| Daily News - Monday, 22 May 2006 |
Santo Domingo will host the 36th General Assembly of the Organization of American States from 4 to 6 June. 34 countries are attending the assembly. The general assembly follows the Central American, Belize and Dominican Republic Summit Conference that will be held in Casa de Campo on 2 and 3 June. At the summit conference, the themes will be energy issues and the price of oil. At the OAS General Assembly, topics such as democratic governance, social and economic development, and hemispheric security will be discussed. According to Dominican Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, OAS General Secretary Jose Manuel Insulza will present a report on his first year in office.
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) guaranteed that the election results will come in, and that the vote counting has not stopped, despite rumors to the contrary. Saturday's edition of the main newspapers carried stories about Monsignor Nunez Collado's visit to JCE headquarters with a group of international diplomats and observers. The immediate result was the statement issued by Luis Arias, the chief magistrate of the JCE, denying that the vote counting had been stopped and guaranteeing the results as soon as possible.
Saturday and Sunday saw the official release of bulletins 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. The results confirmed the PLD victory in many of the country's provinces. As of bulletin #14, the JCE confirmed the PLD ahead in 21 provinces, and the PRD/PRSC alliance ahead in ten (PRD six and PRSC 4). Bulletin #14 carried results of 10,973 voting stations of a total of 12,371 for 88.7% of the vote. The PLD had obtained 51.8% of the vote (1,393,290 votes), the PRD 23.2% (623,17 votes) and the PRSC 22.5% (604,466 votes).
At the same time, the National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP), obviously perturbed by the unofficial five-day holiday, called on the JCE to complete the vote count as fast as possible, so as to "avoid more loss of life..." The CONEP press release said that the delay in proclaiming the real winners and losers in the election was the reason for the feelings of uncertainty and violence. CONEP also pointed out that the current situation was having a negative effect on normal, everyday business and was projecting a very negative image of the Dominican Republic overseas, "something that we Dominicans do not deserve." News reports indicate that a meeting has not been possible among all the judges of the JCE.
As of noon on Monday, there was still no definite proclamation of victors, and the count stagnated on bulletin #14. El Caribe pointed out that bulletin #14 from the JCE accounted for 2,685,788 votes, but that the count was not yet finished. According to the latest information, the PLD had won 52 municipal elections and the PRD/PRSC alliance had won 80. In the northern part of Santo Domingo, which includes Pedro Brand, the local election board is closed and under armed guard.
The death toll from violence linked to the latest Dominican elections has risen again. Two people were killed in Galvan in the southwest and another two were killed in the town of Pedro Brand in Santo Domingo province.
The two men killed in Galvan, in Bahoruco province, were identified as a National Police sergeant and a PRD candidate for a city council seat. The incident happened as one group was celebrating its election victory. According to sources, the police have identified the shooters and two people are under arrest. Three more individuals were wounded in the incident and taken to hospital in Barahona.
In Pedro Brand, Santo Domingo province, the situation is calm, but tense. The police have arrested two suspects in the two shooting deaths that took place the day after the elections when the two main political groups had a confrontation over who won and who lost.
Kevin Manning, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic (AmCham) called the 16 May election "proof that the DR is a stable country." He also said that the election was "very good," and the civic attitude displayed by so many people was a positive sign for the country's future. Nonetheless, he called upon more people to vote, since the abstention rate was considered to be quite high. Manning's words of praise came as part of a speech he made at the seminar "Merchandizing under DR-CAFTA" sponsored by AmCham in Santiago de los Caballeros.
Former army colonel Pedro Julio "Pepe" Goico Guerrero, who for years acted as chief of security of former President Hipolito Mejia, managed to sneak past airport immigration controls and entered Santo Domingo on Sunday, but hours later he was found hiding in a closet in a house in the luxurious Piantini section of Santo Domingo. Goico had migrated to Spain shortly after the change of government (September 2004). The Dominican government had requested his extradition to the Spanish authorities.
Officials from the District Attorney's office told El Caribe and other newspapers that Goico Guerrero was not arrested at the airport because, since it was a Sunday, many of the officials connected to the arrest warrant were not on the job. The DA's office was notified, however, and they arrived at 18 Seminario Street where they cordoned off the residence and requested the required search and arrest warrants. Santo Domingo District Attorney, Jose Manuel Hernandez, told reporters that when they arrived at the house at around six o'clock in the evening, the electricity had been intentionally cut and the owner of the house, Frenchman Jacob Cohen, told the police that Goico Guerrero was not there. However, a search of the premises found Pepe Goico, the former colonel, hiding in a closet. Also in the house were his wife, mother in law, and children. Goico Guerrero was reluctant to be arrested in the house and after many insulting words he was arrested, and transferred to the cells in Ciudad Nueva Courthouse in downtown Santo Domingo.
Goico Guerrero is linked to the Baninter collapse case that is moving in Dominican courts. The bank fraud scandal moved from rumor to official informations, when Baninter denounced excessive charges being made on the credit card issued by the bank to Pepe Goico for presidential expenditures. He is sought in the case as an accomplice in the fraud case being heard and is accused of his participation in the sale of the helicopter that is linked to Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo, who has pending a case for major drug trafficking in a New York City court.
With the imminent arrival of the DR-CAFTA agreement start-up, the Industrial Association of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) is voicing concern about the very high cost of energy in the face of stiff competition from the trading partners within DR-CAFTA. Dominican industry has been forced to resort to other mechanisms in order to maintain some sort of competitive stance within the region. One of the mechanisms is the use of clusters, to reduce manufacturing costs. To this end the AIRD has obtained governmental approval that will allow industries to secure funding from multilateral organizations. According to AIRD president Yandra Portela, the cost of electricity in the DR averages 22 cents a kilowatt/hour. In countries such as Brazil or the United States the cost is between three and five cents, and in China it is just seven cents per kilowatt-hour.
The Japanese community in the Dominican Republic is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of their arrival. The ceremonies were launched with a field day at the "Centro Japones" in Monte Plata. The first Japanese settlers arrived in the Dominican Republic on 29 July, 1956, and settled in Dajabon, near the Haitian frontier. During the field day, each Japanese family planted a small pine tree, and took on the responsibility of looking after it. Many of the very first immigrants, now well into their 70s, were joined by members of the younger generation, many of whom are not very familiar with the Japanese language and most of whom have never been to Japan. According to Listin Diario, the Japanese immigration was rooted in serious food shortages in the aftermath of the Second World War and the Korean War. Their immigration was encouraged by the Japanese government. The first settlers were sent to Dajabon, and the following groups went to Constanza, Duverge, Neiba, and Jarabacoa. The Centro Japones is located on 13,000 tareas of land that was ceded to the Japanese Community by the Dominican government as partial repayment for unfulfilled promises made during the Trujillo years. Some 27 families have settled on the land and are growing native and Asian species for local consumption and for export.
The 2006 Encounter of Dance Choreographers is booked for the Manuel Rueda Hall of the National Music Conservatory on Cesar Nicolas Penson corner Alma Mater in Santo Domingo. The event provides exposure for the best of Dominican choreographers and up and coming choreographers. On Friday at 8:30 pm, Saturday at 5:30 pm and Sunday at 6:30 pm (26, 27 and 28 May), there will be performances by the Headlong Dance Theater Company from Philadelphia with the presentation of Hippie Elegy, and The Silver-Brown Dance Company with Flock. Also Dominican choreographer Mary Carmen Rodriguez presents El Cielo de la Boca and Cuban Ileana Balmori presents Luna de las Mariposas on the Mirabal sisters tragedy. The encounter continues on the next weekend, with the performance of the Compania de Camara Danza Una from Costa Rica, and work by choregraphers Tatiana Mejia, Awilda Polanco, Cecilia Camino, Karol Marenco, Cayme del Toro, Orestes Amador, Mundo Poy and Ivan Tejada.
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