According to an international press wire, the president of the Dominican Olympic Committee is already lobbying to hold the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo. Dr. Jose Joaquin Puello, president of the Organización Deportiva Centroamericana y del Caribe (Odecabe) was in Cuba recently to recruit trainers to raise the level of local athletes and bolster the chances of being selected as the site of the important event. Santo Domingo lost the 1999 games to Winnipeg, Canada, by only one vote. So far, Santiago de Chile and Guadalajara have expressed their interest in holding the regional competition.