President Leonel Fernández made changes in his cabinet over the weekend. News reports say that most of the new cabinet members are strong supporters of Vice President Jaime David Fernández who lost the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana primaries to Secretary of the Presidency Danilo Medina. President Fernández appointed Ana Silvia Reynoso, president of the Consejo Nacional de Educación Superior (CONES), the body in charge of supervising universities. She is a former deputy Minister of Education and member of the central committee of the PLD. Juan Octavio Ceballos is the new Minister of Public Health, replacing Altagracia Guzmán. Guzmán is the new public health advisor to the President. Ceballos is a former director of the IDSS, the social security institute. He is a former PLD senator for the province of Duarte, and also a member of the Central Committee of the PLD. Sabino Báez is the new director of the Instituto Dominicano de Seguros Sociales. Feliz Alcántara is the new director of the Consejo Estatal del Azúcar, the state sugar council that is at present undergoing privatization. Radhamés Jiménez, is the new director of the Departamento Aeroportuario, in charge of airports. He is a member of the PLD’s central committee. Armando Castillo Peña, is the new director of Junta de Aeronautica Civil, the local civil aviation board. He replaces lawyer Vitelio Mejía Ortiz who will continue on as the Comisionado para el Seguimiento e Implementación de la Concesión Aeroportuaria, the organization that is following up with the privatization of Dominican airports. President Fernández appointed José Medrano Volquez as his new advisor on educational affairs. Isidro Cáceres is the new deputy director of Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidraúlicos (INDRHI), the government department in charge of river resources. Other appointees are Iván Peña, deputy director of the Department of Migration; and Freddy Paulino, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Tourism. Abel Rodríguez del Orbe, first Attorney General of the Fernández government, was appointed judicial consultant of the Executive Branch. He had been working as judicial consultant to the Executive Branch.
