Last night President Leonel Fernandez urged the private sector to make the efforts required to put the national social security system into operation. The President talked about "concessions" and "efforts" in his plea. At least, this is what VP Rafael Alburquerque told reporters after the meeting with the president of the National Private Business Council (CONEP), Elena Viyella de Paliza, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, Yandra Portela from the Industrial Association (AIRD) and other national figures. Alburquerque spoke to reporters in his office at the National Palace, informing them that the business leaders had expressed a desire to reach a consensus with the government and the labor sector. Much of yesterday's discussion revolved around the Basic Health Plan and the efforts to obtain uniformity throughout the plan. The CONEP president said that the business sector was anxious to see the health plan put into effect.
President Leonel Fernandez handed over the titles to 214 plots of land yesterday, as part of the agrarian reform. The plots are equivalent to 5,425 acres of land for a value of RD$84 million, according to Hoy newspaper. Some of the titles were given on a temporary basis and other on a definite basis. Later in the day the President made his way to Bani where he inaugurated a water supply system which cost RD$120.1 million to build and will benefit 18,000 families.
Next Sunday the latest mission from the International Monetary Fund will arrive in Santo Domingo to conduct the fifth revision and review of the Stand-by agreement. According to information given to Hoy newspaper, the gathering of fiscal statistics has posed the largest set of problems for the Central Bank and IMF officials. According to other sources, the newspaper says that the Presidential Ministry for Technical Affairs is working on gathering the numbers needed. The IMF tried to carry out the fifth revision last August but could not finish the task because the figures they required were not available. The delay in the fifth and sixth revisions has caused the IMF to extend the Stand-by accord for three months past its original completion date of April 2007. Most of the problems with the fifth revision are due to problems that have emerged with the fact that public spending has risen above what had been budgeted, while income levels have dropped below what had been projected. Of course, a lot of this has to do with the oh-so-touchy problem of electricity where the government subsidy had been programmed to reach US$350 million but will, in reality, reach US$500 million.
Renegotiations to the energy contracts will be the topics discussed during a meeting today with the Commission for Renegotiations of Contracts with the Private Energy Providers, as the government and the private sector look to end the country's energy crisis. Reforms to the Madrid Agreement and the contracts with the energy companies Cogentrix and Smith& Enron will be the main contracts discussed. The Commission is looking to reform some of the clauses of those contracts and looks for the change of the indexation formula to calculate prices and the reduction of the terms and length of the contracts. The government has proposed a different set of rules for setting the cost of a kilowatt/hour of electricity. The first one is not to use Fuel Oil #2 as the basis for setting the price. Another issue for the government is the obligation to pay for installed production capacity rather than for electricity delivered. According to Diario Libre, government negotiators will focus on the issues of fuel, energy capacity, adjustment in the power potential, costs of operation and maintenance, and reduction of the lengths of the contracts. Among the companies that will be represented will be the State Run Electric Companies (CDEEE), EGE-Haina, EGE-Itabo, EdeEstse, EdeNorte, EdeSur, AES Andres, Dominican Power, Union Fenosa, Compania Electrica de Puerto Plata, Cogentrix and Smith Enron.
Quoted in today's El Caribe, well-known electricity specialist Luis Arthur believes that the local situation is worse than ever. Arthur says that the government has not adopted the measures announced by President Fernandez in his inaugural speech over two years ago. In the face of a daytime demand of 1800 Megawatts, the electricity distributors are only supplying 1200 megawatts. As emphasized by Listin Diario, one of the major stumbling blocks for today's talks will be the existence of a persistent debt of over US$90 million that is owed by the government to the IPPs (the Independent Power Producers). This debt was due last 25 September and by the end of October another US$110 million will be due. According to Listin, some observers feel that the latest round of prolonged blackouts is simply a form of pressuring the government to pay up. Of course the document signed in Madrid, known as the "Madrid Accords" also presents some major problems for the government since that document was a binding agreement and stipulated a long-term price structure. The private sector apparently understands that the financial weakness of the electric industry is the major roadblock facing new investors. On the other side of the table the IPPs feel that the government came out ahead with the Madrid Accords since it freed itself of some major debts, reduced the subsidy that it gave electricity prices and allowed the CDEEE to extend its contract under better terms. Given both sides' hard-line position on this issue, it appears that an international court of arbitration may well have to decide the final resolution. Fortunately, such an eventuality was foreseen in the Madrid Accords.
The United Nations General Assembly has postponed voting for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 24 hours. After yesterday's voting there was no clear winner between competing nations Guatemala and Venezuela. To be selected, a country needs to have a two-thirds majority vote, and if a unanimous vote isn't reached, a third country from the region might be selected to enter the running for the seat. This is leading many to speculate that the DR could be the nation chosen to run. In case the process reaches that point, where a third party needs to be named, a country cannot name itself for the running, so another would have to choose the DR to run. Listin Diario is also reporting that the DR has decided not to say who they had voted for during yesterday's meeting, but they are citing an unnamed source who says that the DR did not vote for Venezuela in the first two rounds. Sub secretary for Foreign Relations Alejandra Liriano says that most nations have a policy of not revealing who they have voted for.
Former President Hipolito Mejia says that if his party's convention were to be held today, he would cast his vote for Miguel Vargas Maldonado, who served as minister of public works during his administration. Commenting on the current debate over just what to change in the Constitution, Mejia said that he was reminded of the Dominican saying that "stumbles make you lift your feet." He was referring, of course, to the issue of Presidential re-election. In the former President's opinion, the Constitutional amendment that his administration passed and that allowed for a sitting President to seek re-election was a mistake. He said that the history of Dominican politics showed that re-election was a bad idea. Mejia amended the constitution in July 2002, allowing him to run for a second consecutive term, which was previously not allowed in the DR. Listin Diario claims that Mejia said that friends and followers within his party had urged him to run. In his usual, down-to-earth manner, Mejia said that there were too many major problems facing the Fernandez administration for them to waste time talking about such "monkey business" or foolishness.
Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez (PLD) responded to ex-President Mejia's comments by saying that the former leader has no moral right to comment on the proposed constitutional reforms by President Leonel Fernandez. Pared Perez continued by explaining that Mejia himself reformed the constitution with the explicit intent of allowing for his re-election. Pared Perez made his feelings clear and said that if Fernandez ever chooses to run again he will do so because of the constitutional changes made by Mejia himself. Pared Perez exhorted the PRD leadership to join in the discussions on the subject of the constitutional reforms because up this point the party has boycotted the idea.
Banking Superintendent Rafael Camilo has revealed that members of the financial community are trying to find ways to increase the loan limit to small businesses to a ceiling of RD$10 million. In a press release, Camilo says that such loans would be granted based entirely on the business's credit history. Currently, only small and micro-businesses have access to loans of RD$5 million or less. Camilo pointed out that loans in excess of RD$5 million are considered large debits and they are granted only by commercial banks under all the asset evaluation requirements established in the Monetary Code. For this reason, the Banking Superintendent is trying to modify the requirements.
In just the first nine months of 2006, government investigators estimate that the sale of false birth certificates, as well as other documents, netted about RD$500 million. The documents were sold to Haitians, drug traffickers, international criminals, baseball players and Cuban citizens. Researchers have established, according to Diario Libre, that the most common cases were those associated with the sale of false birth certificates to Haitians seeking Dominican documentation in order to avoid repatriation. These were sold for between RD$3,000 and RD$5,000 each. Next came Cubans seeking to establish Dominican citizenship in order to immigrate, and then baseball players who need a birth certificate that reduces their age by several years in order to get a better signing bonus. (Readers may well remember the case of Danny Almonte or know of Julio Franco of the NY Mets, officially 46, but some say over 50.) Baseball players or their agents regularly pay between RD$20,000 and RD$50,000 for a well-forged birth certificate. The criminal element will pay as much as RD$200,000 for a false document that will allow them to change identities. Investigators from the Central Electoral Board (JCE) are concentrating on the Civil Registry Offices of Santo Domingo and the provinces along the Haitian frontier. Several cities around the country have seen the inspectors at work, including Santiago, Moca, Barahona and San Francisco de Macoris.
Minister for the Interior and the Police, Franklin Almeyda, has told reporters that the next session of the Superior Police Council (SPC) would be examining the status of thousands of criminal rap sheets in the Dominican Republic and clean them out. He said that the SPC would separate those that were on the police blotter for crimes committed and those that were there "by mistake." He also said that among the 25,000 Dominicans who have been deported from the United States, a distinction has to be made between those who had committed major crimes and those who committed petty crimes. According to El Caribe, Almeyda revealed the fact that there are many people whose names appear on the police database just because they have the same name as a known criminal. He also disclosed that in many cases the police do not know the full reasons why a person had been deported back to the DR.
The Chamber of Deputies has rejected an aerial transport agreement between the DR and the United States because they considered it detrimental to the country's interests. The agreement stated that airlines could make international flights, fly over the country's airspace without landing, and not make layover stops. 112 deputies voted against the legislation, which had been approved by the Senate in 2003. The general consensus amongst deputies was that it would adversely affect the country's abilities to set prices for air travel, impede the country's aerial rights, and pose a challenge to the country's sovereignty. Deputies also pointed out that this piece of legislation challenges the government's interests and those of aerial transport users.
The director of the prison system has announced the firing of three prison guards who abused minors, acted incorrectly or assisted in escapes at the Najayo Juvenile facility and at the Rafey Prison in Santiago. Only two of the men were named. A third person was not identified since he was an intern and not on the regular payroll. The firing came about after inmates received a hacksaw from the guards and escaped.
Diario Libre is reporting that Attorney General Radhames Jimenez Pena did not agree with the report by the Program for the Reform and the Modernization of the State (PARME) and Hoy reports that PARME has kept a lot of the details of similar cases around the country under wraps. The Attorney General was not immediately available for comment because he left the country yesterday. Juan Ramon de la Cruz Martinez, head of the Department of Prisons, said that he would not tolerate any physical abuse or abuse of power by any correctional officials. Jimenez Pena says that he was aware of the troubles in the correctional system, having been given photos of the torture acts that some of the children are subjected to and has been bothered by the irregularities in the national prison system.
Cesar Jazmin, prosecutor for the Litigations Tribunal said yesterday that Verizon Telecommunications would have to pay taxes on profits made in the country and said that the only way Verizon could win its case against the government was if the judge only read Verizon's side of the argument and not the government's. Jazmin was quoted in Listin Diario as saying that the process has been so slow because Verizon's lawyers want it that way, because as he sees it, the slower they are the more Verizon gains. Jazmin went on to say that a decision in favor of Verizon could set a dangerous precedent, as more foreign companies would try to evade paying taxes to the government.
The Ministry of Education has announced that it will be awarding an extra five points to a total of 2,190 students, from eighth graders and third level adult learners who have at least two subjects pending for the high school entrance exams. 1,958 eighth graders and 252 adults will be receiving the extra five points allowing them complete the 65 total points on the exams necessary in order to move on to high school. In the DR, students need to get 65 points or more on the national tests in order to move on to high school. If they do not get the points at the first try, they are allowed to retake the exam twice, after which they are forced to repeat the 8th grade. The timing of the decision is unfortunate, since the school year started two months ago and now those students who previously weren't allowed into their freshman year of high school will have to make up for lost time.
Father Juan Francisco de la Cruz Manzueta is in stable condition at the General Plaza de la Salud Hospital after being shot in an attempted robbery in the parking lot of El Buen Pastor church at 11:00am yesterday. De la Cruz was entering his vehicle in the Santo Domingo neighborhood of Evaristo Morales when two assailants tried to take his vehicle from him. Refusing to give in to the robbers he put up a fight and was shot twice. His injuries are not life threatening. The robbers attempted to get away but the SUV had a flat tire so the two men fled on a small motorcycle, which eventually ran out of fuel and was abandoned. An investigation is ongoing.
Tonight sees the opening of the LIII Winter League Baseball Tournament in the Dominican Republic. All the major newspapers carry a large supplement that includes complete schedules, statistics, news and photographs of the stadiums, players and managers for this, the Dominican national sport. The six-team league features major league stars, young, up-and-coming players from the minor leagues and some major league players on the cusp of stardom. The Aguilas Cibaenas (the Eagles of the Cibao) are Santiago's team and many-time champions. In Santo Domingo, the Tigres del Licey (Tigers of Licey) and the Leones de Escogido (the Chosen Lions) are the big rivals. In San Pedro de Macoris, the Estrellas Orientales (the Eastern Stars) complete the four traditional teams. In San Francisco de Macoris the Gigantes (Giants) share the newcomers onus along with the Toros de La Romana (Bulls). All six teams will play tonight. DR1 news will refer to the teams by their Spanish names. The Aguilas play in San Francisco de Macoris, the Tigres face off with the Leones and the Estrellas and Toros go at it in San Pedro. One of the new features for baseball fans will be the huge new score-boards in the Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo and the Estadio Cibao in Santiago.
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