DR-CAFTA, the legislation required to push the Dominican Republic into the Central American Free Trade Agreement and open the doors for reciprocal free trade with the United States passed its vote in the Dominican Senate by a vote of 27 yeas, no nays and two abstentions. The PRD-dominated Senate took their vote after senator Ramon Alburquerque, also the PRD party president, urged passage emphasizing the difficulties that would befall the nation if the Senate acted to the contrary. After the legislation was approved, United States ambassador Hans Hertell visited the senators and congratulated them in the name of his government. Hertell called the event "an historic moment." He said, "The Dominican Republic has taken an important historical step with the ratification of the piece of legislation which will be of great benefit to both nations."The Chamber of Deputies still needs to pass the document, but political observers say the vote in the Senate was more difficult than the one of the Chamber of Deputies.
President Leonel Fernandez has visited the town of Sanchez in the northeastern corner of the Dominican Republic, after repeated newspaper articles reported how part of the town was sliding away. The President's first statement, after looking over the scene, was that "this is not a general phenomenon, and the town is not going to sink away." The chief executive told reporters from Hoy that he had received five reports from different government institutions as well as the Dominican Academy of Science, and they explained why the subsidence was occurring and how best to deal with the problem. Among the first steps taken by the President was the removal and relocation of about 100 families living in the danger zone. The Ministry of Public Works is to carry out this task. The President traveled to Sanchez in the presidential helicopter, accompanied by some of his advisors and a geologist from the Academy of Science. The President was emphatic as he underlined the reports by the geologists that stated that the land movement was focused in the area around Independence Avenue and the sectors of La Navaja, La Torre, Altamira and Los Johnson. All five reports came to the same conclusions that pointed out that the very high rainfall combined with the lack of proper drainage in the area were the cause of the subsidence. Other reports indicate that the housing was built on inappropriate ground, with some housing going up on top of a former gully.
The Association of Companies of Foreign Investors (ASIEX) is urging a much larger investment in golf as a way to attract a higher class of tourism to the Dominican Republic. Alfonso Paniagua, a high-ranking executive of Casa de Campo as well as the head of ASIEX, told reporters that there is a huge interest expressed by foreign visitors, among them former US President Bill Clinton, in having more golf courses to play. According to Paniagua, golf has become the largest tourist attraction over the last 20 years. He pointed out the success of Casa de Campo and its four courses as well as the new courses being developed at Cap Cana, Roco Ki and Punta Cana. Speaking at the Listin Diario workshop on globalization, Paniagua said that more airlines would only help tourism as the government improved the local infrastructure and improved public safety. Besides golf, Paniagua also called for bigger and better promotional efforts on the part of the government in order to attract more tourists. Currently, the Dominican Republic is one of the Caribbean nations with the most golf courses. The North Coast has four and there are several more in the planning stages. The center of the island has three and at least two more are being planned. There are more than 20 golf courses in the DR and several others under construction.
The consumption of fuels fell by 10.6% between January and July of this year. According to Diario Libre, demand for propane gas was higher than the demand for gasoline or diesel fuel. This information from the Department of Hydrocarbons, part of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, shows that, for example, the sale of GLP (propane gas) rose from 23 million gallons in 2004 to 26 million gallons in the same period in 2005. The numbers also show that premium gasoline consumption increased slightly, by just 600,000 gallons over the same period, but regular gas consumption fell by well over a million gallons, and diesel sales fell by over four million gallons.
Jose Luis Moreno, director of the Energy Institute at the state UASD University, has told El Caribe that the World Bank only exists to defend companies. In his opinion, for the nation to continue borrowing from abroad to inject resources into the power sector is the same as the useless taking on of debt, given what he described as a series of irrational circumstances that affect the system. "I have said and I maintain that the World Bank only defends the interests of the companies and not those of countries, and thus it defends the interests of the generation companies, without there being any reason to defend them," he stated. The World Bank played a major role financing the Smith-Enron power plant in Puerto Plata, one of the most criticized power installations of all times in the DR primarily for the requirement of the government having to for installed capacity, not necessarily for power served.
"Likewise, we oppose any increase in rates without before applying the technical rates as stipulated in Law 125-01," he stated. He insisted that the bills that consumers are paying are inflated by 25%. Moreno stated that the energy prices offered by the generators are overvalued between 25 and 30%.
Last week, power service in the DR improved with the arrival of fuel for the AES Andres power plant.
The contract for the artificial island that is to be built in front of Santo Domingo's sea front awards its promoters a 99-year concession to the property. President Leonel Fernandez has expressed his support to the construction of the island that has been harshly criticized by international and local urban planners. The contract also allows the promoters to change the land use of the island, as reported in El Dia newspaper. In addition, it instructs the government to seek authorization for any permits that would be required of the public works, environment, tourism, port authority, and water corporation, among other government entities. It would also make the government responsible to indemnify the company for any problems caused by fault of the government. In its report on the contract, El Dia points out that by law the city's coastline from Kilometer 12 throughout the entire Malecon is classified as a national park. Nevertheless, the contract establishes that the contractors may remove material from this area in the interest of expediting the construction of the artificial island.
Apparently no provisions have been made in the contract for the failure of the venture and the eyesore that would result for the city of Santo Domingo.
Historian, economist and former diplomat Bernard Vega takes a serious look at the current geopolitical situation in the Caribbean and does not like what he sees. According to Vega, in the first place, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was taken out of Haiti and Venezuela, and this makes things much more difficult for the Dominican Republic and its fight again drug trafficking. In Haiti, the violence was the main reason for the DEA leaving the country. The US State Department opposed the move but was not able to stop it since the law regarding the DEA does not allow the State Department any discretionary leeway in such decisions. The DR receives a lot of drugs from Haiti. The DEA was kicked out of Venezuela by Chavez. Vega says that readers will remember how President Fernandez requested, some time ago, that President Chavez monitor his air space more closely, because planes from Venezuela were bombarding the DR with drugs. On the other hand, the price of crude oil has hit US$67.00 a barrel. In Ecuador, due to civil protest groups, oil production has stopped. If the United States invades Iran, there will be less oil available. The economist then asks the reader to remember that Iraqi oil production has not increased all that much since the removal of Saddam Hussein. He says that Saudi Arabia is producing at full capacity, adding that there are bottlenecks at refineries in several countries and that India, China and the US have increased their demand for oil. Vega ends his first paragraph with the announcement that Chevron Oil has declared that the era of easy oil is over. He says that the effect on the Dominican economy's growth, inflation and balance of payments will be terrible. Chavez has promised some help for the Caribbean islands. On Monday, after leaving Cuba, he stopped in Jamaica and signed an agreement. He had already signed one with the DR. However, the agreements vary, according to Vega, depending on Chavez's sympathy for the policies of the island in question. Under the agreements signed with Cuba in October 2000, Venezuela not only sells crude oil to Cuba at US$27 dollars a barrel, less than half the going price, but also supplies much more than Cuba needs. Cuban brokers have been re-selling the excess to the five Central American nations and pocketing the difference between the subsidized cost and the world price. This does not happen under the agreement with the Dominican Republic. Moreover, Cuba also gets longer payment plans. The combined amount (subsidized price, resale profits and lines of credit) that Venezuela gives Cuba is close to the amount that the USSR provided before the fall of the Berlin Wall and is roughly equivalent to the amount of US aid to the Dominican Republic during 1965-1966 if you take into account the size of the DR economy at the time.
Chavez has denied help to Haiti, since he considers Aristide to be the legitimate President, and the lack of assistance only pushes more Haitian immigration into the Dominican Republic.
Vega says that all of the aforementioned issues are only creating more problems for the DR. If we expect to reduce the impact of higher oil prices by appealing to Chavez, he will be more generous the more that the DR supports his already announced route to socialism. Mexico, under the San Jose Accord during the eighties, supplied oil to the Central American republics and the Caribbean islands. With the demise of the Communist threat, Mexico suspended its supplies of cheap oil. The oft-mentioned non-membership of the DR of the Central American Integration Bank is an excuse, since the Central Americans belong to it, but do not get any assistance from Mexico, either. Back then we received oil from both Mexico and Venezuela, and neither of them sent us a political invoice for the service. Now, we only have Venezuela, a country that, besides its crude oil, is also exporting its Boliviarian revolution.
Businessman Cesar Nicolas Penson shares some statistics on the economic and social differences between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the two countries that make up the island of Hispaniola. He points out that Haiti occupies 37% of the island and four of its nine departments border the DR. Most of the eight million people who live in Haiti are concentrated along the border. As for the DR, he explains that five of the 31 Dominican provinces share the 400 km border with Haiti, or 22% of the territory and 4% of its population of almost nine million people. Along the border, Haiti has a population density of 300 inhabitants per square kilometer, compared to the 27 inhabitants per square meter of Dominican population in the border provinces. While illiteracy nationwide is 20%, the rate rises to 32% in the border area. He describes as the border area as abandoned by Dominicans, and used as a transit area by the Haitians. Manufacturing in the region is only 4%, compared to 14.6% nationwide, and farming is 39% compared to 15% nationwide.
Life expectancy for Dominicans Is 71 for men and 75 for women, compared to Haiti where men are only expected to live to 47 and women to 51. Population estimates are that there will be 15 million Dominicans in 2050 and 13.5 million Haitians. Haiti has a much higher fertility rate and demographic growth rate than the DR. Per capita income in the DR is at around US$7,050, while in Haiti it is US$2,000. Penson comments that these figures reflect an alarming and inescapable reality.
The judge of the Third Penal Court of Santo Domingo, Julio Cesar Lara, has sentenced former deacon Meregildo Diaz Diaz to 20 years in prison, after establishing his guilt as the instigator of the murder of Joel Alexander Diaz Sarmiento and his wife Yaniris Ruiz.
In his sentencing hearing the judge also imposed a 30-year sentence on former army sergeant Valentin Vicioso de Jesus, who committed the murders in the town of Azua last February. Both men are also obliged to pay compensation amounting to ten million pesos to the family of the deceased. The evidence that helped convict the pair included the two 55 gallon drums used in an attempt to incinerate the bodies, the cell phone belonging to Joel Sarmiento that was taken after he was killed, and telephone records to the deacon and the sergeant as well as two checks made out to the sergeant. Both men maintained their innocence at all times during the trial.
The pilot, a 10-year old boy and two other passengers of a Cessna 172 are alive today after a "miraculous" landing in the middle of traffic at Kilometer 9 of the Duarte Highway. The accident happened as the pilot was preparing to land at Herrera International Airport, adjacent to the highway. The accident occurred yesterday evening, causing a large traffic jam as hundreds of onlookers converged on the scene. The aircraft passengers received only slight injuries and were taken to the Plaza de la Salud for a checkup.
All were pronounced to be out of danger, according to El Caribe. As crowds gathered around the wreckage of HI-533-CA whose nose, tail and wings were destroyed in the accident, the assistant to the director general of Civil Aviation told the people that "This is nothing, just a lot of people. The pilot got hit in the nose, but nothing serious". The young boy walked away from the wreck, as did the two other passengers. Several vehicles on the ground were very seriously damaged as shown in the photo on Listin Diario's front page.
One newspaper report speculated that the airplane had run out of fuel, but the authorities said that a report on what happened would be available on Tuesday.
The National Pathology Laboratory has had to bury 105 bodies of victims of violent deaths that have never been claimed. According to El Caribe, between 118 and 20 people die a violent death each month, either as a result of a shooting, stabbing or being hit by a vehicle, and the bodies are abandoned in different parts of the country. In such cases the bodies are examined by the Forensics Pathology Department and buried by the unit, because the families never claim the remains. Last month 18 bodies were found, of both Dominicans and foreigners, on streets, in the bush and even in garbage heaps. According to Santo Jimenez Paez, the director of the Pathology Department, each body is given an autopsy, the Homicide Department is notified as well as the Missing Persons Department. If the remains are not identified within 48 or 72 hours, and, at times, as many as five days, the victim is buried after his fingerprints, body markings, dental record and other identifying characteristics are filed. The cost of the burial is borne by the Forensics Department and was given as about RD$3,000.
The heavily populated barrio called Capotillo, located in the northern reaches of Santo Domingo, has enjoyed a week of peace and quiet after President Fernandez decreed that the Police should patrol the streets day and night when he inaugurated his "Democratic Security Plan". Kids were playing under the hot sun, and little girls were throwing cans of water at each other as the owner of a beauty salon waited for the electricity to come on in order to start working on several clients who were waiting patiently on the sidewalk. At least during the morning, the 14 colorful Harley-Davidson patrols were not around, but foot patrols were everywhere, led by young officers and non-coms. Although the exact number of officers is not known, their presence along the main streets was very obvious. Residents reported that at night, the number of police officers has increased markedly. There were SWAT teams on patrol, especially on the streets leading to the Ozama River banks.
As a result of the evident peace and quiet in Capotillo, the barrio of Gualey, equally famous for crime and violence as well as drugs, has requested through its community leaders to be included in the Security Plan. The news was given out by Interior & Police Minister Franklin Almeyda during a meeting at the Hotel Lina. The request was restated by residents of Gualey as they talked to El Caribe reporters during a tour of the barrio. According to the local residents the Capotillo criminals have moved over to the Gualey sector as the police moved in to take charge. Community leader Lidio Brito Fabian told the reporters that Gualey is "a hotbed of evil-doers." As a result, all the barrios around Capotillo are now clamoring for police protection.
The Dominican Republic is through to the second round of the Pre-World FIBA-Americas Basketball Championship that is taking place at Santo Domingo's Virgilio Travieso Soto Basketball Stadium. In Group B, the DR moved on with a three games win to one loss record. The DR only lost to Argentina, which is the Olympic champion. In the second round, the DR will play first against the United States. Teams participating in the second round are: DR, USA, Argentina, Panama, Venezuela, Brazil and Puerto Rico. Mexico and Canada were eliminated in the first round.
The DR has a chance of becoming one of four teams to win a slot in the 2006 World Basketball Games scheduled for Japan in 2006. Argentina has already secured its participation for the Americas.
The Dominican team members are Luis Flores, Luis Felipe Lopez, Francisco Garcia (Sacramento Kings, NBA), Jack Michael Martinez, Amaury Fillon, Marlon Martinez, Jaime Peterson, Otto Vantroy, Andy Williams, Jose Vargas, Joel Ramirez and nationalized Dominican Josh Asselin. The Dominican team is directed by Keith Smart (Golden State Warriors assistant coach), Fernando Teruel and Jose Dominguez.
See http://www.fibaamericas.com for the schedule and to follow the games online.
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