DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

President Luis Abinader broke tradition and is the first sitting President to accept to participate in a National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE) presidential debate.

Participating in a panel on the debates on Esta Noche con Mariasela, controversy expert Nelson Espinal called the 24 April 2024 presidential debate “a historic event.” ANJE members had lobbied for the debates for the past 30 years.

The presidential debate is expected to reach record television ratings when it airs at 8pm on 24 April 2024. The presidential debate is scheduled from 8 to 10pm on that Wednesday.

President Luis Abinader was the first to accept to debate for this presidential election. Upon accepting, he said: “Debating is not an obligation, but rather an act of responsibility to Dominican democracy”. He will face three-term former President Leonel Fernandez who did not accept to...

Public Works Minister Deligne Ascención accepts the challenge of keeping garbage off the side of roads and has enlisted dozens of city governments to assist in the endeavor.

Minister Ascención said that the mayors that officially begin on 24 April 2024 will work in coordination with the Ministry of Public Works to clean the roads and highways under the new “My Clean Highway” program, with funds from the Ministry for permanent maintenance plans for the country’s trunk roads. The program begins on 26 April 2024.

“With this program, the MOPC seeks to have a favorable impact on the environment and health, as well as promote a culture of cleanliness on public roads, reporting that every day, brigades from the institution lift an average of about 240 tons each month,” he said.

He explained that the program also seeks that “those who visit us can enjoy an organized and clean...

The Listin Diario for years has urged Dominican authorities to take action to stop the degradation by private parties of the dunes in Baní. After Listin Diario again raised an alert of new actions, Environment Minister Miguel Ceara Hatton said the degradation was happening in the buffer areas. Environmentalists defend the unique natural resource and urge government action to stop removing the desert area’s forestry coverage.

“Before reaching the heart, all the organs that are around it must also be protected because the heart depends on them. It means that it is a bit sad, a bit poor argument, to say that this is outside the protected area,” declared reputed environmentalist Eleuterio Martínez, an agronomist by profession, as reported in Listin Diario.

Read more in...

The investigation carried out by the Higuey-based prosecutor office has identified Paulino de la Cruz, an Air Force enlisted man, as the person responsible for raping a Haitian 14-year old when working as part of a team that carried out migration inspection raid in Veron, La Altagracia.

Prosecutors accuse De la Cruz of entering the victim’s residence on 5 April 2024 and sexually abusing the child. The investigators did not mention others who may have accompanied De la Cruz on the migration blitz in Veron.

The La Altagracia Prosecutor’s Office will request preventive detention against the military.

The prosecutors say De la Cruz entered the victim’s residence and took advantage that the girl was alone.

La Altagracia prosecutors began the investigation of the incident after the mother of the minor placed the complaint.

Paulino de la Cruz is accused of violating articles 330...

The National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) reports on a new cocaine shipment mode. The DNCD says cocaine was detected in a shipment of 13 wall clocks. The wall clocks would be exported by a resident in La Ureña, Santo Domingo East, to a resident in Álfhólsvegur, Iceland.

The agents and prosecutors, assisted by a canine unit, carried out the inspection in a warehouse in the National District, where several wall clocks that had 13 sheets of cocaine hidden in their interior were found in boxes ready for export.

Read more in Spanish:

• DNCD
• El Dia

Intense rains falling on Monday and Tuesday, 15 and 16 April 2024 caused flooding of rivers, streams and ravines in municipalities in Puerto Plata province, Diario Libre reports. Social media shared videos of flooding in the beach town of Sosua.

Civil Defense reports indicate that the overflowing of the rivers and gullies cut off several towns in the province.

Among the places that were isolated are: Madre Vieja in Sosúa, Los Peralta in Yásica, Los Ciruelos in Montellano, and Guzmancito in Maimón.

Better weather is forecast for the weekend as the trough moves east to Puerto Rico.

Read more in Spanish:

• Diario Libre

The Weather Office has most of the Dominican Republic on yellow alert for possible rains and flooding on Thursday. The trough is moving East to Puerto Rico, and forecasts are for good weather for the weekend.

Yellow alerts have been issued for Greater Santo Domingo, Espaillat, Santiago, La Vega, Santiago Rodríguez, San Pedro de Macorís, La Romana, Puerto Plata, San Juan, Elías Pina, San José de Ocoa, Independencia, Bahoruco and Monte Plata.

The intense rains have mainly affected communities in Puerto Plata and Samana. Two dead were reported and dozens of people had to leave their homes and businesses. Recovery efforts are underway nationwide.

Festival Capitalia is on for Saturday, 20 April 2024 at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium. The event opens with young Dominican rapper J Noa, who has been nominated for a Latin Grammy. Afterwards the international performers UK’s Sting, Colombia’s Juanes and Puerto Rico’s Residente will have 50 minutes each to perform. Dominican Juan Luis Guerra will have the closing show of the event. The show opens at 7pm at the stadium fitted for a maximum of 40,000 fans.

The event is presented by SD Concerts and tickets range from RD$5,500 to RD$14,750.

Read more in Spanish:

• Listin Diario
• Tu Boleta

The Fourth Felix Sanchez Athletics Classic is taking place this Saturday, 20 April 2024 at the Luguelin Santos track in Bayaguana, Monte Plata province, as of 2pm. The event gathers international competitors and is listed by World Athletics, the international athletics federation, as part of its Continental Tour.

Among those registered to participate are Alexander Ogando (DOM), Ronal Longa (COL), Salwa Eid Naser (BRN), Yeral Núñez (DOM), Anabel Medina (DOM), Roxana Gómez Calderón (CUB), Fiordaliza Cofil (DOM), José González (DOM), and Franquelo Pérez (DOM).

The event is held at the Monte Plata track given that the largest stadium in the country, the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium for the past years has been dedicated to international artist shows that have damaged the track. Festival Capitalia is happening at the stadium on the same Saturday, 20 April. The track is long due...

President Luis Abinader appointed four new governors for Azua, Elías Piña, La Romana and San Juan de la Maguana. The governors represent the President in the provinces.

They replace the governors who were elected to municipal positions in the 18 February 2024 election or are candidates for deputies in the 19 May 2024 election.

The new governors are:Azua: María Minerva Navarro. She has a degree in education and was serving as the regional technician for the Ministry of Education.

Elías Piña: Lawyer Migdaly Antonia de los Santos Jiménez had been serving as deputy mayor of El Llano.

La Romana: Lawyer Ivelisse Mercedes Méndez had been serving as mayor of Guaymate.

San Juan de la Maguana: Lawyer Ana María Castillo Mateo had been serving as lawyer of the San Juan de la Maguana Provincial Women’s Agency, and councilor for the municipality of San Juan. She was also the...

Economy Minister Pavel Isa, Tourism Minister David Collado, Agriculture Minister Limber Cruz, Industry and Commerce Minister Víctor (Ito) Bisonó and Energy & Mines Minister Antonio Almonte were present for the first working meeting of the intergovernmental coordination table for the implementation of Law 368-22 on Territorial Planning, Land Use and Human Settlements. The ministers met with the president of the Dominican Federation of Municipalities (Fedomu) and the general secretary of the Dominican Municipal League to kickstart the implementation of the Territorial Planning Law in the Dominican Republic.

Others who participated were representatives of the ministries of Environment and Housing.

The table was proposed by the Ministry of Economy and Fedomu as a space for dialogue and coordination between the central government entities and local governments for the...

The provincial governor of Samana, Teodora Mullix, announced support for Las Terrenas beach town that was affected by a trough that brought intense rains on Monday, 15 April and Tuesday, 16 April 2024.

The governor said food would be available for those whose homes were impacted at economic soup kitchens. She said the Government Social Plan will distribute food rations, blankets, mattresses and other essential supplies that were being sent to the Las Terrenas area to assist victims of the rains.

The Ministry of Public Works deployed maintenance brigades in collaboration with RD Vial for prompt intervention. A detailed report was sent to the engineering division of the Ministry of Education, given some educational facilities may require structural attention.

The Ministry of Housing sent teams to inspect the damages.

Governor Mullix says that the authorities...

The Department of Customs (DGA) and the Department of Taxes (DGII) cracked down on five Chinese-owned businesses located in Greater Santo Domingo and Santiago for irregularities in compliance with government regulations. For years, Dominican-owned businesses have complained the Dominican government authorities look the other way when dealing with thousands of Chinese businesses that have flooded the market offering low-priced goods and carrying out large non-reported cash transactions. Dominican-owned business spokespeople say the Dominican government has been lenient in requiring that the Chinese comply with labor, import and tax laws.

As reported, the operation was carried out because the businesses had carried out bank transactions for around RD$4 billion while reporting much less. The press release on the operation states that an investigation revealed that...

Prime Minister Ariel Henry signed the decree that appoints a presidential transition council in Haiti. The priorities of the transitional council are to bring law and order, mainly to Port-au-Prince, the capital, and prepare the elections by 2026.

A previous decree in Le Moniteur had not indicated the names of the seven voting and two non-voting observers of the presidential transition council.

The members are former diplomat Smith Augustin, ex-senator Louis Gerald Gilles, former central bank governor Fritz Alphonse Jean, ex-Senate president Edgard Leblanc Fils, entrepreneur Laurent Saint-Cyr, lawyer Emmanuel Vertilaire and Leslie Voltaire, a former minister and diplomat.

Evangelical pastor Frinel Joseph and former World Bank official Regine Abraham have been appointed as non-voting observer members.

The new decree states that members would “be required to submit the...

Adriano Espaillat and Letitia James / Wikipedia

New York State Attorney General Letitia James and New York Congressman Adriano Espaillat went public to warn New Yorkers about real estate scams that are targeting the Dominican expat community. On Tuesday, 16 April 2024, both parties offered tips to help prevent similar scams.

The NY officials spoke up to warn consumers about real estate scams that are targeting the Dominican expats. Recently in the Dominican Republic Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma was charged with scamming nearly 150 individuals in the DR and US, including 24 New Yorkers, with fraudulent real estate listings.

A NY AG note indicates that Emmanuel Rivera Ledesma has been arrested recently for perpetrating a scheme through his company InDisArq, that cheated each of his victims out of thousands of dollars. The AG note indicates that Rivera Ledesma...

The Consulate of Spain in the Dominican Republic says that 3,077 descendants of Spaniards have taken on the Spanish nationality after the passing of the Democratic Memory Law in 2022.

In March 2024, the government of Spain announced that Spanish descendants will get another year’s time to apply for Spanish nationality.

The Democratic Memory Law has clauses that facilitate the naturalization procedure for latinos of Spanish descent. The law also allows offspring of Spaniards who may have lost their nationality during dictatorship or civil war to acquire the original nationality of their parents in an expedited procedure. The procedure does not require the descendants to travel to Spain or establish residence in Spain to carry out the steps.

The law mainly benefits the grandchildren of Spaniards who meet the requirements under the Democratic Memory Law in effect since October 2022...

The Attorney General Office’s prosecution branch, the Public Ministry identified six drug families that make up a criminal structure dismantled through Operacion Caimán (Cayman Operation). These are charged with moving more than 28 tons of cocaine from December 2021 to date, to the United States, Puerto Rico and Europe.

The Public Ministry says the organizations handled enormous amounts of money from drug trafficking, which they used to pay bribes to politicians, merchants, businessmen and the military to obtain information and carry out their illicit operations.

The members of the drug families planned, transported and executed cocaine trafficking from South America to the Dominican Republic by sending artisanal boats (Gofast) to Colombian territory. These returned with kilos of narcotics to selected places along the southern coast of the country, specifically in the...

Julio Camilo de los Santos Viola / Diario Libre

The First Collegiate Court of the National District lifted the house arrest on the former deputy security chief of former President Danilo Medina, Air Force General Julio Camilo de los Santos Viola and Police Colonel Rafael Núñez de Aza, two of the main defendants in the Operation Coral and Coral 5G corruption cases.

House arrest was also lifted for police corporal Tanner Antonio Flete Guzmán, son of the evangelical pastor Rossy Guzmán. Flete Guzman is accused of being a frontman for Major General Adán Cáceres Silvestre, former head of the Presidential Security Corps (Cusep), who is also named in the proceedings.

Núñez de Aza, former financial director of Cusep, was allowed to post bail for RD$100 million. He is impeded to leave the country and must wear an electronic locator. De los Santos Viola was also...

The defense of former Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez Sanchez asked Judge Amauri Martinez of the Third Investigative Court of the National District to trash the accusation against his client during the second defense hearing on 16 April 2024. The defense argues that the accusatory body has committed 17 violations of the Constitution against his client.

The right to defense and property, as well as the alleged leaks of information, are among the long list of violations committed by the Public Ministry towards its client, according to Jean Alain Rodríguez’s lawyers.

Former Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez Sanchez is accused of bribes and a corruption network when he led the Attorney General Office from 2016 to 2020. Of the 63 defendants, 26 have pleaded guilty in the alleged embezzlement of more than six billion pesos that was supposedly led by Jean Alain...

Constanza community members and environmentally-aware persons are calling for justice after environmental defender, 39-year old Francisco Ortiz Baez was murdered. He had denounced the indiscriminate extraction of materials for the construction from a Tireo, Constanza river in La Vega province.

Olmedo León, executive director of the Ecological Society of Cibao (Soeci), said the murder was possible due to the lack of a regime of consequences in the country.

According to the environmentalist, the environmental damage to the tributary in Tireo is a complaint that Soeci has been making for more than two decades, “without anyone intervening.”

León maintains that the lack of authority gives power to the unscrupulous who damage natural resources.

He says that environmentalists are constantly threatened and sometimes attacked when they report the occurrence of...

President Luis Abinader used the first half of the weekly La Semanal press meet to explain the effort to launch the Dominican Republic as a hub for manufacturing of semiconductors and microelectronics to benefit young people in the Dominican Republic. President Luis Abinader seeks to be reelected on 19 May 2024, and the majority vote in that election comes from young voters.

During the presentation, President Luis Abinader spoke of the important work carried out by the Las Americas Technology Institute (ITLA) that is now offering courses (6 months to two years) in semi-conductors and microelectronics, working closely with free zones as the country seeks to become a major exporter.

Omar Mendez Lluberes, rector of ITLA, spoke about 10-year plan to train semi-conductors manufacturing operators. The objective is to develop four-years specialists with basic training, and then move on to...

Former President Leonel Fernandez opened his weekly televised program, La Voz del Pueblo, calling it a dialogue with the press. During the first event on 15 April 2024, Fernandez emphasized the rises in prices of goods and services in the Dominican Republic. He mentioned that Gross Domestic Product grew only 2.4% in 2023.

Fernandez, who seeks his fourth term in the 19 May 2024 presidential election, launched the program to level the field with the weekly Monday press presentations by President Luis Abinader who is running for reelection. Fernandez chose to present the program on the same day and just after the presentation by the President.

The La Voz del Pueblo program keeps the same format, with an introduction by Leonel Fernandez, and then is followed up by questions.

Follow the story: La Voz del Pueblo...

“President (Luis) Abinader would make a very serious mistake by leaving a law of that nature in his administration. He does not deserve an indelible stain like that,” said the president of the Dominican Newspaper Society (SDD), Persio Maldonado, in reference to Law 1-24 that creates the National Intelligence Agency (DNI).

Interviewed on the television program “Sinthesis,” by Michael Hazim, Maldonado also spoke of efforts to produce modern legislation to encompass all the new media through the proposed National Institute of Communications (Inacom).

Maldonado said a team of experts and lawyers worked on the Inacom draft law to reconcile positions of different sectors. He said the legislation seeks to encompass all the new media that exist now.

Maldonado highlighted that there is freedom of speech in the Dominican Republic. He said people can say lies because it is their right...

President Luis Abinader insists his government will act in the case of denounced rape of 14-year old Haitian girl, reportedly raped by a Migration agent during an inspection operation in Veron, Bavaro in La Altagracia province.

The Migration Agency has yet to name the agent suspect in the case of the inspector accused in the rape of the 14-year old Haitian girl. Media reports indicate there could have been complicity among inspectors.

During the 15 April 2024 press conference, President Luis Abinader when asked about an update on the case, insisted actions the responsible persons will need to face justice.

Venancio Alcantara, director of Migration Agency, said on Monday, 15 April 2024that the Bávaro Gender Violence Unit of the Attorney General Office in Higuey, La Altagracia is deepening the investigations into the incident. He considered that if they determine that a migration agent...

Sergei Berezin/Paul Bertholz sat in the 15 April 2024 deportation hearing at the Supreme Court of Justice in the shorts and flip flops he was in when arrested in the Bayahibe beach town. European authorities have requested his deportation accusing him of being part of an alleged pyramid scheme that resulted in hundreds of thousands of victims in Spain, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico.

The hearing that would decide on preventive custody and the request for deportation to Spain was postponed for Thursday, 18 April 2024.

The arrest of the Russian in the beach town of Bayahibe reportedly was part of a joint investigation conducted by several European law enforcement authorities, supported by Europol and Eurojust, that culminated in the arrest of the Russian in the Dominican Republic and eight other suspects around the...

The National Weather Office (Onamet) announced heavy rains in the capital city and 17 provinces in central and northeastern regions for Tuesday and Wednesday, 16-17 April 2024. On Monday, 15 April, the weather system already brought heavy rains in Santo Domingo and Samana.

Gloria Ceballos, director of the Onamet, forecast the passing tropical wave will bring around 120 mm of water to the capital city. This compares to 300 mm in the torrential rains in November 2023 that caused several deaths.

Esmery Martinez on 15 April 2024 became the first Dominican woman to be drafted to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The better news is that she was drafted to the WNBA by a team that has played in the last two league finals.

Martinez heard her name called as the 17th overall pick (5th in the 2nd round) by the New York Libery, which lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the 2023 WNBA Finals.

Martinez will join former Pac-12 stars Sabrina Ionescu, Kennedy Burke, and Nyara Sabally as well as perennial MVP candidate Breanna Stewart in New York. The 6-foot-2 forward is described in Arizona sports media as “a ferocious rebounder who worked to increase her range and handles in hopes of playing the three as a professional”.

Esmery Martinez has the attractive Caribbean look that has made the Caribbean Queens (Reinas del Caribe) famous for their volleyball playing...

On the occasion of celebrating the 40th anniversary of its international flight, the Punta Cana International Airport officially opened Terminal B to accommodate the increasing numbers of travelers arriving and deporting to the eastern airport.

Punta Cana International Airport visionary, Frank Rainieri Marranzini was present to receive President Luis Abinader and Tourism Minister David Collado and give the official tour of the new facilities.

Terminal B has been in operation since last year. The terminal has an area of 35,000 m2 with seven boarding gates and seven air bridges. It was conceived to handle 5,000 passengers per hour and 4 million per year.

The Punta Cana International Airport served 8 million passengers in 2023, evidencing the growth of the Dominican tourism industry. Most travelers are tourists headed for the Punta Cana beach resorts. But given...

Arajet, the low-priced Caribbean airline, reports a record 240,000 passengers carried in the first quarter of 2024. In March 2024 alone, 64,000 passengers (minus transit passengers) were transported.

Arajet has 23 direct flights from Las Americas International Airport (SDQ) to 16 countries in the Americas, including Canada and Mexico in North America and others in South and Central America and the Caribbean.

Read more in Spanish:

• El Caribe

Take a stroll south of Av. Winston Churchill to the government offices area of the Centro de los Heroes or around Columbus Park in the Colonial City and enjoy the lovely decorations provided by the flowering of the oak trees. The trees bloom at the start of spring, as Diario Libre highlights. The falling flowers, Tabebuia chrysantha, also create a yellow path.

Diario Libre reports on the importance of the tree for bee pollinating.

Watch next in June and July for the scandalous red flowers of the flamboyant trees that do so at the start of summer. The flowered flamboyant trees can be seen in full bloom on the southern side road of the National Botanical Gardens.

Read More:

• Diario Libre

The Van Gogh Immersive Experience in Santo Domingo is not the original experience, TV host Mariasela Alvarez announced after checking with the originators of the global touring art show. DR1 had wrongfully reported it was the original experience. The Van Gogh event that is taking place at the Plaza de la Cultura is another fun activity to do in Santo Domingo, yet not the original.

Wikipedia explains: “A number of real-life and virtual reality exhibits of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings have been staged around the world since the 2000s. The for-profit events range across venues, organizers, and locations, though the majority have been held in North America in 2021 and 2022. The events are typically set up in large gallery spaces. Images or videos of the artist’s works are projected onto walls, ceilings, and floors, sometimes accompanied by animations...

Source: The Star

A travel feature in the Toronto Star looks into the possibility of people of all ages taking surfing classes. The author was here and picked up points in El Encuentro beach in Cabarete, Puerto Plata and shares her experiences so more can follow her example.

Read More:

• Toronto Star

The Corales Puntacana PGA Championship is scheduled to tee off on Thursday, April 18 at the Corales Golf Club in the Dominican Republic. The Corales Puntacana Championship features 132 players competing for US$4 million.

Read More:

• Sports Skeeda
• DR1 Travel News

The Attorney General Office working with the National Police announced the arrest of a suspect Russian network leader accused of committing fraud related to a pyramid medicinal cannabis scheme for EUR 645 million. The arrest of Sergei Berezin and/or Paul Bergholtz was made for deportation to Spain purposes.

Sergei Berezin/Paul Bergholtz was arrested in Bayahibe, La Altagracia province.

The Dominican Republic had received a request for international legal assistance from judicial authorities in Spain, acting after an investigation carried out by the Spanish National Police, with the collaboration of Europol, Eurojust and agents from other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. This action aimed to dismantle the criminal network that perpetrated the million-dollar scam internationally.

In response to this request for assistance, the Specialized Prosecutor’s...

The Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and the seven institutions that make up Compromiso Santiago (Santiago Commitment) brought together the candidates of the three largest political parties in the country: PLD, PRM, and FP. Abel Martinez, Luis Abinader and Leonel Fernandez all spoke to a select audience at the University Theater on the main campus of the PUCMM on Friday, 12 April 2024 in the morning, presenting their proposals for Santiago and the country if elected in the 19 May elections.

President Abinader noted how his government has invested around RD$110 billion in Santiago province and nearby communities over the past three years. The amount, he said, is more than twice what the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) had invested in its previous 16 years of government. Abinader emphasized that government investments...

With the creation of the Orlando Jorge Mera Marine Sanctuary on the south coast, including 27km2 Beata Island, and the expansion of the protected areas around the Silver Banks and La Navidad, the Dominican Republic has reached its goal of protecting at least 30% of its maritime area.

The new areas were created by presidential decrees 194-24 and 195-24.

The Orlando Jorge Mera Protected Area around the Beata Island is actually a maritime mountain range that extends as far away as Colombia. This particular area is protected in coordination with Colombia as per an agreement that was signed back in 2022.

As a result of the agreement, the Ministry of the Environment led an expedition that identified half a dozen species of sharks and dolphins as well as over 300 species of birds that frequent the area.

To the...

President Abinader issued a decree instructing the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC) to update the Dominican Civil Aviation Law. The bill mainly focuses on the operation of drones that were not in existence when the 2006 aviation law was passed. The infractions could lead to up to three million pesos in fines.

The Presidency submitted a bill to the Senate with Amendments in the Civil Aviation Law 491-06. The draft law includes changes in order to regulate the use of drones in the Dominican Republic. The bill also includes new consequences for those who commit errors in air operations.

The bill would require that drone operators be licensed. At present, drones fall under the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC).

The bill calls for million-peso fines and even the cancellation of the permit to fly for operating a craft with vision that is not aided by another device...

The landmark arrival of scientists from the world-renowned Monaco Scientific Center (Centre Scientifique de Monaco or CSM) this April 2024 is aimed at improving knowledge of the coral reefs that are so important to the ecology of the Dominican Republic, Diario Libre reports.

The CSM is famous for its work on coral and coral reefs, and their scientists will be working with Dominican counterparts from the National Authority on Maritime Affairs. Their interests are concerning the health of the local coral reefs and the possible implications of any sort of climate change.

The visit by the CSM scientists comes after two years of work by the Dominican embassy in France and the Ministry of Foreign Relations.

The end game is to preserve the health of the coral reefs, which are a major attraction for the tourists that visit the country as...

The director of the National Health Service (SNS), Dr. Mario Lama is concerned for the future impact of the recent sentence handed down by the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) that orders the Ney Arias Lora Hospital to pay RD$10 million to a patient who sued the hospital for an infection caused the amputation of his right leg. The court ordered the compensation be paid by the Ministry of Hacienda.

Félix Julián Encarnación Féliz is a patient who in 2018 underwent an amputation of his right leg after being infected by a damaging bacteria during surgery at the Ney Arias Lora health center and sued the hospital, obtaining the sentence.

“The ruling undoubtedly creates a precedent, even a dangerous precedent. This was a case that occurred in 2016 and the amputation occurred in 2018. I do not know the case in detail, but there are always situations that increase the...

After more than a year of waiting, reporters from the Listin Diario newspaper were able to obtain the statistics regarding how many Dominicans have been deported over the past eight years. The number is 18,063 Dominicans, mostly men. The deported were returned to the Dominican Republic from nearly 80 different countries.

With the Dominican Republic in the sight of different human rights groups for its deportations of undocumented Haitian immigrants, it is interesting to see the list of crimes, such as immigration violations, and other circumstances that has brought about the deportations of so many Dominicans.

The returned Dominicans have been accused or sentenced for drug trafficking, illegal immigration, robbery, sex crimes, domestic violence, homicide, fraud, illegal weapon possession, human trafficking, terrorism, kidnapping, and visa violations.

The very long list...

On Friday, 12 April 2024, Le Moniteur, the official Haitian government gazette, published the decree that names the nine members (seven voting) of the Haiti Presidential Transitional Council. The council is tasked with choosing Haiti’s next acting prime minister/president and government cabinet. The move is seen by supporters as an important step to reverse the violence and chaos primarily in the Haitian capital now under the control of criminal gangs and the most impacted by the Haitian multidimensional crisis.

The council will be based at the Haitian National Palace and its mandate is supposed to end when a new president is sworn in, with no possibility of extension.

The next step is for the council to appoint the acting prime minister. The decree notes that incumbent Prime Minister Ariel Henry would complete his resignation once a new prime minister is appointed...

Under the coordination of the United States Embassy in Santo Domingo, an average of around five flights a day are arriving from Haiti bringing United States citizens to the Las Americas International Airport (SDQ), where they are able to take connecting flights to the United States. These helicopter flights originate in Port-au-Prince.

Each flight brings in a dozen or more persons, and these folks are processed at a special office that was set up by the US Embassy in the terminal where the necessary formalities of immigration are dealt with. All these efforts are coordinated with Dominican personnel, especially agents from the Civil Aviation Board (CAB).

The efforts have been appreciated by the government of the United States as expressed by the message from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to President Abinader recently. The US...

The Artibonito River is born in the Central Mountains of the Dominican Republic. It flows westward, through the province of Elias Piña, and in the tiny town of Banica on the Haitian border. It serves as the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic before heading across Haiti to the sea.

There is nothing except nature between the two countries at this point: no wall, no fences, and no controls. As reporters from the Diario Libre approached the river, troops from the Specialized Corps of Frontier Security (Cesfront) ordered them to stop and present identification. The ranking Cesfront official told the reporters to be careful down by the river since there were no controls whatsoever as to who might cross over.

Every Thursday, hundreds of people cross the river in makeshift canoes, or on foot or on motorcycle to attend the marketplace in Banica.

At the...

Haitian civilians, working on their side of the Masacre River have installed an earthen diversion dam for the waters of the Masacre River. The purpose of this improvised earthwork is to provide more water for the recently opened canal in Haiti that was built amid major controversy between the two nations.

Since the river is currently at a low level, the Haitians were able to use shovels to create a small earthen structure that effectively diverts more water into their canal.

According to the Listin Diario, Dominican military officials said that they could not interfere since all of the work was done on the Haitian side of the river.

On another level, Dominican authorities from the National Institute for Hydraulic Resources (Indrhi) told reporters that new electric pumps would be put into operation at the entrance to the La Vigia canal, and this would provide...

Military personnel from the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (Cesfront) and the Dominican Army redoubled security in the takeover of the La Vigía canal after Haitians mobilized on Thursday, 11 April 2024 in the morning taking actions to inject water from the Masacre River.

The foreigners approached the pumping system installed in the La Vigía canal, where they removed sand from an earthen cofferdam that the Dominican government had built to receive a greater amount of liquid from the tributary.

A source linked to the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (Indrhi) says testing of the electric pumps that will be replacing the provincial diesel-powered pumping system will begin on Monday, 15 April 2024. The electric pumps are installed given the higher cost of operating the diesel-powered system.

Read...

The Department of Migration is investigating the case of an inspector accused of raping a Haitian 14-year old when on duty.

Spokesman for the Presidency, Homero Figueroa said:“In this case, the Government of the Dominican Republic promised on Friday [12 April 2024] that the alleged rape of a Haitian minor by a migration agent in the middle of an operation against irregular migration in the east of the country will not go unpunished.”

“We are committed to using all available resources to identify and bring to justice those responsible for this shameful act,” the spokesman for the National Presidency, Homero Figueroa, said in a statement.

After regretting the events, which he described as “inadmissible,” Figueroa pointed out that respect for the rights of all inhabitants, nationals or foreigners of the Dominican Republic “must be an absolute priority.”...

Former Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez Sanchez began his defense on the first hearing on Friday, 12 April 2024. He has six days to present his defense to Judge Amauri Martinez of the Third Court of Instruction of the National District.

Jean Alain Rodríguez Sanchez was Attorney General from 2016 to 2020. He is accused of corruption, bribery and asset laundering for more than RD$6 billion.

Of 63 accused in the named Medusa Operation (41 individuals and 22 companies), 26 have pled guilty, including 17 individuals and nine companies. These say they were following instructions from the Attorney General.

Read more in Spanish:

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• Listin Diario

Things did not go as planned for Daneris Perez Espinal and she was arrested during the trial of her husband’s killer. Why? Because during the trial, evidence was presented that she was the one who had paid for the killing.

As new details of this crime that took place four years ago in 2020, come to light, it seems that the widow had paid RD$4 million to her nephew to find a hitman to do the killing. This information was released to the press by the lawyer representing the sister of the victim.

According to official statements, the prosecutors are carrying out their investigations because one of the persons involved is still at large, a nephew who was the person that would have contacted the hitman. It turns out that after his arrest in February, and as a result of his interrogations, the financial analysis of his bank accounts showed the RD$4 million deposit...

A Federal judge in Florida sentenced 73-year old former US Ambassador to Bolivia (2000-2002) Victor Manuel Rocha to 15 years in jail. The former US Department of State employee had served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995. Rocha has been sentenced for acting as an agent for the Cuban government.

Rocha served as acting ambassador in the Dominican Republic. After his appointment as US ambassador to Bolivia, Rocha was named president of the Canadian Barrick Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic in 2012.

Rocha also served as broker to sell coal from Colombia for the Punta Catalina coal-fired power plant owned and operated by the Dominican government.

Rocha had an impressive background. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He also was on the University of Miami’s International Advisory Board. At one time, Rocha also was a member of...