President Leonel Fernandez met with the chief of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in Santo Domingo yesterday. According to Hoy newspaper, they talked about Dominican plans to increase patrols along the very porous border. According to the paper, the UN mission chief, Edmond Mulet, flew directly from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo for the meeting. He was accompanied by Dominican Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso and Carlos Castillo, the Dominican consul in Haiti. According to UN spokesman David Winhurst, the two men spoke about the difficulties along the 391-kilometer border. No details were given to the press. One of the deputy secretaries general of the Organization of American States (OAS) has also visited Fernandez to discuss issues related to Haiti and development.
Coincidentally, the president of the InterAmerican Press Association, Miguel Guerrero comments in his column in El Caribe today on what he describes as the lack of attention of the government to the matter of illegal Haitian migration. He points out that the InterAmerican Human Rights court has already condemned the Dominican state for denying citizenship to two descendents of Haitians born in the DR, and just a week ago the US Congress imposed what he describes as a severe political and moral blow by honoring Haitian rights activist Sonia Pierre with the Robert Kennedy Human Rights Award. Referring to Sonia Pierre, Guerrero comments that rarely ever before has a person had so much success in erecting barriers between the two countries. He mentions that she has taken the most atrocious complaints to international organizations forging an image of the country as a racist society, only second to South Africa. "Most of the claims lack fundament but that matters little to the developed nations that wish to wash their hands of their responsibility with the poorest nation in the continent," he comments. Furthermore, he mentions that when a Dominican group implemented a tetanus vaccination program in one of its free zone installations in Quanaminthe, at the other side of the border with Haiti, Mrs. Pierre was part of an international movement that denounced this as a criminal plan to sterilize the Haitians, when it was truly an unprecedented social program. He adds that the tetanus program was an excellent opportunity for Pierre to strengthen her discredit campaign against a country like ours that has been refuge to hundreds of thousands of Haitians that have found opportunities here that their own country did not provide.
The Dominican government signed a new US$150 million loan package from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, DC yesterday. Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa signed for the Dominican Republic, and IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno on behalf of the international financial institution. The money is to be used for the execution of the Program to Support Social Sector Management Reform and provide resources to support policy reforms to improve the management of education, health, social security and welfare services.
The program will deal with public health issues, focusing on obtaining better services for the people who need it.
The new loan will also support the Dominican government's efforts to maintain macroeconomic conditions conducive to sustained growth and to strengthen public sector budget and financial management. The loan is for 20 years, with a five-year grace period and a variable interest rate. The resources are to be disbursed in three $50-million tranches within a 24-month period, as long as the required goals are met.
The Senate of the Dominican Republic announced their selections for the Central Electoral Board yesterday. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) is responsible for the organization and management of the congressional, municipal and presidential elections. A long-time hot potato, speculation about the selection of the new magistrates has dominated the headlines for weeks. With over 240 candidates to choose from, the final selection of the nine magistrates and their substitutes was finally approved without much debate in the Senate. Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman will become the new chief magistrate. (See his cv posted when he was a member of the JCE in 2000).
Castanos will be assisted by Roberto Rosario, the only returnee, Mariano Rodriguez Rijo, Leyda Pina, Cesar Francisco Feliz Feliz, Jose Angel Aquino Rodriguez, Eddy Olivares Ortega and John Guilliani. Aura Celeste Fernandez will leave her post as head of the National School of Justice to take her seat on the board. The substitutes are Cesar Jazmin Rosario, Ada Elizabeth Barriola, Josefina Abreu Yarull, Genaro A. Silvestre, Josefina Montas Urena, Polibio Isaura Rivas Perez, Francisco Cabrera Matos, Rafael Diaz Filpo and Rafael Evangelista Alejo. According to Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez, the new electoral board is not only responsible for ensuring that the upcoming election is well organized, but also for ensuring that the civil registry is organized and efficient. In addition to organizing the elections, two major challenges for the new judges are reversing claims that have been made that the civil registry offices have been fiefdoms and revenue-producers for the judges, as well as reducing the estimated 30% of Dominicans that do not have birth certificates due to late registrations and the red tape involved.
The Senate voted to reject the creation of the proposed Matias Ramon Mella province, following observations made by President Leonel Fernandez. The idea for the new province, the latest in a series of new creations, came from former senator Tonty Rutinel Dominguez (PRD). Senators also refused to grant municipal status to the communities of La Victoria, Guaricano, Sabana Perdida and San Jose de Mendoza, and municipal district status to hacienda Estrella, Guanuma, and Los Castillo and Los Adon. The rejection carried the warning that the country could not continue with the process of "atomization" of the nation's territory. Diario Libre said that the negative vote was unanimous.
The Chamber of Deputies has called a recess in order for several commissions to meet and write their reports on a number of projects and resolutions. The next meeting of the chamber will be announced in the media. The Environmental, Civil Code and Municipal Affairs commissions all have to hand in reports during the next session, which is due to meet next Tuesday and will have the 2007 budget on its agenda, according to El Caribe, and the top priority will be the so-called "correction" of the tax laws. One of the legislative initiatives being considered is a law that will prohibit anyone from getting a police record unless they were convicted in a court of law.
Prominent businessman Antonio Isa Conde, who is also one of President Fernandez's advisors, lashed out at cheap politics as a major part of the current electricity crisis. Speaking at a breakfast meeting organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Santo Domingo, Isa Conde said that the first step in making the energy issue more transparent is to de-politicize the different proposals as well as the government's negotiating team. Anything else will, in his opinion, only contribute to the contamination of the whole process. He questioned the role being played by the CDEEE, especially as it administers energy purchase and sale contracts. He said that he favored the government's shedding of the entity that administers the hydroelectric dams and the transmission lines. Isa Conde also suggested the return of EdeSur and EdeNorte to the private sector and their total independence from what he called "clientelism" which is reflected in the increase in the payrolls and the greater amount spent on subcontracts.
When most of the roles of the CDE were privatized, most of the jobs were not removed. On the contrary, the new CDEEE added jobs in response to demands for political patronage.
Amcham president Kevin Manning and Jesus Moreno, the head of the Herrera Industrial Association (AEIH), are calling on the government to impose austerity measures instead of more taxes. Manning told El Caribe reporter Alexander Pena that new taxes would only reduce the Dominican Republic's competitive capacity just as it is about to enter a free trade agreement with six other nations. Both Manning and Moreno agree that a new tax burden is "unnecessary" in order to fulfill the commitment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Moreno said that "the government can fulfill its budget commitments by making a real effort towards austerity and efficiency in its spending." Both men spoke at a meeting called by the AEIH that featured "Free Trade, the Environment and Competitiveness" as the central theme.
Award winning journalist Ines Aizpun, writing in today's AM column on Diario Libre's page two, says that if the posts of Presidential Minister and Presidential spokesperson do not need to be filled, just think of the savings that can be made by eliminating all the really unnecessary officials. She says that if those two posts, so close to the President and so obviously important, do not need to be filled, it is obvious that there are a few more that could be vacated. Without even counting all those vice-consuls, she said that the Ministry of Youth could be done away with, as just one example. Or all those who have to do with the fight against corruption, since they only investigate when there is a public outcry. Aizpun asks "Don't they do any investigating on their own?" The writer goes on to say that one can review the tax reform accounts from right to left, or they can call it a "correction" or adjustment or "a gun to the head." As long as the costs of the Metro are hidden in the budget and in our pockets, the government will have to keep disguising its name, she writes. She goes on to say that the government has not really said just how it is going to apply its promised austerity plan. She concludes: "But if they manage to convince us of the sincerity of their plans it will be because they show us the figures and solidify the concepts. But before all that, the government has to tell us what reform they are talking about. She says that it is curious that although this government's greatest success has been its economic team and its figures, it does not seem to have even an idea of how to apply the tax reform, or on whom. And they have control of both chambers!"
Following up on its investigations into the pension fund scandal at the Finance Ministry, today's Diario Libre says that even more young adults have been found to be drawing huge pensions. The scandal broke when 18 employees were dismissed. According to the newspaper, the Department of Pensions and Retirements was paying pensions to deceased people, to people who had never worked and to young people who do not qualify. Last Monday, Diario Libre reported that people as young as 23 were collecting monthly pension checks for as much as RD$50,000. Today's story says that the number of such people is increasing as the Department Against Corruption (DEPRECO) digs deeper into the case. So far three former pension department officials have been interrogated.
At least four students were injured during clashes with police riot units yesterday in Licey al Medio in Espaillat (Moca) province. The students set fire to tires and threw rubbish in the streets as they protested against the new tax proposals and demanded that the government finish the third floor of their school building. One student was hit in the chest with a tear gas grenade and the other three were hit with buckshot. According to El Caribe, what started out as a peaceful student protest became heated when the march was "infiltrated" by armed men who shot it out with police SWAT units for 25 minutes. As well as demanding the full repair of the third floor of their school the students were also demanding more maintenance staff and teachers. One student said that the police fired at the school building even though hundreds of students were inside. As a result of the demonstration, traffic along the old Duarte Highway was halted for several hours. In other protests in Espaillat Province, three people were injured in Higuerito during protests against the assignment of a new school superintendent.
The Dominican Winter League continues to roll on, and the hottest team playing right now is the Gigantes from San Francisco de Macoris who have won six games in a row. Last night they defeated Escogido in the Quisqueya Stadium in Santo Domingo, 5-3. Erick Almonte headed up the 12-hit attack with a home run and a double, accounting for four of the Gigantes' runs. Jose Capellan was the winning pitcher and Britt Reams (1-1) was the loser. Julio de Paula was credited with a save.
In other action, the Aguilas Cibaenas clobbered the hapless Toros de La Romana (also called the Azucareros) 11-1 in the Cibao Stadium. Jose Lima was the winning pitcher, getting his first win against two defeats. In San Pedro de Macoris, the Estrellas Orientales beat up on the league-leaders Tigres de Licey, 8-1. Robinson Cano was one of the sparkplugs for the Estrellas, bringing in three runs in his first two appearances at the plate. Matt Kemp also produced three runs for the Big Green.
Standings
| Team | W-L | Avg. | Games Behind |
| Licey | 18 - 10 | .643 | - |
| Gigantes | 17 - 11 | .607 | 1.0 |
| Aguilas | 16 - 12 | .571 | 2.0 |
| Estrellas | 13 - 15 | .464 | 5.0 |
| Escogido | 11 - 17 | .393 | 7.0 |
| Azucareros | 9 - 19 | .321 | 9.0 |
* In Santo Domingo: Estadio Quisqueya - 7:30pm
Estrellas vs. Licey
* In San Francisco de Macoris: Estadio Julian Javier - 7:30pm
Escogido vs. Gigantes
* In La Romana: Estadio FranciscoMichelli - 7:30pm
Aguilas Cibaenas vs. Azucareros
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