The Organizing Committee of the XIV Pan-American Games will defend the selection of Santo Domingo as host site for the event to be held in 2003. 41 other nations members of the Pan American Sports Organization are meeting over the 18th and 19th of January in Panama to hear a report of a committee that recently visited Santo Domingo to observe progress in the preparations for he event. Before leaving for Panama, the head of the Dominican delegation, Jose Joaquin Puello, expressed optimism that Santo Domingo would retain its place. He said he was taking everything related to the San Jose Fund financing of sports venues, the lands set aside for the Pan Am Village, the budget approved by Congress, a schedule for the construction work, a plan for remodeling the Olympic Park, and a letter of endorsement from the government. Bienvenido Solano, Director of the Pan Am Games, and other officials of the Sports Ministry and Public Works Ministry accompany Puello.
