major concern for the authorities, he stressed his belief that it was an isolated event that occurred in a remote area, such as is the highway from Punta Rucia to Villa Elisa, in Monte Cristi. He said that the assailants, whom he described as amateurs, did not have Uzi guns as was reported, but rather "chagones" (homemade shotguns). He said that the authorities of Puerto Plata and Monte Cristi are looking to capture the thieves in the conduction of their investigation and are taking all measures to avoid a repeat incident.
A 26-year-old Belgian named Defawe Louis was killed on Friday off the coast of El Cortecito beach in the East Coast province of La Altagracia while attempting a free dive. Two other divers, Bogdan Septimiu of Rumania and Pascal Balywf of Belgium, remain missing.
El Caribe newspaper reports that the three were members of a diving school and that Louis had attempted to reach a depth of 365 feet (100 meters), as per the testimony of one of the survivors. Jonathan Morla, a 23-year-old Dominican who accompanied the expedition, said that the greatest depth he reached was of 60 or 55 meters and that another of the group had reached 75 meters.
To save Morla's life and that of Belgian Burt Kelin, 31, the staff of the Hospiten in Bavaro transferred them to the Instituto de Maternidad San Rafael in Santo Domingo, where they underwent a 10-hour decompression treatment in hyperbaric chambers of the Centro de Medicina Hiperbarica.
This is the second free diving tragedy to occur in the DR. The first was reported in October 2002, when Audrey Mestre died attempting to dive to 171 meters.
The Escogido baseball club delighted their fans by winning 21 to 2 runs against the Licey Tigers at the Quisqueya Ball Park. The Escogido set a new record of 18 homeruns in the sixth inning, breaking a former record held by the Tigres del Licey, who earned 13 runs against the Estrellas in 1954.
This is the third straight victory for the Escogido, now reinforced by stellar players from the US, namely Neifi Perez, Enrique Wilson and Wilton Veras, as well as others. The Escogido hope to qualify for the all-important fourth place spot, which would qualify them for the round robin games in January. They are currently in fifth place with the regular season at its halfway mark. The Aguilas are in the lead (21 wins and 8 losses), followed by Licey (16-13), the Gigantes (15-14), the Estrellas (13-16), the Escogido (12-17) and the Azucareros (10-19).
The Dominican Republic's first-ever Olympic gold medalist, Felix Sanchez, will be on hand for the opening of Santo Domingo's scholastic track and field tournament to be held at 4pm at the Olympic Stadium. The event, which runs through 7 December, is organized by the Ministry of Sports. In an interview with the Listin Diario, the 400-meter world champion hurdler said he hopes to earn 40 victories in 2005, starting with May's Grand Prix to be held in Santo Domingo, and continuing on with the Golden League competitions.
10 year record lows for November are being felt in the mountain valley city of Constanza, La Vega province. Hoy newspaper reports that the temperatures in the first three weeks of the month regularly dropped to from 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (37-41 degrees Fahrenheit) in the early morning. The newspaper highlights the city's hospital had to care for around 100 persons affected by acute colds and coughs that have visited the emergency room. The coldest temperatures have been felt in Valle Nuevo, Alto Bandera, Las Piramides and the La Siberia points. The good news is that the cold of early November seems to have passed.
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