The Central Electoral Board (JCE) continued its work on the many challenges presented by different political parties with regard to the 16 May elections. The Disputes Court of the JCE delayed until today the verdicts on 52 mayoralty races that are under review. The magistrates have issued their verdicts on 32 cases. The president of the court, Salvador Ramos, guaranteed that the JCE would be deciding a great number of cases, both congressional and mayoral within the next few days.
Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado was at the Presidential Palace yesterday to introduce President Leonel Fernandez, a strong advocate of constitutional reform, to Argentinian Daniel Zovatto, senior executive of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) for Latin America. President Fernandez's ruling party won majority in Congress and could tailor the constitution to its own needs, as other parties have done in the past.
Interviewed after his conversation with the President, reporters asked Zovatto his opinion on the proposed constitutional reform. He replied: If all that is going to be done is to put a few 'patches' on it, this would be 'a big fraud.' " He emphasized that the country can not afford any more patches on the document and that it needed to follow the guidelines that the President has set forth in the sense that the nation needed a document "made to order."
The IDEA supports open debate to allow different views to be heard and accommodated in order that the constitution provide the best foundations for the future.
The government is facing a major problem: the propane gas subsidy. In June of this year, the budget assigned to this subsidy will have run out, according to Minister of Finance Vicente Bengoa. Bengoa said that the government will have spent RD$2.6 billion on the LPG subsidy. As he was interviewed at the IX Conference of Caribbean and Latin American Customs Officials, Bengoa said that current usage of LPG would require the government to spend RD$5.0 billion in order to maintain the current subsidy. The minister agreed with spokesmen from the Herrera Industrial Association that have suggested that the money be better spent on social programs among the country's poor. Bengoa hinted that the government was looking at a gradual decrease in the subsidy as a solution to the reality of the situation.
The Director General for the Dominican Customs office, Miguel Cocco told the audience at the IX Conference of Customs Officials of Latin American and the Caribbean that if the Dominican Republic does not make demands the up-coming DR-CAFTA would not benefit the country. Cocco said that the DR needed to know how to conceive, demand, and formulate permanent reciprocity with the terms of the DR-CAFTA, or else the deal will just be one sided. The customs boss also attacked the subsidy system in place in many countries and he said that if the subsidies are maintained, then globalization would not work. He added that this statement was not a bad omen but rather a warning as to what it will be like to compete in markets with such disadvantages. In his remarks, Miguel Cocco emphasized the need to obtain "equality" within the context of the DR-CAFTA.
The Technical Ministry of the Presidency Juan Temistocles Montas denied that the DR is asking for a postponement of the startup of the DR-CAFTA agreement.
Montas explained that a delegation is in Washington, D.C. for discussions on the advancement of the implementation of DR-CAFTA. He made the comment when representing the new IMF representative, economist Andy Wolfe, to the press. Wolfe said that the country has made "solid" economic growth and maintained macro- economic stability.
One of the fiercest rain storms many can remember swept through the central Santiago and Cibao yesterday. The La Informacion reported flooding of major proportions and hundreds of homes inundated. Both the Diario Libre and the El Caribe also carried frontpage pictures of the flooded streets. Dozens of young men pitched in to move stalled vehicles as lightening and hail made things even more dangerous. The local Civil Defense office began rescue operations shortly after the storm began, but the three hours of rain, wind and lightening created very difficult working conditions. In the Santiago Industrial Free Zone an entire wall was knocked down, and in other areas trees were felled by the combination of high winds and already soaked earth. Francisco Arias, the local CD chief, told reporters that the creeks and smaller rivers were overflowing, affecting areas such as Nibaje, Los Cocos, and Vuelta Larga. Towns like Licey al Medio and Tamboril, already victims of past floods were once again under assault. One man, identified as Jose Bisono, and his niece, were saved by rescuers just moments before the vehicle went into a flooded arroyo. The major thoroughfares of the largest city in the Cibao Valley were paralyzed by traffic tie-ups caused by stalled cars and fallen trees and signs. Arias told reporters fro El Caribe that is was impossible to tell just how many houses suffered from the storm, and that his teams were going to begin the surveys at once.
The Cibao Valley was also hit by at least two medium intensity quakes yesterday. One at 6:45 (some say 6:30) in the morning, at 3.5 on the Richter Scale, and shortly thereafter, another one rated at 3.7 hit the area. The quake's center was said to be about 20 kilometers from the town of Mao, Valverde province. Damages have not been reported, although most students refused to attend classes for fear of more seismic movements endangering their school buildings.
The director general of the Dominican prison system, General Juan Ramon de la Cruz Martinez, told a television audience that the Dominican prison system needs 8,000 beds, and that the system itself is "vulnerable." According to de la Cruz, there are 12,000 persons currently incarcerated, and new jails are needed to house them properly. As an example, the general talked about the la Victoria prison, dating from the Trujillo Era. Originally designed to hold 1,200 inmates, it currently holds 3,700. Prisoners sleep on the floor on in make-shift devices called "goletas". The general also revealed that to a certain degree all of the state prisons are susceptible to escapes and there is not one facility within the system that has total security. General de la Cruz Martinez said the President and Attorney General's attention could contribute to things getting better. He said the DR has a long way to go before it has a model penitentiary system where the prisoners are educated, fed and have beds and workshops.
Drivers must take on added precautions as car thefts are on the rise. Statistics show that 35% of the victims of car thefts were killed in the carjacking. This year, 21% of auto thefts have been by assault, a total of 59 victims. Legal advisor Betty Soto Vinas told El Caribe reporter Petra Savinon that armed robberies of vehicles and women are not the main target. In fact the proportion of men to women has remained constant over the five-year period studied. Apparently, supermarket parking lots, movies and side streets are the most frequented areas for carjackers. While there is little one can do to stop such an assault, security people advise driver not to leave their vehicles in the care of "watchers", to leave packages out of sight, and to employ normal security systems in the vehicle.
Yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, the dictator that ruled, along with his family, the Dominican Republic for thirty years. The ceremony marking the anniversary was held on the 30 de Mayo Highway on the Caribbean seashore where the assassination took place. Present were members of the 30 de Mayo Foundation and the sole surviving member of the group that plotted the removal of the dictator, General Antonio Imbert Barrera. When asked if he was sorry that he had participated in the plot, Imbert Barrera exploded: "Me, sorry? I can never be sorry, never!" When another reporter asked the national hero if he thought that another dictator might appear in the Dominican Republic, the general answered: "I don't think so. What are you here for? You are the responsible ones now, we did what we had to do."
Somewhat like Asleep in Seattle, or Alive in New York, the idea that hundreds of people are "invisible in Villa Mella" seems like a fantasy. It is, however, the truth. There are entire families, including persons 90+ years old that do not even have a birth certificate and are thus, invisible. Braulio Alcantara, the official in charge of the Fifth District of the Civil Registry blamed the situation on complicities within the Civil Registry offices as well as delays in the Justice Department. He also put a lot of the blame on irresponsible parents. He pointed out that in Sabana Perdida about 40-45% of all the people are undocumented, with no birth certificate.
Alcantara said that even when there are special "late registration" sessions, many parents do not show up because of laziness. Currently, late birth registrations need to be looked at by the justice Department and investigated by an assistant prosecutor. Alcantara said that some of these late registrations take up to a year to clear the legalities. As he participated in the seminar organized by Plan International, the Jesuit Service for Refugees and Migrants and the Faculty of Political and Judicial Science at the UASD, the civil registry official said that he estimated that between 10% and 15% of the total population was without official documents.
The Cooperstown, New York National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has announced a nationwide collection program to deliver new or almost new baseball equipment to children in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The program, Roberto's Kids, honors Roberto Clemente.
Roberto's Kids is a collaborative effort between the Hall of Fame, Clemente family members Luis and Roberto Clemente, Jr., and two individual supporters of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Steve Pindar of Oneonta, N.Y., and Steve Tremitiere of Newtown, Pa. Roberto's Kids hopes to continue the work of Pindar and Tremitiere, who have each collected several tons of equipment for children in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in recent years.
Pindar started the Baseball Equipment Project in 1999 in the Dominican Republic with a single donation from the Oneonta Little League. In 2005, the Pindar family collected five tons of equipment for Dominican children, collecting for all ages from organizations across the country.
"The good thing about this project is that it provides much needed equipment to kids who have the hopes and dreams of playing in the Major Leagues one day," said Omar Minaya, executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager of the New York Mets.
This year, through Pindar's efforts, and with the support of sportscaster Onfalia Morillo in Santo Domingo, children at the Muchachos y Muchachas con Don Bosco program and the YMCA will receive baseball equipment. The opportunity to play baseball is an important incentive for keeping children in school, as Father Juan Linares of Don Bosco explained when Pindar visited his offices last year to look into the possibility of the donation. The Muchachos y Muchachas con Don Bosco program encourages kids that otherwise would be mostly on the streets, to get an education.
With the liaison with the Baseball Hall of Fame, the work of Pindar and Tremitiere acquires a nationwide dimension. "The goal of Roberto's Kids is to collect and distribute equipment from baseball leagues, charitable organizations, individuals or retailers in the United States and Canada and provide that equipment to those in Latin American countries where baseball is loved and played with passion," said Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey.
"As a not-for-profit, educational institution, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has the responsibility for connecting generations, and we are grateful for the commitment of the Clemente family, Steve Pindar and Steve Tremitiere and others to deliver the right tools to the next generation of baseball stars."
Organizations or individuals interested in supporting Roberto's Kids can contact the organization by calling 607-432-7440 or 607-437-8779, or by email at info@robertos-kids.org
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