Former President of the Dominican Olympic Committee, engineer Wiche Garcia Saleta suggests to the Dominican Olympic Committee that the country give up the seat of the Pan American Games and instead host the Central American and Caribbean Games. This he says would resolve two problems. El Salvador, affected by earthquakes, will not be able to host the Games next year. The DR, affected by economic problems, is hard pressed to come up with the high cost of the Pan Am Games. Furthermore, García Saleta forecasts that to host the Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo will be a humiliating experience for the Dominican people. He points to the fact that the government has never been able to provide the funds to prepare athletes that will have to perform in all the sports. He said that given the beating Dominican athletes will receive in their first events, it is unlikely Dominicans will support the Games. This could mean the stands would go empty after the first two or three days. He highlighted that since the Santo Domingo Pan Am Games are qualifying rounds for the Olympic Games in Athens 2004, the best in the Americas will travel here, making levels of competition even tougher. Furthermore, Garcia Saleta called the attention of the sports authorities to the unplanned construction of six sports installations in the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center. Garcia Saleta, who very successfully promoted the construction of the Olympic Center on occasion of the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games, has spoken out against the DR hosting the Pan Am Games on several other occasions, stating that the Games will cost the Dominican people more than RD$5,000 million.
