2003 – Page 49

According to El Caribe’s economic section, US$100,000 worth of fighting cocks were exported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Saint Maarten, Panama, and Surinam. Venezuela and Colombia are also listed as customers for the bloodlines from the Dominican Republic. Cockfighting, while outlawed in many places, is a legal activity in the DR and …

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Both today’s Listin Diario and the El Caribe carry headlines that tell of a new initiative and possible meeting of presidents Mejia and Chavez in the near future. After three months of tense relations, which saw the Venezuelan ambassador recalled to his country and the flow of Venezuelan oil to the Dominican refinery curtailed, this …

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El Caribe reports that the electricity was slightly better in the East and South of the country, but the Cibao region continued to suffer prolonged blackouts. A 190-megawatt deficit was reportedly the cause of the situation in the Cibao. El Caribe reported that the energy supply fared somewhat better in the East and South because …

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The Municipal Council of the National District of Santo Domingo began the clean-up process along Duarte Avenue, removing the gigantic signs that loomed over the street, creating a visual nightmare of garish signage. Headed by Santo Domingo’s Mayor Roberto Salcedo and Alberto Diaz Gonzalez, the president of the Duarte Avenue Business Association, the eyesores were …

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Bernardo Vega, the distinguished economist and historian, joined forces with five other economists in urging a faster pace towards tax reform. Vega says that there are some members of the current administration who wish to shun the IMF accords and substitute a new sovereign bond issue for the funds that would have come from the …

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A warning from the Transportation Safety Administration in Washington apparently caused a marked tightening of security measures at the major airports in the Dominican Republic. The Airport Security Forces and the Armed Forces were doubly vigilant after alerts that possible operatives from Al-Qaeda would use Dominican airports to infiltrate the United States. Oriental and Middle …

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The Net International Reserves (RIN) were up over 25% during the first two weeks of October, reaching US$121.7 million. The RIN had fallen to all-time lows during August and September and the rebound is being attributed to the unification of the dollar market and the transfer of all dollars directly to the exchange markets. After …

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President Hipolito Mejia gave a scathing reaction to the warnings of the president of the Dominican American Chamber of Commerce, Jorge Ivan Ramirez, who said that the current economic troubles could lead to social unrest. “Look at me – I am shaking!” said Mejia when questioned on the matter by a TV reporter. Ramirez, who …

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Lawyer and political scientist Flavio Dario Espinal writes in El Caribe about the government’s tendency to blame external factors for the ills afflicting the country. Without minimizing the effect of outside events like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which had a definite effect on the economy, tourism and the free trade zones in particular, Dario Espinal …

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The papers are reporting that President Hipolito Mejia and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez spoke on the phone yesterday and reached a conclusion to the ongoing diplomatic dispute between the two countries. Once certain “administrative formalities” are put into place, oil exports to the Dominican Republic should then resume under the favorable terms of the …

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