Industry and Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia has said that on Monday the final modifications to the bills needed for the Dominican Republic's entry into DR-CAFTA will be submitted simultaneously to the Chamber of Deputies and Senate for approval. Garcia says that the modifications of bills regarding customs, intellectual property rights, and government contracts and acquisitions are the last bills that need to be approved, and once the Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the DR approve them they will be submitted to the Office of the United States Trade Representative for approval. Garcia says that authorities are working as hard as they can so that DR-CAFTA goes into effect before 2007. As from Monday, the beginning of the free trade agreement will depend on how fast Congress passes these bills. Once they are passed, they will be sent to the United States for President George W. Bush to authorize the beginning of the treaty.
President Leonel Fernandez also sent a project to the Senate that would allow free trade zones exemption from ITBIS (VAT) payment, income tax and other bills. In addition, he submitted two other projects that need to be modified in order to be in line with terms of the IMF Stand-by agreement, World Trade Organization standards, and DR-CAFTA requirements. The President also submitted modifications to a project of bonds, totaling RD$4.46 billion, which was originally approved in 1999 and again in 2005.
The Bravo awards, promoted by Latin Trade magazine, have named President Leonel Fernandez as their "Leader of the Year" for 2006. The Bravo awards are given to Latin American leaders for their contributions to the region's development. Fernandez was chosen for the award by the magazine's editors, and votes from 350,000 readers. Celebrations will be held on 26 and 27 of October in Baltimore, Maryland.
President Leonel Fernandez held a two-hour meeting with the Committee for National Execution for the Penal Code (CONAEJ) at the Presidential Palace yesterday. The purpose of the meeting was to review the penal code. Diario Libre reports that though no changes to any particular part of the code were announced, Senator Francisco Dominguez Brito (PLD-Santiago) said that any possible modifications would come after the analysis of statistics, revision of the process, and of inadequate practices.
Although yesterday's meeting between the energy sector and the government concluded with no re-negotiated contracts to speak of, President Leonel Fernandez urged the electrical companies that signed the Madrid Accord during the Mejia administration to employ enough flexibility when discussing re-negotiations, emphasizing that they needed to understand that the issue at hand is of national interest, and nothing can be above this. Radhames Segura, head of the state-run Electrical Companies (CDEEE) stressed the importance of these renegotiation talks and said that the government would use all legal resources available to them in order to make any proposals they submit to the energy providers worth it. Segura also said that the current system, under those same contracts, is unsustainable and that the government needs to find a way out. According to El Caribe newspaper, the government is proposing that energy providers Itabo and Haina discount for the over-indexation of prices, but if they refuse to do so the government will end the contracts with both companies in 2009, seven years before the actual expiration of the contracts. Also the government is proposing rescinding the contracts with Palamara-La Vega, Dominican Power Partner, the Electrical Company of Puerto Plata (CPP), and part of the AES Andres company in order to free up 500 MW of service that is included in those energy agreements, which the government says has created a distortion in the market. The government is calling for companies who operated in the spot market to make a bid for those existing 500 MW of power. This means that as from 2010, companies would need to bid for contracts to provide the 500 MW, increasing competition in the market. The government proposed reducing by 25-30% what they pay Cogentrix for their capacity of installed energy, but this would not be necessary if Cogentrix switches from fuel oil to natural gas as there would also be a 10% decrease in maintenance and operation costs. The government is also asking Smith & Enron for a 30-40% reduction in capacity installed costs. The energy providers said that they would answer in 21 days.
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez has given RD$45.4 million to continue infrastructural improvements in Higuey, Puerto Plata, Juan Dolio, Boca Chica and Samana. RD$27.6 million went to the Puerto Plata Aqueducts and Sewers Corporation, RD$7.6 to the Asphalt Corporation to finish the Cruz del Isleno-El Macao highway in Higuey province, and RD$703,167 to GBC Engineering for the continued work on the Cruz del Isleno highway.
Speaking at the Presidential Palace yesterday, First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez launched a preventive campaign against breast cancer. She announced that underprivileged women will be able to receive free breast examinations by simply calling the governments free *462 hotline and making an appointment. The examinations will take place at the Presidential Police and Armed Forces offices. As part of this campaign, a leaflet for women with advice on carrying out self-examinations will be included in all today's newspapers. The First Lady said that there was no better day than today, International Breast Cancer Day, to offer women over 35, with few resources, the opportunity to get checked. According to Cedeno, 600 new cases of breast cancer are reported each year at the Dr. Heriberto Pieter hospital alone.
PRD Presidential pre-candidate Milagros Ortiz Bosch has responded to ex-President Hipolito Mejia's comments that if the PRD presidential candidate elections were held today Miguel Vargas Maldonado would beat Ortiz by a vote of 80% to 20%. Ortiz says that if that's what he believes then he has lost his political instincts. Ortiz is quoted in Diario Libre as saying that Mejia is depending on the same sources that told him he would win the election against Leonel Fernandez, and that told him the PRD senators would win a majority in the Congressional and municipal elections. PRD president Ramon Alburquerque supported Mejia's comments, saying that this sort of self-criticism is very rarely seen in politics.
Former government official Pedro Franco Badia says that he is a victim of human rights persecution and will bring his case to the Inter-American Human Rights Court in San Jose, Costa Rica. Franco Badia says that he has sufficient grounds to declare himself politically persecuted by the government and that the case against him and former CDEEE administrator Cesar Sanchez is a witch-hunt. Franco Badia is quoted in El Caribe as saying that the Plan Renove case is an example of vengeance towards him by the government and that it is "dark, sickening and perverse". Federico Lalane, former controller general during the Mejia administration, presented the first accusations for fraud in the Renove case.
According to Verizon Dominicana's vice president of Communications Eduardo Valcarcel, negotiations with America Movil are stalled because of the technical and legal dispute with the Tax Department (DGII). He explained that it would be very difficult for the transaction to be completed this year, as reported by Listin Diario. The problem is that the tax department says that Verizon should pay US$519 million on capital gains while they operated in the country, money Verizon doesn't think they should pay. Valcarcel says that this could definitely put Verizon's sale to the Mexican company in jeopardy. He indicated that nonetheless, Verizon Dominicana has returned to its normal working pace with its own strategies and expects that negotiations can begin again in 2007, once the court has decided upon the issue. The company says that the impasse with the Tax Department has not affected the company's market and its sales have continued as normal.
The Department of Customs has announced that it will be awarding severance payments to its dismissed employees. Customs, like most Dominican government departments, has an excess of employees, primarily due to the practice of political patronage. There are approximately 5,000 employees on the Customs payroll. The Department of Customs' decision sets a new precedent for government employees. The severance payments will cost RD$471 million, as reported in El Caribe. The Customs Department recently announced that it would be laying off approximately 2,500 employees.
El Caribe newspaper says that National Drug Council Department (DNCD) is reporting that drug dealer Elsa Grullon died in a Santiago hospital after having ingested large quantities of drugs while police conducted a raid on her home, which was a drug sales spot. Grullon swallowed the drugs so that they would not be found in her possession. General Jose Rafael Lopez Santana, head of the DNCD in Santiago, said that Grullon had been arrested and was waiting in a jail cell to be transferred when she began to feel sick. She was then taken to the hospital where she died from complications caused by the ingestion.
The DNCD is also reporting that they have arrested a man who tried to fly to Holland with 105 capsules containing an illegal substance in his stomach. DNCD officials said that Moises Abelardo de la Cruz would have been paid EUR 6,000 for smuggling the drugs.
The Navy has intercepted the operation of 63 illegal boat trips to Puerto Rico over the last two months, arresting 824 Dominican, Cuban, Ecuadorian, Haitian and Canadian nationals. Naval intelligence division M-2 estimates that an average of 13 people per day tried to leave the country on fragile boats to Puerto Rico between 16 August and 16 October this year.
Diario Libre's popular comic strip Boquechivo & Diogenes is celebrating its 10th anniversary today. The satirical strip comments on daily issues of Dominican life from sport to politics and everything in between. Cartoonist and writer Harold Priego created the cartoon 10 years ago. To mark the occasion, today's Diario Libre has a spoof front page with a photo of Diogenes hugging President Leonel Fernandez and Boquechivo hugging ex-President Hipolito Mejia. Diogenes, Boquechivo and their three-dimensional friends will be celebrating the birthday party at Casa de Teatro at 7pm this evening.
Andy Garcia, Carmen Maura, Gael Garcia Bernal and Luis Llosa will attend the new version of the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival from the 8th to the 12th of November, which is being organized by the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD). The festival aims to awaken greater awareness and better understanding at the global level, through stories about people and events that have touched the lives of thousands of people.
Do not miss "Merengues en Reservas", this coming Friday, 20 October, part of Banco Reservas' 65th anniversary celebrations. The performance will take place at 8:00pm in the Torre Banreservas parking area, on Ave. Winston Churchill, at the intersection with Calle Porfirio Herrera. That evening, classic merengue tunes by Francis Santana, Joseito Mateo, Vinicio Franco and Frank Cruz will be performed. This is an opportunity to listen to merengue classics such as "Cana Brava," "El negrito del batey," "Compadre Pedro Juan," "La Chiva blanca," Arroyito cristalino," "La empaliza," "Maria Tomasa," "Feliciana," "Juana Mecho," "Sancocho prieto," among others.
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