Speaking from the United States, President Leonel Fernandez said that as of January his administration will begin a revolutionary program of "electronic government." According to Que se dice, the must-read column in Hoy newspaper, the President plans to take the country from "the artisanal to the digital." The project, as he explained, consists of putting all government services online so that citizens may pay their taxes, renew their drivers' licenses, or request important documents such as birth certificates of professional licenses called "exequaturs." The columnists asks if the reader can imagine not having to go the government offices, thereby avoiding the pesky "scribes," the nasty pickpockets, and the "tips" for the parking "attendant" – not to mention the grotesque spectacle of visiting an official's office during these times of rampant patronage. It would be the difference between heaven and earth, or, in the words of President Fernandez, going "from the charcoal burner to the microwave."
Today's Que se dice column in Hoy deals with the recently released results of a survey taken by the PRD political party of its membership. The columnist says that in viewing the results, the incident that took place during the party's general assembly two weeks ago at the Mauricio Baez Club is now understandable. The poll reveals that 2,000 PRD delegates support reinstating the prohibition of presidential re-election in the party's new platform and statutes, among other significant changes, such as approving the secret and universal vote for the selection of the party's political leaders. Many of these higher-ups, motivated by opportunism more than conviction says the column, have tried to convert their thorough defeat into some sort of victory, and are accepting the avalanche of opinions. The party's base has resoundingly said, however, that their number-one priority is to obtain a new leadership team for the PRD. All that is left is for the current leaders, responsible for last May's electoral defeat and the political disgrace facing the PRD, to get the message, pack up their things and go, says the writer. And the wonderful pen of the Diario Libre editorialist writes in De buena tinta of the surprise return of Vicente Sanchez Baret. The PRD official stormed out of a meeting last 27 of November at the Hotel Hamaca, swearing and cursing his fellow party members and ultimately resigning his post as party president. According to the editorialist, Sanchez Baret should heed the new "teen-speak" phrase that says "Forget your makeup" as another way of saying "You are getting too fresh." De buena tinta says Sanchez Baret has applied more makeup than necessary in reassuming the party presidency. Although Sanchez Baret said he returned to the fold at the behest of his party colleagues, the only evidence of that was a group of party loyalists who put their signatures on a note that was written for them. The best part, according to the writer, is that Sanchez Baret made this statement at the press conference that revealed the results of the PRD survey, whose publication he had so vehemently opposed. The numbers of the survey confirm what everyone knew: the PRD wants a change of leadership, and they are more than 70% in favor of making the change. Because Sanchez Baret is part and parcel of that leadership, it hardly makes sense for him to return to his post, since it was widely expected that others would follow his lead and similarly resign. What the ironic editorialist really wants to know, however, is whether Sanchez Baret apologized for his diatribe and the insults hurled at his fellow party leaders. "He can't go back with his face all clean, as if nothing has happened."
The proposed law on industrial incentives, which is supposed to substitute the 25% surtax on soft drinks using subsidized, imported HFCS (corn syrup), will benefit all of the nation's business, by allowing local producers to be more competitive in the global marketplace. Nevertheless, Internal Revenue director Juan Hernandez says the law may have serious implications regarding how much tax money is collected. Hernandez told Diario Libre reporters that official revenues would fall by RD$4.5 billion and require a modification of the 2005 Budget. The project, which was approved in its first reading in the Senate on Tuesday, will permit local manufacturers to deduct the VAT tax (ITBIS) and the exchange commission that they must pay on imported capital goods. The law will apply not only to the sugar producers but to all local industries. Hernandez met with representatives from the CONEP business council in order to explain his objections to the legislative proposal. CONEP has called the RD$206.7-billion budget "overblown." El Caribe calls the proposed incentives a "fiscal sacrifice," and notes that part of the problem is that the IMF has established a series of goals that are included in the present budget proposal, which would have to be modified if the tax breaks are given to the industrial sector as proposed. In his statement to the press, Hernandez said that the Senate proposal would create "chaos" within the tax collection agency, since not only would they have to return the taxes paid on raw materials already exonerated from duties, but also on containers and raw materials, no matter if they were destined for use in products subject to the VAT. The new legislative initiative was sponsored by Senator Ramon Alburquerque (PRD-Monte Plata) and, following a very heated debate in which Senate president Andres Bautista left the Chamber, the bill was accepted on the first reading. It is now scheduled to be sent next Wednesday to a special commission that will study the project, endorse it and forward it to the Chamber of Deputies for final approval. The proposal, intended to assist the sugar sector affected by the elimination of the 25% tariff on HFCS, says that "all imports on capital goods in general, including, but not limited to machinery, equipment and installations brought into the country will be exempt from payment of the exchange commission or any other similar tax that is established."
The Superintendent of Electricity (SIE) ordered electricity distributors Ede-Norte, Ede-Sur and Ede-Este to return RD$11 million to their clients for billing errors of last November. The order came from the Consumer Protection Department of the SIE, which reported 948 claims filed for improper billing, of which 883 were deemed to be valid and whose claimants will be reimbursed. Between August and November of 2004, the Customer Protection Office has ordered RD$24.2 million to be returned to customers.
The Supreme Court unanimously voted to fire the second vice-president of the Labor Court in San Francisco de Macoris, Washington David Espino Munoz. The SC found the judge to be guilty of serious faults in the exercise of his duties. A disciplinary hearing was begun in April 2003, following a complaint lodged by Juan Jeremias Paulino, the first vice-president of the Labor Court. Besides refusing to sign court decisions, Espino Munoz had waged a campaign to denigrate his fellow judges; held consultations and guidance sessions in his office with lawyers arguing cases in his court; and displayed a public lack of respect, aggression, and offensiveness towards his judicial superiors and subalterns. The deposed magistrate said he would request a hearing before the International Court of Human Rights. El Caribe revealed, however, that the judge has been suspended without pay for over one year and two months. Among his many questionable actions was telling his students at the local university that his colleague Judge Juan Paulino "was a disgrace, a laughing stock of the court," and that the palm prints on the judge's desk look "more like a monkey's than a human being's."
Nicolas de Jesus Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez had harsh words for the National Police yesterday during the services to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Sacred Heart Missionaries in the Dominican Republic. Speaking at La Altagracia Church in Santiago de los Caballeros, the cardinal said that, regarding the current spate of violent crimes, some members of the police force might well be tied to criminal elements and that the rank and file in the organization should be "cleansed." The cardinal said that he did not feel it correct to say the police were not doing their jobs, but did comment that "within the police force there are people who should be investigated..." The prelate insisted that a depuration of the National Police would be most appropriate, since he felt that the institution had employed many people who "do not merit being there." The archbishop of Santo Domingo said that it was reasonable "to suspect that many of them (the police) are involved with what we are experiencing today." Lopez Rodriguez then called upon the government to assume the responsibility of guaranteeing the security of its citizens. Archbishop Ramon Benito de la Rosa y Carpio of the Archdiocese of Santiago joined Lopez Rodriguez, and added: "We cannot bow in the face of this violence." In an interview with Hoy newspaper on the same subject, Armed Forces Minister Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez said that the incidence of drug trafficking and the recent outbreak of violence in Santiago "must include military, police and politicians." Speaking on the state-owned Channel 4, Pared Perez told interviewer Julio Martinez Pozo that any military personnel found to have ties to known drug traffickers would be charged. Pared Perez said that during the Christmas season, he would be reinforcing the various police stations with more men in "order to be able to do a better job."
The Armed Forces have arrested 300 Haitians and one Dominican, and seized a truck in the province of Dajabon near the Haitian border. El Caribe reports that the Haitians were rounded up in operations carried out in the farms and towns of Copey, La Vigia, Loma de Cabrera and Dajabon. The truck in question left Haiti and entered the DR with RD$500,000 worth of powdered milk and 200 undocumented Haitians concealed aboard. The commander of "Operation Cowboy," Colonel Antonio Taveraas Perez, said the arrests were made owing to intelligence gained by Armed Forces working along the northern area of the border. El Caribe also reports that the US Embassy's military attache in the DR, Glenn R Huber, visited Dajabon with Colonel Taveras to evaluate the operation's progress. Huber displayed his satisfaction with the work being carried out by the Dominican soldiers to combat drug and arms trafficking, as well as the smuggling of vehicles and people across the border. The US official surveyed the area by helicopter with the Dominican military.
Jordanian authorities have deported four of the 70 Dominican truck drivers working in the Middle East for trafficking of contraband. The group, which consisted of three drivers and one supervisor, according to Diario Libre, was discovered using a water-storage vehicle to illegally transport alcohol and fuels from Jordan to Iraq. Syndicate members have said that the four men were returned to the DR only thanks to the intervention of "a person of influence." Meanwhile, another Dominican working in the Middle East was killed after falling asleep at the wheel of his truck. The man has been identified as Limbert Perez, 50, of the town El Caimito that lies between La Vega and Jarabacoa. His body will brought to the DR tomorrow. The truckers have been in the Middle East since October under contract for the company WTT.
The French Press Agency reports that Canadian government officials have announced that anyone having visited the Dominican Republic cannot donate blood in Canada for six months after their return, for fear of contaminating the blood supply with malaria. At least eight Canadians have been infected with the tropical disease that is carried by the mosquito, one of whom is seriously ill in a Toronto hospital, although is expected to recover. Some 415,000 Canadians visited the Dominican Republic in 2003. The area of Punta Cana has been particularly affected by the illness. Locally, however, El Caribe newspaper reports that the hotel association says there has been "no increase in the number of cases" of malaria. Arturo Villanueva told reporters that there has been a significant reduction in the number of cases and the controls are working." According to sources in public health, there have been at least 150 cases of malaria in the eastern region of the country this year. Overall, DR1 News reported that the DR's Ministry of Public Health confirmed 2,021 cases in the country so far this year. Malaria is a serious condition that is sometimes fatal, but largely preventable. Its first symptoms include high fever, headache and flu-like chills, and should be treated promptly. The World Health Organization says that 300-500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide every year, of which one million are fatal.
A new species of plant life has been discovered in the DR, furthering the richness of our local flora. The plant is new to scientists and is so distinct from existing species that it has earned its own name, Salcedo Mirabaliarum, in honor of the province where it was discovered and local heroines, the Mirabal sisters. According to the article in Diario Libre, the specimen is only found in Salcedo and comes from a South American plant family found in Venezuelan and Guyanian mountains, said Ricardo Garcia, the deputy director of the Botanical Gardens. Garcia said the discovery of the new flora was owed to studies conducted by Francisco Jimenez with the help of international experts.
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