Claro to make big investments
Borrowing to pay the national debt
Ceara Hatton: RD runs the risk of getting its credit shut down
Look how the national debt has grown in leaps and bounds
Government calls 40,000 betting shops to legalize their status
Plan to clean up the country unfolds
Dominican Republic signs environmental agreement
XCoal chosen to supply coal to Punta Catalina
Luciano Nitrini Guidolin of Odebrecht did not visit
Request for dismissal of Frank Soto
PLD to hold meeting to decide primary format
Rape case involving former deputy minister to go to court
Banco Peravia case continues
“Once on this Island” at Acropolis Mall
Claro to make big investments
Daniel Hajj Aboumrad, CEO of América Móvil has said that over the next three years, Claro will invest US$1 billion in the Dominican Republic. He made the statement during a visit with President Danilo Medina at the Presidential Palace together with the CFO (chief financial officer) of the corporation, Carlos García Moreno and the president of Claro Dominicana, Rogelio Viesca.
During the meeting, Hajj Aboumrad highlighted that the Dominican Republic was one of the countries with the largest increase of data consumption per user and in order to maintain this growth and prepare for the challenges of technological evolution up to 5G, along with new applications, the company will invest US$1 billion over the next three years.
During the courtesy visit, President Medina was accompanied by the president of the Directive Board of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel), Henry Molina.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...mil-millones-de-dolares-en-proximos-tres-anos
Borrowing to pay the national debt
The director general of the National Budget Office, Luis Reyes Santos says that the US$1.44 billion (RD$75.5 billion) the government will borrow in 2019 will be used to cover the deficit and service the national debt. Reyes Santos said the borrowing would make it possible to not increase the net national debt, despite despite adding to the gross national debt. “We are taking on debt to pay liabilities. That is, our debt will not be increased in that proportion,” said the officer. He said the remainder of the funds will be used to pay for legal cases and international organizations.
The Medina administration announced a National Budget for RD$921.8 billion for next year, including RD$643.9 billion in current expenditures, RD$121.5 billion in capital investments and the remainder to pay towards the national public debt.
The National Budget is estimated a rate of RD$52.18 to the US$1.
An editorial in Diario Libre observes that for the RD$921.81 billion budget, the government says it needs to borrow RD$231.88 billion to cover the government deficit, or around 25% of the budget.
https://listindiario.com/economia/2...sto-seran-para-pagar-y-amortizar-otras-deudas
https://noticiassin.com/gobierno-contempla-aumentar-la-deuda-en-rd75525-4-millones-para-2019/
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...ones-para-completar-el-presupuesto-BJ10919181
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...ones-para-completar-el-presupuesto-BJ10919181
Ceara Hatton: RD runs the risk of getting its credit shut down
Economist Miguel Ceara Hatton warned that the country’s credit could be shut down given the accelerated indebtedness undertaken by the government. He highlighted that borrowing in capital markets is on the rise, and the proportion of interest in the tax revenues is rising, or at least not dropping. He said the country is on a collision route if the indebtedness is not stopped.
“Part of the interest is being paid with new debt, which is almost a Ponzi or a pyramid scheme,” he said. “It is a challenge because the high probability of credit crisis occurring,” he said, during an interview with journalists Addis Burgos and Pablo McKinney of Enfoque Matinal, on CDN TV Channel.
The Medina administration has the record of debt-taking of the governments of Joaquín Balaguer, Antonio Guzmán, Salvador Jorge Blanco, Leonel Fernández.
https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/10...corre-el-riesgo-de-que-le-cierren-el-credito/
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/en-directo/la-deuda-publica-
Look how the national debt has grown in leaps and bounds
Former member of the Monetary Board, economist Eduardo García Michel, writes in an op-ed feature in Diario Libre that “the government has opted to transfer to the future belt-tightening of bellies inflated by additional borrowing.” “Their heads use this instrument for a comfortable time in power, by delaying changes that are needed,” he writes.
“Debt has a delayed, but real political cost,” he writes. “By the time the public perceives the debt, it’s too late. And when this occurs, future generations will be strapped with having to navigate a problematic and painful macroeconomic adjustment program. The political cost is transferred to the subsequent administrations, with the social cost fully absorbed by the population”, he writes. He explains borrowing is a kind of escape valve for governments and is frequently used as a means to finance lavish public service program that dupe the population into believing that the government is performing well and thus should remain in power.
He says there are few leaders who have been able to generate domestic savings to carry out public investments. García Michel recalls the days of President Joaquín Balaguer, a strong believer in balancing the budget. He knew it could lead to a loss of sovereignty. He also recalls President Antonio Guzmán, accustomed from his days as a private businessman to more or less balance accounts. And in less measure, he says President Salvador Jorge Blanco was tied to the demands of the agreements signed with the IMF. He said these three administrations were able to have savings that would be used for capital investments.
But the federal governments that have followed have instead increased current spending, essentially ended savings and used debt to cover the bloated current spending and diminishing capital investment. He said the turnaround was when as of 2001, instead of obtaining financing from bilateral sources and multilateral organizations, the governors discovered the mechanism of borrowing sovereign bonds with their reduced checks and without having to make a counterpart payment.
“The idea was not to improve the economy, but to inject it with steroids with an eye toward reelection,” he explains. “There were resources to invest in visible projects that would catapult the constitutional reform. The contrition argument was to add the “never ever” tagline, after the second period.”
García Michel adds: “Thus the total debt of the Non-Financial Public Debt went from US$4.14 billion in 2000 to US$7.37 billion in 2004, a 78% expansion.” This was during the Hipólito Mejía administration.
The administrations that followed would do more of the same. García Michel explains. “Successive governments took this new trail and turned it into a four lane highway, reforming the Constitution to facilitate this reckless monetary policy,” he writes.
As a result, the country saw how in the two consecutive periods of the Leonel Fernández government that would follow, the national debt rose to US$19.46 billion.
But Garcia Michel highlights that the biggest fiscal imbalance would occur in 2012, with a historical deficit that would herald the arrival of ruling party candidate, Danilo Medina. From 2012 to 2016, during the Medina government, the debt would increase from US$19.46 billion to US$29.54 billion in 2016, a 51.8% increase.
“And it has continued to grow,” writes García Michel. As of July 2018, it is at US$31.4 billion.
He observes that the quasi-fiscal debt of the Central Bank began with the local banking crisis, was reduced when the assets were cashed in. But what started at US$414 million in 2000 became US$1.3 billion in 2004; US$5.47 billion in 2008; US$6.67 billion in 2012; US$8.21 billion in 2016 and US$9.34 billion by July 2018.
He concludes:
In short, sooner rather than later we will have to stop this crazy federal debt race to the bottom and return to the basic principles of macroeconomic management, which are not different from those used to manage a company or personal finances: sobriety, balance of accounts, rationalization of the spending. And a large, very large dose of responsibility.”
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/en-directo/la-deuda-publica-
Government calls 40,000 betting shops to legalize their status
The Medina administration is open to legalize all the betting shops nationwide. An article in Diario Libre speculates that the government desires the tax revenues that these betting parlors could generate and thus is authorizing their formal legal status.
The betting shops represent is one of the largest industries in the country and most of them are operating illegally, while the government turns a blind eye to all the negatives these bring to Dominican society.
Now, a bill has been proposed that would authorize the legalization of these clandestine betting shops, and offering those shops that register in the first quarter of 2019 to pay RD$200,000, while those that register in the second and third quarters would pay RD$250,000 and RD$300,000, respectively.
According to the executive director of the National Federation of Betting Shops (Fenabanca), Michel Dicent, has said there are around 40,000 betting shops operating illegally nationwide, as reported in Diario Libre. The bill establishes that betting shops that do not regularize their status by the established deadline will be considered to having committed tax fraud and thus be subject to penalties outlined in the Tax Code and the Asset Laundering Law.
An editorial in Diario Libre on 3 October 2018 criticizes government borrowing to cover the deficit and the government’s decision to legalize more betting shops. “In search of resources everywhere, the government will authorize more betting banks in the national territory. That is, instead of boosting employment, offering facilities to formalize companies, the only thing that the authorities can come up with is to encourage gambling in a country where the poor are the ones who pay the highest “taxes on hope."
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...briran-puerta-a-mas-bancas-loteria-OK10922480
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/editorial/presupuesto-malefico-KK10926509
Plan to clean up the country unfolds
The National Plan for the Integral Management of Solid Waste (Dominicana Limpia) has handed over the first 100 sets of equipment to different city halls and municipal districts in the country for their work in prevention, cleaning and landscaping of public areas.
The first donation of 392 packages, under the direction of Johnny Jones at a cost RD$62 million, and included chain saws, blowers, hoses, lawnmowers, protective clothing, gloves, fumigators and others.
Jones said that the program is for real and RD$500 million has been allocated to fund the work over the next year.
The brigades began in Villa Altagracia and from there would move to Verón (La Altagracia), Santiago and San Francisco de Macorís.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...pia-entrega-equipos-para-limpieza-a-alcaldias
Dominican Republic signs environmental agreement
As part of its participation in the United Nations General Assembly, the Dominican Republic on 27 September 2018 signed the Escazú Agreement. Other regional nations that have signed are Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia and Uruguay.
This treaty enacts binding provisions for States to equip their citizens with information, judicial corrections and spaces for public participation in environmental matters concerning them. The Escazú Agreement’s official name is the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters.
The Latin America and Caribbean region is home to numerous multifaceted conflicts involving communities opposing business and government interest that threaten their environment, livelihoods and ancestral lands. Global Witness reports that Latin America and the Caribbean consistently has the highest number of murders of environmental defenders in the world.
The Escazú Agreement’s objective is to address these problems following Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration: rights of access to environmental information, public participation in the environmental decision-making process and access to justice in environmental matters.
The Regional Agreement was adopted on 4 March 2018 in Escazú by 24 nations and almost two thirds of them have already signed the treaty.
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-...ribbean-countries-sign-historic-treaty-giving
XCoal chosen to supply coal to Punta Catalina
XCoal, headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA, was awarded the contract to supply coal to Punta Catalina. The company specializes in integrating systems to deliver coal from all origins to customers around the world. The source of the coal was not announced. The company is contracted to supply 462,000 metric tons for the 720MW Punta Catalina coal-fired power plant.
Jaime Aristy for Punta Catalina and Ruben Jimenez Bichara for the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) made the announcement. Aristy has announced that the Punta Catalina coal-fired power will begin tests in November and would begin supplying power to the grid in March 2019.
Luciano Nitrini Guidolin of Odebrecht did not visit
The Presidency never confirmed or disputed claims that the CEO of the Brazilian construction firm, Odebrecht, Luciano Nitrini Guidolin, would visit Santo Domingo on 1 October 2018, for a meeting with President Danilo Medina. The announcement had been made by the National Committee to Combat Climate Change (CNLCC), as reported in Acento.com.do
He was due to arrive at 4pm to the Las Americas International Airport and make his way to the National Palace. But apparently, this never happened.
https://acento.com.do/2018/ecologia/...afirma-comite/
Request for dismissal of Frank Soto
The career judges are backing the request made by the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus) and another twelve institutions of civil society and businesses for the election of a new representative for the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM). This is the second time they have asked for the plenary session to be held in order to replace judge Frank Soto Sánchez.
Judges from the National District, La Vega, Santiago and San Francisco de Macorís, sent a note on Tuesday, 2 October 2018 to the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Mariano Germán Mejía, confirming their support for the letter sent by Servio Tulio Castaños, vice president of Finjus, on the 25 of September 2018 that calls for the dismissal of Soto Sánchez as a representative of the judges as the latter is not a career judge.
In June 2017, the judges also asked for the plenary session to be held to substitute Soto Sánchez.
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...onsejo-nacional-de-la-magistratura-LK10923796
https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/10...el-cnm-elija-jueces-que-gocen-de-legitimidad/
https://www.metrord.do/do/destacado...-cnm-escogidos-al-margen-la-constitucion.html
https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/10/02/panorama/pais/cnm-decide-hoy-metodo-de-proceso/
PLD to hold meeting to decide primary format
The Political Committee of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) decided on Monday night, 1 October 2018, to call a meeting of the Central Committee to determine the mechanism to choose the presidential candidate of the party.
Reinaldo Pared Pérez, president of the Senate and General Secretary of the PLD announced that the meeting would be on 27 October at 10am.
In addition, a commission was formed headed by Pared Pérez, and made up of Miriam Cabral, Ramón (Monchy) Fadul, Radhamés Jiménez, Alejandrina Germán and Danilo Díaz, to prepare the outline for the meeting.
At the meeting of the Political Committee of the PLD, 27 of the 34 members were present. Santiago mayor, Abel Martínez, Felucho Jiménez, vice president Margarita Cedeño, Cándido Bidó Medina, Radhamés Jiménez, César Pina Toribio and José Tomás Pérez were not present at the meeting.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...dira-su-metodo-de-primarias-el-27-de-este-mes
Rape case involving former deputy minister to go to court
According to a press release, issued by the Attorney General’s Office, the legal case against the former deputy minister of Youth, Odalis Ledesma Hernández, will proceed. Ledesma is accused of the rape of Canadian citizen Joanna Linda Kocsis.
He was dismissed from his post and now, by means of presidential decree 340-18 he has lost his judicial privilege and will be tried as a member of the public.
His case is now under the auspices of the National District Prosecutor and they are continuing with investigations as outlined by law.
The investigators have asked the Canadian authorities to provide the rape kit taken from the victim, Linda Joanna Kocsis that is currently at the Women’s College Hospital in Canada as well as the formal statement she gave to the Niagara Police in Canada.
The events took place on 26 June 2017 when Kocsis sent the Dominican ambassador in Canada a letter saying she had been the victim of rape by Odalis Ledesma Hernández.
Judge Solange Vasquez, of the Fourth Court of Instruction of the National District, has been assigned the case. Prosecutors have six months to present the accusations. Ledesma is out on bail.
Local prosecutors began an investigation after the Dominican Embassy in Canada reported the occurrence. The victim had sent a letter dated 26 June 2017 to the Dominican Embassy in Canada explaining the case.
https://elnacional.com.do/expedient...a-canadiense-sera-declinado-a-la-fiscalia-dn/
https://noticiassin.com/expediente-exviceministro-imputado-por-abuso-sexual-sera-declinado-al-dn/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sex-assault-dominican-republic-1.4843351
https://eldia.com.do/tribunal-apoderado-caso-exviceminstro/
Banco Peravia case continues
One of those implicated in the fraud committed at Banco Peravia, who reached an agreement with National District prosecutors, has admitted that the bank issued irregular checks to commit fraud, some signed by him, but it was not for themselves but for the executives of the bank.
Pausides Donato Morales, one of the court witnesses, where the case is being tried involving fraud of more than RD$1.4 billion, admitted that he recruited clients for the bank and was the beneficiary of a RD$4 million loan.
Under questioning by National District prosecutor, Rosalba Ramos Castillo, Donato Morales said that he began working for the bank in 2013, following an invitation by José Luis Santoro, one of the main owners.
In the six hearings held so far at the trial only 12 of the prosecution witnesses have been heard out of a total of 179.
According to lawyer Zacarías Payano, who is handling the defense of the accused Yesenia Serret, explained that of those witnesses who had appeared so far, they had all said that those responsible for the irregularities committed at Banco Peravia were José Luis Santoro and Gabriel Jiménez Aray.
Diario Libre reported that none of the 10 originally accused by prosecutors for the Banco Peravia fraud case are in jail.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...-caso-peravia-llega-a-un-acuerdo-con-fiscalia
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...preso-por-fraude-del-banco-peravia-OK10925487
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...10-acusados-en-caso-banco-peravia-FBdl1212241
“Once on this Island” at Acropolis Mall
Studio Theater at the Acropolis Mall in Santo Domingo presents the Dominican version of the Broadway musical “Once on This Island”. The one-act musical is based on the 1985 novel “My Love, My Love” by Rosa Guy. It is set in the French Caribbean and tells the story of a peasant girl who uses the power of love to bring together people of different social classes. It merges elements of the Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet story and Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” fairy tale. A revival of the play opened on 3 December 2017 in Broadway, New York.
In the Dominican version, “Una vez en esta isla,” the main roles are by Clara González and Alanna Cabrera.
The local productions will be Saturdays and Sundays, 13-14 October and 20-21 October 2018. Tickets for RD$1,000-RD$2,150 are for sale online at Ticket Express.
Borrowing to pay the national debt
Ceara Hatton: RD runs the risk of getting its credit shut down
Look how the national debt has grown in leaps and bounds
Government calls 40,000 betting shops to legalize their status
Plan to clean up the country unfolds
Dominican Republic signs environmental agreement
XCoal chosen to supply coal to Punta Catalina
Luciano Nitrini Guidolin of Odebrecht did not visit
Request for dismissal of Frank Soto
PLD to hold meeting to decide primary format
Rape case involving former deputy minister to go to court
Banco Peravia case continues
“Once on this Island” at Acropolis Mall
Claro to make big investments
Daniel Hajj Aboumrad, CEO of América Móvil has said that over the next three years, Claro will invest US$1 billion in the Dominican Republic. He made the statement during a visit with President Danilo Medina at the Presidential Palace together with the CFO (chief financial officer) of the corporation, Carlos García Moreno and the president of Claro Dominicana, Rogelio Viesca.
During the meeting, Hajj Aboumrad highlighted that the Dominican Republic was one of the countries with the largest increase of data consumption per user and in order to maintain this growth and prepare for the challenges of technological evolution up to 5G, along with new applications, the company will invest US$1 billion over the next three years.
During the courtesy visit, President Medina was accompanied by the president of the Directive Board of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel), Henry Molina.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...mil-millones-de-dolares-en-proximos-tres-anos
Borrowing to pay the national debt
The director general of the National Budget Office, Luis Reyes Santos says that the US$1.44 billion (RD$75.5 billion) the government will borrow in 2019 will be used to cover the deficit and service the national debt. Reyes Santos said the borrowing would make it possible to not increase the net national debt, despite despite adding to the gross national debt. “We are taking on debt to pay liabilities. That is, our debt will not be increased in that proportion,” said the officer. He said the remainder of the funds will be used to pay for legal cases and international organizations.
The Medina administration announced a National Budget for RD$921.8 billion for next year, including RD$643.9 billion in current expenditures, RD$121.5 billion in capital investments and the remainder to pay towards the national public debt.
The National Budget is estimated a rate of RD$52.18 to the US$1.
An editorial in Diario Libre observes that for the RD$921.81 billion budget, the government says it needs to borrow RD$231.88 billion to cover the government deficit, or around 25% of the budget.
https://listindiario.com/economia/2...sto-seran-para-pagar-y-amortizar-otras-deudas
https://noticiassin.com/gobierno-contempla-aumentar-la-deuda-en-rd75525-4-millones-para-2019/
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...ones-para-completar-el-presupuesto-BJ10919181
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...ones-para-completar-el-presupuesto-BJ10919181
Ceara Hatton: RD runs the risk of getting its credit shut down
Economist Miguel Ceara Hatton warned that the country’s credit could be shut down given the accelerated indebtedness undertaken by the government. He highlighted that borrowing in capital markets is on the rise, and the proportion of interest in the tax revenues is rising, or at least not dropping. He said the country is on a collision route if the indebtedness is not stopped.
“Part of the interest is being paid with new debt, which is almost a Ponzi or a pyramid scheme,” he said. “It is a challenge because the high probability of credit crisis occurring,” he said, during an interview with journalists Addis Burgos and Pablo McKinney of Enfoque Matinal, on CDN TV Channel.
The Medina administration has the record of debt-taking of the governments of Joaquín Balaguer, Antonio Guzmán, Salvador Jorge Blanco, Leonel Fernández.
https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/10...corre-el-riesgo-de-que-le-cierren-el-credito/
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/en-directo/la-deuda-publica-
Look how the national debt has grown in leaps and bounds
Former member of the Monetary Board, economist Eduardo García Michel, writes in an op-ed feature in Diario Libre that “the government has opted to transfer to the future belt-tightening of bellies inflated by additional borrowing.” “Their heads use this instrument for a comfortable time in power, by delaying changes that are needed,” he writes.
“Debt has a delayed, but real political cost,” he writes. “By the time the public perceives the debt, it’s too late. And when this occurs, future generations will be strapped with having to navigate a problematic and painful macroeconomic adjustment program. The political cost is transferred to the subsequent administrations, with the social cost fully absorbed by the population”, he writes. He explains borrowing is a kind of escape valve for governments and is frequently used as a means to finance lavish public service program that dupe the population into believing that the government is performing well and thus should remain in power.
He says there are few leaders who have been able to generate domestic savings to carry out public investments. García Michel recalls the days of President Joaquín Balaguer, a strong believer in balancing the budget. He knew it could lead to a loss of sovereignty. He also recalls President Antonio Guzmán, accustomed from his days as a private businessman to more or less balance accounts. And in less measure, he says President Salvador Jorge Blanco was tied to the demands of the agreements signed with the IMF. He said these three administrations were able to have savings that would be used for capital investments.
But the federal governments that have followed have instead increased current spending, essentially ended savings and used debt to cover the bloated current spending and diminishing capital investment. He said the turnaround was when as of 2001, instead of obtaining financing from bilateral sources and multilateral organizations, the governors discovered the mechanism of borrowing sovereign bonds with their reduced checks and without having to make a counterpart payment.
“The idea was not to improve the economy, but to inject it with steroids with an eye toward reelection,” he explains. “There were resources to invest in visible projects that would catapult the constitutional reform. The contrition argument was to add the “never ever” tagline, after the second period.”
García Michel adds: “Thus the total debt of the Non-Financial Public Debt went from US$4.14 billion in 2000 to US$7.37 billion in 2004, a 78% expansion.” This was during the Hipólito Mejía administration.
The administrations that followed would do more of the same. García Michel explains. “Successive governments took this new trail and turned it into a four lane highway, reforming the Constitution to facilitate this reckless monetary policy,” he writes.
As a result, the country saw how in the two consecutive periods of the Leonel Fernández government that would follow, the national debt rose to US$19.46 billion.
But Garcia Michel highlights that the biggest fiscal imbalance would occur in 2012, with a historical deficit that would herald the arrival of ruling party candidate, Danilo Medina. From 2012 to 2016, during the Medina government, the debt would increase from US$19.46 billion to US$29.54 billion in 2016, a 51.8% increase.
“And it has continued to grow,” writes García Michel. As of July 2018, it is at US$31.4 billion.
He observes that the quasi-fiscal debt of the Central Bank began with the local banking crisis, was reduced when the assets were cashed in. But what started at US$414 million in 2000 became US$1.3 billion in 2004; US$5.47 billion in 2008; US$6.67 billion in 2012; US$8.21 billion in 2016 and US$9.34 billion by July 2018.
He concludes:
In short, sooner rather than later we will have to stop this crazy federal debt race to the bottom and return to the basic principles of macroeconomic management, which are not different from those used to manage a company or personal finances: sobriety, balance of accounts, rationalization of the spending. And a large, very large dose of responsibility.”
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/en-directo/la-deuda-publica-
Government calls 40,000 betting shops to legalize their status
The Medina administration is open to legalize all the betting shops nationwide. An article in Diario Libre speculates that the government desires the tax revenues that these betting parlors could generate and thus is authorizing their formal legal status.
The betting shops represent is one of the largest industries in the country and most of them are operating illegally, while the government turns a blind eye to all the negatives these bring to Dominican society.
Now, a bill has been proposed that would authorize the legalization of these clandestine betting shops, and offering those shops that register in the first quarter of 2019 to pay RD$200,000, while those that register in the second and third quarters would pay RD$250,000 and RD$300,000, respectively.
According to the executive director of the National Federation of Betting Shops (Fenabanca), Michel Dicent, has said there are around 40,000 betting shops operating illegally nationwide, as reported in Diario Libre. The bill establishes that betting shops that do not regularize their status by the established deadline will be considered to having committed tax fraud and thus be subject to penalties outlined in the Tax Code and the Asset Laundering Law.
An editorial in Diario Libre on 3 October 2018 criticizes government borrowing to cover the deficit and the government’s decision to legalize more betting shops. “In search of resources everywhere, the government will authorize more betting banks in the national territory. That is, instead of boosting employment, offering facilities to formalize companies, the only thing that the authorities can come up with is to encourage gambling in a country where the poor are the ones who pay the highest “taxes on hope."
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...briran-puerta-a-mas-bancas-loteria-OK10922480
https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/editorial/presupuesto-malefico-KK10926509
Plan to clean up the country unfolds
The National Plan for the Integral Management of Solid Waste (Dominicana Limpia) has handed over the first 100 sets of equipment to different city halls and municipal districts in the country for their work in prevention, cleaning and landscaping of public areas.
The first donation of 392 packages, under the direction of Johnny Jones at a cost RD$62 million, and included chain saws, blowers, hoses, lawnmowers, protective clothing, gloves, fumigators and others.
Jones said that the program is for real and RD$500 million has been allocated to fund the work over the next year.
The brigades began in Villa Altagracia and from there would move to Verón (La Altagracia), Santiago and San Francisco de Macorís.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...pia-entrega-equipos-para-limpieza-a-alcaldias
Dominican Republic signs environmental agreement
As part of its participation in the United Nations General Assembly, the Dominican Republic on 27 September 2018 signed the Escazú Agreement. Other regional nations that have signed are Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia and Uruguay.
This treaty enacts binding provisions for States to equip their citizens with information, judicial corrections and spaces for public participation in environmental matters concerning them. The Escazú Agreement’s official name is the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters.
The Latin America and Caribbean region is home to numerous multifaceted conflicts involving communities opposing business and government interest that threaten their environment, livelihoods and ancestral lands. Global Witness reports that Latin America and the Caribbean consistently has the highest number of murders of environmental defenders in the world.
The Escazú Agreement’s objective is to address these problems following Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration: rights of access to environmental information, public participation in the environmental decision-making process and access to justice in environmental matters.
The Regional Agreement was adopted on 4 March 2018 in Escazú by 24 nations and almost two thirds of them have already signed the treaty.
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-...ribbean-countries-sign-historic-treaty-giving
XCoal chosen to supply coal to Punta Catalina
XCoal, headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA, was awarded the contract to supply coal to Punta Catalina. The company specializes in integrating systems to deliver coal from all origins to customers around the world. The source of the coal was not announced. The company is contracted to supply 462,000 metric tons for the 720MW Punta Catalina coal-fired power plant.
Jaime Aristy for Punta Catalina and Ruben Jimenez Bichara for the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) made the announcement. Aristy has announced that the Punta Catalina coal-fired power will begin tests in November and would begin supplying power to the grid in March 2019.
Luciano Nitrini Guidolin of Odebrecht did not visit
The Presidency never confirmed or disputed claims that the CEO of the Brazilian construction firm, Odebrecht, Luciano Nitrini Guidolin, would visit Santo Domingo on 1 October 2018, for a meeting with President Danilo Medina. The announcement had been made by the National Committee to Combat Climate Change (CNLCC), as reported in Acento.com.do
He was due to arrive at 4pm to the Las Americas International Airport and make his way to the National Palace. But apparently, this never happened.
https://acento.com.do/2018/ecologia/...afirma-comite/
Request for dismissal of Frank Soto
The career judges are backing the request made by the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus) and another twelve institutions of civil society and businesses for the election of a new representative for the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM). This is the second time they have asked for the plenary session to be held in order to replace judge Frank Soto Sánchez.
Judges from the National District, La Vega, Santiago and San Francisco de Macorís, sent a note on Tuesday, 2 October 2018 to the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Mariano Germán Mejía, confirming their support for the letter sent by Servio Tulio Castaños, vice president of Finjus, on the 25 of September 2018 that calls for the dismissal of Soto Sánchez as a representative of the judges as the latter is not a career judge.
In June 2017, the judges also asked for the plenary session to be held to substitute Soto Sánchez.
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...onsejo-nacional-de-la-magistratura-LK10923796
https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/10...el-cnm-elija-jueces-que-gocen-de-legitimidad/
https://www.metrord.do/do/destacado...-cnm-escogidos-al-margen-la-constitucion.html
https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/10/02/panorama/pais/cnm-decide-hoy-metodo-de-proceso/
PLD to hold meeting to decide primary format
The Political Committee of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) decided on Monday night, 1 October 2018, to call a meeting of the Central Committee to determine the mechanism to choose the presidential candidate of the party.
Reinaldo Pared Pérez, president of the Senate and General Secretary of the PLD announced that the meeting would be on 27 October at 10am.
In addition, a commission was formed headed by Pared Pérez, and made up of Miriam Cabral, Ramón (Monchy) Fadul, Radhamés Jiménez, Alejandrina Germán and Danilo Díaz, to prepare the outline for the meeting.
At the meeting of the Political Committee of the PLD, 27 of the 34 members were present. Santiago mayor, Abel Martínez, Felucho Jiménez, vice president Margarita Cedeño, Cándido Bidó Medina, Radhamés Jiménez, César Pina Toribio and José Tomás Pérez were not present at the meeting.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...dira-su-metodo-de-primarias-el-27-de-este-mes
Rape case involving former deputy minister to go to court
According to a press release, issued by the Attorney General’s Office, the legal case against the former deputy minister of Youth, Odalis Ledesma Hernández, will proceed. Ledesma is accused of the rape of Canadian citizen Joanna Linda Kocsis.
He was dismissed from his post and now, by means of presidential decree 340-18 he has lost his judicial privilege and will be tried as a member of the public.
His case is now under the auspices of the National District Prosecutor and they are continuing with investigations as outlined by law.
The investigators have asked the Canadian authorities to provide the rape kit taken from the victim, Linda Joanna Kocsis that is currently at the Women’s College Hospital in Canada as well as the formal statement she gave to the Niagara Police in Canada.
The events took place on 26 June 2017 when Kocsis sent the Dominican ambassador in Canada a letter saying she had been the victim of rape by Odalis Ledesma Hernández.
Judge Solange Vasquez, of the Fourth Court of Instruction of the National District, has been assigned the case. Prosecutors have six months to present the accusations. Ledesma is out on bail.
Local prosecutors began an investigation after the Dominican Embassy in Canada reported the occurrence. The victim had sent a letter dated 26 June 2017 to the Dominican Embassy in Canada explaining the case.
https://elnacional.com.do/expedient...a-canadiense-sera-declinado-a-la-fiscalia-dn/
https://noticiassin.com/expediente-exviceministro-imputado-por-abuso-sexual-sera-declinado-al-dn/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sex-assault-dominican-republic-1.4843351
https://eldia.com.do/tribunal-apoderado-caso-exviceminstro/
Banco Peravia case continues
One of those implicated in the fraud committed at Banco Peravia, who reached an agreement with National District prosecutors, has admitted that the bank issued irregular checks to commit fraud, some signed by him, but it was not for themselves but for the executives of the bank.
Pausides Donato Morales, one of the court witnesses, where the case is being tried involving fraud of more than RD$1.4 billion, admitted that he recruited clients for the bank and was the beneficiary of a RD$4 million loan.
Under questioning by National District prosecutor, Rosalba Ramos Castillo, Donato Morales said that he began working for the bank in 2013, following an invitation by José Luis Santoro, one of the main owners.
In the six hearings held so far at the trial only 12 of the prosecution witnesses have been heard out of a total of 179.
According to lawyer Zacarías Payano, who is handling the defense of the accused Yesenia Serret, explained that of those witnesses who had appeared so far, they had all said that those responsible for the irregularities committed at Banco Peravia were José Luis Santoro and Gabriel Jiménez Aray.
Diario Libre reported that none of the 10 originally accused by prosecutors for the Banco Peravia fraud case are in jail.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...-caso-peravia-llega-a-un-acuerdo-con-fiscalia
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...preso-por-fraude-del-banco-peravia-OK10925487
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...10-acusados-en-caso-banco-peravia-FBdl1212241
“Once on this Island” at Acropolis Mall
Studio Theater at the Acropolis Mall in Santo Domingo presents the Dominican version of the Broadway musical “Once on This Island”. The one-act musical is based on the 1985 novel “My Love, My Love” by Rosa Guy. It is set in the French Caribbean and tells the story of a peasant girl who uses the power of love to bring together people of different social classes. It merges elements of the Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet story and Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” fairy tale. A revival of the play opened on 3 December 2017 in Broadway, New York.
In the Dominican version, “Una vez en esta isla,” the main roles are by Clara González and Alanna Cabrera.
The local productions will be Saturdays and Sundays, 13-14 October and 20-21 October 2018. Tickets for RD$1,000-RD$2,150 are for sale online at Ticket Express.