DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

On 6 December 2023, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) officially started the electoral campaign for the municipal elections. 3,849 positions will be decided, including 158 city mayor positions. The election is set for 18 February 2023, the third Sunday in the month, as mandated by Electoral Law 20-23.

The Central Electoral Board says the electoral campaign closes at midnight on Thursday, 15 February 2024, to give voters time to reflect before they vote.

On 18 February 2024, citizens will vote for mayors, councilors and municipal officers as presented by 44 recognized political organizations, alliances, coalitions and support movements.

The JCE calls for political parties, groups and movements and the different candidates to carry out their activities observing the ethical standards of the electoral campaign and the resolutions provided for campaign events, propaganda...

According to the recent poll by CID Latinoamerica, President Luis Abinader would win the 2024 presidential election in the first round with 54% of the votes. The same poll reveals that if the elections were held on the day of the poll, former three-term President Leonel Fernández, running for the Fuerza del Pueblo, would receive 29%, and Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) candidate, Santiago Mayor Abel Martínez, would receive 15%.

CID Latinoamerica carried out the poll from 20 to 28 November 2023, using a representative sample of the country’s adult population and interviewing 1,200 people face-to-face in their homes. People were asked who they would vote for on that given day.

The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 points, calculated with a 95% confidence level.

The poll shows that Luis Abinader has a favorable opinion equal to 61% and an...

The Ministry of Public Works officially inaugurated the expansion from two to eight lanes of the Coronel Rafael Tomás Fernández Domínguez Avenue (San Isidro Highway) in Santo Domingo East, Santo Domingo province. The Abinader administration announced this is a RD$2.45 billion investment.

President Luis Abinader was present for the ribbon-cutting. Public Works Minister Deligne Ascención, Santo Domingo East Mayor Manuel Jiménez, and Santo Domingo province Senator Antonio Taveras, were also present.

The remodeling covered eight kilometers, from Charles de Gaulle to Hípica Avenue, to the entrance to the San Isidro Air Base. The Ministry of Public Works said that works are advanced at the interconnecting Hípica avenue that will also be inaugurated soon.

Read more in...

Education Minister Angel Hernandez announced on 6 December 2023 that the government has contracted insurance for school properties. “When any phenomenon occurs and the schools are affected, it will not be a problem,” said Hernandez. This means the cash will be rapidly available to repair the schools promptly.

Hernandez also says that “all students in the public system are also being insured against any incident that may occur inside and on their way to the educational center.”

The Minister of Education did not say if the schools were insured with the government-owned Banco de Reservas insurance company or a private firm.

Hernandez also announced that in 2024 the textbooks published by the Ministry of Education for public school students will be free for private schools that request these.

Read more in...

The National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) concluded its assessments of 115 candidates to the positions of five Constitutional Court judges that are retiring this December 2023. Once the Constitutional Court has appointed its full 13 judges, the CNM will select the presiding judge of the court to replace retiring Milton Ray Guevara. The presiding judge can be appointed from among the five new judges or the eight remaining in their positions.

Constitutional law expert, Cristobal Rodriguez Gomez writes in Diario Libre that the presiding judge needs to be capable of strong leadership and with the talent to bring about consensus among the judges.

The Constitutional Court has admitted 8,634 cases of which 6,931 have been decided. The vote of two-thirds of the 13 judges is needed for the case decisions. The Constitutional Court rules on issues...

Rigoberto Antonio Rosario Guerrero used his turn to explain his background to protest actions by judges in the system. He complained that judges are regularly abusing the use of preventive custody and regularly violate the 48-hour period to incriminate a person.

He praised the Constitutional Court and said it was the last resort for penal cases. He expressed his concern that many judges were aspiring to the positions and alerted against what he called the judicialization of the Constitutional Court, or that it be made up of a majority of judges.

Rosario Guerrero described himself as a penal lawyer and writer on constitutional and penal matters. He criticized the large number of active judges that had applied for positions in the Constitutional Court.

He went further and then stated that the National Council of the Magistracy, member judge Luis Henry...

The Abinader administration has included the US$775 million advance payment in the renegotiated Aerodom/Vinci Airports contract in the 2024 National Budget. The budget needs to be passed this month.

The ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) majority in the Chamber of Deputies fast-tracked the Aerodom/Vinci contract with the extra cash for the budget and approved it. The contract moved to the Senate that says it will be sent to committee on Tuesday, 12 December 2023.

To prepare the way for the fast-tracked passing of the 30-year extension of the airport management contract, the Presidency submitted a bill that passed in Congress, enabling the government to circumvent previously binding dispositions.

Opposition spokespeople and others question the rush. The contract does not expire until 2030.

Opcion Democratica deputy Jose Horacio Rodriguez says...

Residents in La Romana’s Casa de Campo gated community thought they were doing good to their finances and the environment at the same time when installing solar panels. Yet Costasur, the management company, sent out legal summons to around 100 owners indicating for the first time that there would be a cost. For the residents, the high cost would eliminate the advantage of the solar panels.

Residents have protested. Representatives also contest that the power charge of RD$16 per kilowatt is more than two times the payback they would receive for supplying power to the Casa de Campo grid. Casa de Campo says they are acting within the established country regulations.

Representatives have taken their case to the Superintendence of Electricity for intermediation.

In Casa de Campo the power is served by a company owned by the Central Romana, the mother company of Casa de...

The freight truck driver involved in a major crash in Haina, San Cristobal when transporting cement for a San Cristobal hardware store, was ordered to serve three months preventive custody in the La Romana jail for security purposes. The victims were from San Cristobal.

State prosecutors accuse Camilo Confesor Terrero of reckless driving. The speeding truck collided into a commuter bus and at least 14 people have died as a result.

Read more in Spanish:

• Noticias SIN

The Collegiate Court of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the province of Samaná issued a five-year prison sentence against former Las Terrenas Mayor Jose Mercedes Martinez Emeterio. The Public Ministry had accused Martinez Emeterio of committing embezzlement to the detriment of the City Council of the municipality and the Dominican state.

Judges Edward José Soto Soto, Luz Mariel Santos Alonzo, and Dilcia de Peña Green also sentenced the then Las Terrenas treasurer, Willis Alberto Vilorio Sarante with three years in jail, for his participation in this embezzlement.

The accusations against these men were presented by the Public Ministry on 28 April 2015, as a result of a complaint filed against the former mayor by the councilors of the Municipal City Council of Las Terrenas for multiple violations of the laws. and diversion of public funds...

The Second Collegiate Court of La Vega sentenced a Canadian couple for sex crimes involving children in the Dominican Republic. The case was prepared by the Unit for Comprehensive Attention to Victims of Gender, Intrafamily or Sexual Crimes of the Public Ministry of La Vega.

The case dates back to 2021 when a mother of a 9-year old found disturbing evidence in a cell phone the Canadians had gifted to her son.

As reported, 35-year old Canadians Adam Eric Pepper and his wife Tracee Lynne Plett were living in El Mirador, Jarabacoa in the central province of La Vega, Dominican Republic, working as missionaries for the Ontario-based Commission To Every Nation Canada.

When cops raided the Peppers’ home in April 2021, they seized USB flash drives, an expensive camera and accessories, high-definition recording equipment, and an...

The Dominican Republic for the first time will be in the Concacaf Gold Cup prelims. The Dominican girls defeated the more experienced Bermuda on Wednesday, 6 December 2023 in San Cristobal for a chance to compete in the 2024 Concacaf Gold Cup.

In the game against Bermuda that was played on Tuesday, 5 December 2023 at the Pan American Stadium in San Cristobal, Dominican players Alyssa Oviedo and Mía Asenjo scored the two goals for the Dominican team. Alyssa Oviedo scored the goal that gave the Dominican victory.

The Dominican Republic won its group with 15 points, while Bermuda took second place, with 13.

The Group stage players for the 2024 Conccaf Gold Cup are the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay.

Participating in the Prelims are Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Haiti, Guyana, El Salvador, and the Dominican...

Playing in Miami, Florida, Moca Football Club of the Dominican Republic qualified for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup after playing to a 1-1 draw with Jamaica’s Harbour View in the second leg of the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup Third-Place series on 5 December 2023 at the Estadio Cibao in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

Concacaf reported that the 1-1 result earned Moca a 3-2 victory on aggregate and passage to Round One of the 2024 Champions Cup. It is their first Champions Cup qualification.

Moca Football Club will now compete in the tournament that brings together 27 teams from 10 countries.

Read details about the game: Concacaf

7 December 2023

President Luis Abinader highlighted the results of the PISA 2022 Test, which indicate that the Dominican Republic is one of the 11 countries, among 81 measured, that improved its scores in the global educational standard test. The DR scores were up an average of 16 points compared to scores in 2018. Abinader says that the results reveal a strong commitment for improvement from educational institutions and students.

Education has been a weak point for President Luis Abinader who initially appointed his 2020 presidential campaign director Roberto Furcal to the position of Minister of Education. Two years later, Furcal was removed after numerous accusations of corruption in office in detriment to improvements in education and his handling of the Covid-19 crisis in regards to schools. In 2022, Furcal was finally removed and replaced with Angel Hernandez.

“This...

The Minister of Public Works announces that the repairs on the collapsed retainer wall of 27 de Febrero Avenue in the capital city will take three months and cost around RD$400 million.

A section of the retainer wall collapsed during the intense rains of Saturday, 18 November, killing nine persons who were passing in their cars below.

The Ministry of Public Works explained that the first step of the process will be the drilling and construction of deep drains to relieve the hydrostatic pressure that could accumulate and exert pressure on the structure, as occurred on that tragic Saturday.

At the same time, the reinforcement of both the existing walls and the new wall to be built will be carried out through the fixation of anchor bars directly in the rock and the construction of new crowning beams that will serve as moorings for all the sections.

Finally, transverse...

The Ministry of Foreign Relations said it has sent a diplomatic note to the government of Haiti in protest of the incursion of armed police into Dominican territory.

After issuing the note, Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez hoped this type of event would not happen again.

Given the situation, the resident coordinator of the United Nations, Mauricio Ramírez Villegas, called for caution.

A recent Diario Libre-Greenberg poll indicates 62% of Dominicans eligible to vote see more negatives than positives to Haitian migration. 59% approved the border restriction measures, and 79% approved the shutdown of the border in September. The gates on the Dominican side were subsequently opened to trade but the migratory restrictions, including the biometric registration requirement, have stayed. The poll indicated that in general terms, Haitian immigration is a bad thing for the Dominican...

The Supreme Court of Justice is holding public consultations as it prepares the ruling for using digital documents and signatures by public notaries.

A press release from the SCJ explains that the new rules seek to make it easier for notaries to expedite the procedures in the implementation and intervention in acts within the sphere of their competence, providing an additional level of security and guarantee of authenticity. Furthermore, digital signatures enhance efficiency and effectiveness, which aligns with the new institutional order.

Read more in Spanish:

• Supreme Court of Justice

The Chamber of Deputies passed the contract the Abinader administration recently signed with Aerodom/Vinci Airports. The ruling PRM party is a majority in both houses of Congress.

The agreement signed by the Abinader administration extends the present contract that expires in 2030 to 2060. The Abinader government would receive upfront payments for more than US$775 million that the government has already incorporated into the 2024 National Budget for infrastructure works. 2024 is an electoral year and Abinader seeks to be reelected.

Somos Pueblo aired remarks by an expert that the new contract obliges the Dominican government to guarantee a 14% yield to Vinci Airports through 2060.

The Chamber of Deputies passed a special law to enable the amendments in the contract agreed with Aerodom/Vinci Airports. Former President Leonel Fernandez announced the taking of the new law to the Constitutional...

The Procurement Agency (DGCP) says it has permanently disqualified Transcore Latam S.R.L. from the State Supplier Registry (RPE) after determining that the later presented false and adulterated documents in the bidding process with the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant).

The company’s contract with Intrant was awarded for RD$1.31 billion for installing the Greater Santo Domingo traffic light network.

The Procurement Agency says the decision will affect the execution of the contract signed with Transcore Latam.

The Intrant had certified that Transcore Latam had implemented 65% of the RD$1.31 billion contract for RD$863.46 million. The company has taken its case to the Superior Administrative Court (TSA).

The National Electoral Committee of the Bar Association of the Dominican Republic (CARD) declared on 5 December 2023 that Trajano Vidal Potentini won the electoral process held on Saturday, 2 December 2023. Vidal Potentini will be the new president of the lawyer guild, replacing Miguel Surun Hernandez.

Vidal Potentini obtained 11,473 votes, or 48.77% of the votes. Johan López was in second place with 10,817 votes, for 45.96%.

Pedro Rodríguez Montero obtained 931 votes and Osiris Díaz Ynoa 302 votes.

Ydelfonso Brito, president of the electoral committee for the guild, said that 78,395 lawyers were eligible to vote in the process, of which 24,109 exercised their vote. Of these, 23,523 votes were determined valid, 551 were invalid and 35 were observed.

López has contested the vote, saying that he received 11,224 votes compared to 8,259 for Potentini, and says he...

The director of the National Cancer Institute (Incart), Dr. Jose Ramirez, alerts the population that a gang of foreigners is out there attempting to use toxic powder to control people and steal their assets. The powdered scopolamine, known in English as “devil’s breath” or “burundanga” in Spanish, is a chemical that, when blown into faces or absorbed through skin when soaked into paper, can render unsuspecting people incapacitated. The zombie-like state of the victims with no ability to control their actions leaves these at the mercy of the criminals. The criminals then lead their victims to empty their bank accounts or allow their homes to be robbed.

Dr. Jose Ramirez told the story of how he almost became a victim of one of these criminals. He said that when he left his office, he noticed that a person who looked like a foreigner was following him. When he got to his vehicle...

The Diario Libre-Greenberg poll reveals no single political party has sufficient votes alone to defeat President Luis Abinader’s bid for a second four-year term in the 19 May 2024 election. Abinader, nevertheless does not have the votes to win in a first round, yet is expected to take the second round election. While 50%+1 vote is needed in a first round, in the second round the most voted candidate takes the presidency.

The Diario Libre-Greenberg poll reveals that the split Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), now divided into the Fuerza del Pueblo (People’s Force) of dissident former President Leonel Fernandez and the PLD of former President Danilo Medina with Abel Martinez, the mayor of Santiago, as candidate, does not have the vote to win in a first or second round.

The Diario Libre-Greenberg poll says that if Fernandez were the runner-up candidate in the 19 May...

On Sunday, 3 December 2023, Haitian police forces crossed the border into Dajabon province in the Dominican Republic to chastise merchants who were selling merchandise to Haitians at this side of the border. The Haitian authorities have closed the border gates on their sides, arguing that these will remain closed until the Dominican government reinstates the lax migratory requirements in place before September 2023.

As reported, Dominican merchants selling to Haiti were also attacked by the Haitian police. Up in the air is the question whether the entry of Haitian police to Dominican territory was a provocation, or more of the chaotic violence that has turned Haiti into a failed state?

During the weekly Monday press conference, President Luis Abinader called the entry of Haitian police into the country: “a provocation.” He said the Ministry of Foreign Relations...

The story reads more like a spy novel than real life, as an editorial in Diario Libre observes on 5 December 2023. Former US ambassador, 73-year old Victor Manuel Rocha was indicted by US federal prosecutors on 1 December 2023 with charges of having acted as an agent of the government of Cuba for over four decades. Born in Colombia, Rocha is also an American and a Dominican citizen.

“This action exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. He stated in a US Justice Department press release: “We allege that for over 40 years, Victor Manuel Rocha served as an agent of the Cuban government and sought out and obtained positions within the United States government that would provide him with access to non-public information and the ability to affect US foreign policy. Those...

Juanin Rosario / Noticias SIN

The death toll of the freight truck that collided into a commuter bus on Monday, 27 November 2023 is now at 14 victims. A 45-year old woman, Juanin Rosario, had been hospitalized at the Juan Pablo Pina public hospital in San Cristobal but did not survive. A nurse, she was on her way to work when smashed by the freighter truck.

In another update on the case, the state prosecutors are charging the driver, Camilo Confesor Tertero Cuevas for reckless driving.

A surveillance video shows the truck driver who was transporting cement for a hardware store in San Cristóbal speeding when he lost control on a downhill and smashed into the commuter bus that was parked picking up passengers for the commute to Santo Domingo at around 7am.

The founder of the Amadita clinical lab, Amadita Pittaluga has just passed away. In recent years, she had re-branded her lab stores pink at a time of intense competition. The demand for tests during Covid-19 was a boom for the lab business. She was married for years to a pediatrician, Dr. Octavio Gonzalez Nivar and together they pioneered the private lab operation in the Dominican Republic.

Read more in Spanish:

• El Dia
• Laboratorios Amadita

The Dominican Republic is playing in Group C of League B and at 6pm on Tuesday, 5 December 2023 has a chance at a slot to the Concacaf W Gold Cup Prelims if the girl team wins the game against the more experienced Bermuda. The game will take place at the Estadio Panamericano in San Cristobal at 6pm and will be televised on CDN Deportes. Bermuda defeated the DR when the teams met in Bermuda.

On the same day, the DR men are also playing for the third place of the Concacaf Caribbean region with the game between Moca Football Club of the Dominican Republic and Harbour View of Jamaica in the Dominican Republic. Moca defeated Jamaica 2-1 in the previous match. The winner of this series will qualify to round one of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. It would be the first-ever Champions Cup qualification for either side. The Concacaf Caribbean Cup game will be played at the Estadio...

Víctor Pacheco, CEO of Arajet, receives the CAPA Award / Diario Libre

Dominican Republic-based Arajet was chosen as the Start-up Airline of the Year during the prestigious CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence at the CAPA World Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence in Abu Dhabi on 28/29 November 2023. The airline, based at Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, competed with around 20 new airlines for the award. Arajet began operations in September 2022, operating as an ultra low-cost airline with an initial fleet of five Boeing 737-8 aircraft.

Arajet is financially backed by experienced global aviation investors in Bain Capital Special Situations and Griffin Global Asset Management. The airline also has the support of the Dominican government and Vinci Airports.

The airline flies to destinations in the Americas as far north as Toronto...

The Casa de Campo community mourns Alfonso Paniagua’s passing on 29 November 2023. Paniagua had retired in 2017 from his position of executive vice president and general manager for Costasur Dominicana, a Central Romana division. He joined Costasur in 1975, leading it to become the largest Dominican gated community and a global standard-setter. Paniagua was highly regarded for his leadership, wisdom, and keeping his doors open to Casa de Campo homeowners to resolve issues and improve the community that today has five golf courses and more than 2,500 homes.

Paniagua was also a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce, Association of Foreign Investment Companies (Asiex), and former member of the boards of the National Business Council, PUCMM university and Dominican Association of Tourism Enterprises (Adeti).

The two cruise ship ports in Puerto Plata, on the north coast, are expecting 71 cruise ships in December 2023, the Ministry of Tourism reports.

The natural and cultural wonders of the north coast of the Dominican Republic have consolidated Puerto Plata as one of the most popular with cruise ship travelers.

Puerto Plata has two cruise ship terminals. One is Amber Cove operated by Carnival Cruise in the Maimon beach area, about 15-minute drive from the city of Puerto Plata. A second is Taino Bay, which operates out of the Port of Puerto Plata right in Puerto Plata City. Amber Cove opened in November 2015 and Taino Bay in December 2021.

As reported, 25 cruise ships are scheduled to dock at Amber Cove. Another 46 will dock at Taíno Bay.

The northern regional director of tourism, Atahualpa Paulino highlights the arrivals boost the local economy. He said the high cruise season...

The Dominican government has signed a public-private partnership deal with Balearia, a Spanish ferry company, for US$80 million in improvements in San Pedro de Macoris port and the establishment of a ferry between San Pedro and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

The deal spells good news for San Pedro de Macoris as the company will be contributing to the refurbishing of the southeastern port for both cargo and passenger traffic. San Pedro de Macoris, at the start of the last century, was the country’s main port.

Upon announcing the project on Monday, 4 December 2023 during a visit to San Pedro de Macoris, President Luis Abinader announced the government would be contributing to improving the port’s environs. San Pedro de Macoris has several architecturally notable edifices, thousands of rooms in residential and hotels in the Juan Dolio and Guayacanes beach area, and is home to the...

The Covid-19 pandemic proved the worth of Punta Cana resorts that served as a bubble for sports events during 2020 and 2021. Sports tourism continues big in Punta Cana.

Now, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) is taking the development of the Dominican Republic as a destination for football a step further.

On 2 December 2023, Concacaf authorities were in Cap Cana, the southern residential and resort area in Punta Cana, to break ground for the construction of One Concacaf Home of Football. The state-of-the-art football facility will be a place to host technical courses, referee development initiatives and official/friendly competitions and matches.

Concacaf announces that the One Concacaf Home of Football is being built to benefit the technical development of all 41 of the Confederation’s member associations.

The...

The Greenberg-Diario Libre poll results, published in the 4 December 2023 edition of the leading free newspaper, indicate that President Luis Abinader does not have sufficient voter support to win in a first round. The poll shows the President has a 65% approval rating, but would only reach 49% of those who say they will vote in the 19 May 2024 election. The Dominican electoral rules require a candidate to receive 50% + 1 vote to win in a first round. A second round vote would be necessary, says the Greenberg-Diario Libre poll. The newspaper has been publishing the poll since 2008.

The same Greenberg poll indicates that of all those eligible to vote, 44% favor Abinader (Modern Revolutionary Party), 29% for former President Leonel Fernandez (People Force) and 18% for Santiago Mayor Abel Martinez (Dominican Liberation Party). Of those who say they will vote, 49% say they...

The larger political parties finally have announced their candidates for mayors in the 18 February 2024 municipal elections. It took three postponements of the deadline for the registration of the candidates for 158 municipalities with the Central Electoral Board (JCE), but the names are now official as of Friday, 1 December 2023.

Greater Santo Domingo encompasses the largest concentration of voters in the country. The announced candidates for the National District and Santo Domingo province mayoral races are:

National District (capital city)Incumbent Carolina Mejia and deputy mayor Sergio Stalin Alcántara Jiménez will repeat for the ruling party and seek reelection for the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). Mejia is the daughter of former President Hipolito Mejia. She will compete against the coalition formed by theDominican Liberation Party, the Fuerza del Pueblo...

Yohan López and Trajano Potentini / Listín Diario

The two strongest candidates to win the presidency of the Bar Association of the Dominican Republic (CARD) have proclaimed themselves winners of the election held on Saturday, 2 December 2023. Press reports are that less than 60% of the votes have been counted.

The Bar Association is highly politicized. Johan López Diloné competed with the backing of the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) and Trajano Vidal Potentini has the support of former President Leonel Fernandez of the People’s Force (FP).

Both Lopez Diloné and Vidal Potentini have proclaimed themselves winners of the lawyers’ guild election and have been congratulated by their parties.

Read more in Spanish:

• Listin Diario

Dominican Minister of Foreign Relations Roberto Alvarez was quite clear last week when he was questioned by several committees from the Chamber of Deputies regarding possible talks with Haitian authorities about smoothing relations. He told the journalists that any talks depended on the immediate suspension of all work on the irrigation canal under construction on the west bank of the Dajabon/Masacre River.

According to Alvarez, the canal project poses threats to the ecology and the area that it is supposed to serve.

The minister noted that from the start of the construction of the canal, Dominican authorities have requested, and demanded, that construction be halted.

The Dominican authorities stress the project violates the 1929 border treaty. Furthermore, studies by Dominican technicians indicate that the canal is a potential threat to both countries in...

Haitians that control the gates in the northern Dajabon-Ouanaminthe border area, and who have kept these gates closed impeding the binational market activities, launched tear gas bombs on the Dominican side to impede informal trade. The Haitians have kept the gates closed and this has resulted in contraband and informal trade to be the new normal on the border, despite protests of Haitian and Dominican merchants.

Listin Diario reported on the videos recorded by merchants that show the moment when members of the Haitian police entered Dominican territory and launched tear gas bombs in the informal market that takes place on the border on the Dominican side between Haitians and Dominicans.

Listin Diario reported that apart from the tear gas bomb thrown, the Haitians in uniform entered Dominican territory specifically on the west side of the perimeter fence where...

Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica concluded the Multi-Country Border Security Program (MCBS) on 1 December 2023. The European Union funded the technical assistance program and the Caribbean nationals participated in training activities and received equipment to improve the capacities of security institutions to fight transnational crime, as reported in Haiti Libre.

Managed by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), the program is part of efforts to establish a system of management and exchange of information between state security agencies, improve surveillance capabilities at land and maritime borders about transnational activities, organized crime, strengthen the investigative capabilities of security forces and increase the prevention and fight against human trafficking...

US President Joe Biden has named Juan Carlos Iturregui, a lawyer and businessman, to become the next ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

Iturregui, originally from Puerto Rico, has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a J.D from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He has a long history of public service and is a well-respected consultant in international commerce.

Iturregui currently is the managing partner of Milan Americas, LLC, his consulting practice specializing in business, regulatory and public policy issues, with a focus on infrastructure and renewable energy projects in the Caribbean and Latin America.

He serves as vice chair of the board of the United States Inter-American Foundation.

He recently concluded a four-year term as a member of the Board of Visitors at George Mason University. He is a...

The Customs Agency (DGA) has announced that the traditional grace period this year is from Friday, 1 December 2023 to 15 January 2024. Only one “grace” will be applied per family and the total value must not exceed US$4,000.

Cars, firearms, raw materials, farm equipment, fuels, and oils are not included. Also, only one household appliance can be brought in, so a family cannot bring in five microwave ovens and three refrigerators.

There are requirements to take advantage of this facility. Persons who live overseas cannot have visited the country within the last six months. They must present invoices for the merchandise, and must provide a passport and other documents required by customs agents.

Since the holiday season is generally about family and food, the National Price Stabilization Institute (Inespre) has kicked off its 2023 Food Fair programs. For families looking to save money on staples, such as poultry, rice, beans, plantains, and other basic foods, Inespre will have these food fairs every weekend in December at different places around the country.

For example, next weekend, 8 and 9 December, the event will be held at the San Cristobal baseball field. The following weekend, it will be held in the Central Park in Santiago (the old airport), and the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before Christmas Eve, the food fair in Santo Domingo will be held in the Cattle Fairgrounds Pavilion II, along the Malecon. Before the New Year, on 29 and 30 December it will take place at the La Vaca baseball field in Los Alcarrizos.

The market sales open at 9am...

Fitch Ratings has improved its rating for Dominican sovereign bonds. A press release issued on 29 November 2023 reports the long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) at BB- was revised upwards to positive from stable.

Fitch says the upgrade reflects the trend for improvements in governance, robust growth prospects, improvements in control of corruption, government effectiveness and rule of law.

Fitch says the DR’s ratings are supported by a robust economic growth track record, a diversified export structure, high per-capita GDP and social indicators, and governance scores that compare favorably to peers.

Read More:

• Fitch Ratings

The president of the Dominican Republic Association of Industries (AIRD), Julio Virgilio Brache told reporters that the sector provides over 480,000 direct jobs, and is behind another 1.4 million indirect jobs, impacting a very large percentage of the Dominican population.

Brache noted that nearly 70% of the jobs in industry contribute to the Social Security Treasury, compared to just 39% in the overall private sector. He noted that jobs in the industrial sector generally pay about 20% above the average salaries in the private sector.

During the annual awards ceremony presided over by Vice President Raquel Peña, business people Cesar Iglesias and Rafael Menicucci, and the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Mypimes (Micro, Small and Medium Businesses) Victor (Ito) Bisonó were recognized.

Read more in...

As a twelfth victim of the horrendous accident involving a loaded freight truck and a passenger bus in Quita Sueño, Haina was discovered in the debris, a local newspaper notes that there have been over two dozen traffic “incidents” over the past five days in the Greater Santo Domingo area alone.

It is well-known that the Dominican Republic ranks first in highway fatalities in the world, with 65 deaths per 100,000 population.

Technicians specializing in highway safety readily admit that 90% of all accidents are attributed to human error. In large part this can be seen as a result of Dominican prosperity that results in so many persons acquiring a motor vehicle with little or no training or knowledge of what is involved in its use.

The common use of alcoholic beverages while driving a vehicle is obviously another major cause, as well as speeding.

Experts point...

Another 14 persons are still hospitalized, but as of the end of the week, the authorities had 12 dead in the Monday, 27 November 2023 vehicle collision in Haina, San Cristobal.

The corpse of the driver of the commuter bus impacted by the freight truck transporting cement in bulk was the last to be found under the debris of both vehicles. 47-year old Uri Mendez de Leon had been reported missing. His body was identified by his brother by his denture.

The truck was transporting cement to a San Cristobal hardware store. A surveillance video shows the truck speeding as it made its way to Haina and then how the driver looses control and collides into the bus, sending both down a cliff to a gully off the Carretera Sanchez road to San Cristobal. The freighter truck smashed the bus, resulting in the death of 12 persons so far. 20 persons were injured in...

Judge Alexandra Reyes Custodio of the La Altagracia first-level court in charge of hearing the case in which high school professor Jhon Kelly Martinez is accused of causing the death of 16-year-old student Esmeralda Richiez is postponed for 9 January 2024 in Higuey, La Altagracia province. The professor has acknowledged having had sex with the student on 12 February 2023, but his legal defense says he cannot be accused of killing the student. The young girl was found dead in her bathroom at home the following day.

Read More:

• Diario Libre
• DR1 News

The World Athletics announced that its Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has banned Dominican Olympic Games silver medalist Luguelin Santos from running in international competitions for three years. AIU head Brett Clothier announced the decision on 1 December 2023. Luguelin Santos did not compete for the Dominican Republic in the 2023 Santiago de Chile Pan American Games nor in the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador.

He has been declared ineligible to run in World Athletics events from 11 March 2023 to 10 March 2026 for age-manipulation violation at the IAAF World Junior Championships held in Barcelona 2012.

Santos won the gold medal in the 400-meter event at the IAAF championship. The AIU investigation revealed that Santos competed in the event, now known as the World Athletics U20 Championship, with a passport showing a falsified birth date – 12 November...

The Dominican Republic is an emerging soccer country.

The Dominican Republic girl’s team playing for the Gold Cup of the Concacaf league defeated the more experienced Barbados 7-1. The DR team will now play Bermuda for the top spot of Group C of League B on Tuesday, 5 December, in the Concacaf Road to W Gold Cup tournament.

The winner of the game takes the prelims ticket that comes with it. Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines face off in the group’s other match of the day.

With its win over Barbados, the Dominican Republic improved to 12 points, while Bermuda has 10, with one match in hand.

The Asociación Dominicana de Belenistas is inviting to its nativity scene exposition at Andrés Julio Aybar Street almost corner Av. Abraham Lincoln, behind the parking of the Supermercado Nacional on 27 February Avenue in Santo Domingo. The exhibition is at the former Bodega offices that were used as a vaccination center during Covid-19 times. The nativity scene exhibition is open to the general public until 7 January 2024.