United States Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Dominican President Leonel Fernandez in Panama yesterday, where the two discussed the reactivation of the IMF Stand By Agreement, and the support that the US would give such a move. Powell expressed his interest that the DR renew the IMF agreement.
The news was relayed to the press by the Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, who said the 20-minute meeting with Powell emphasized the cordial relations between the two countries and the intentions of the Bush administration to “strengthen commercial, business, cultural and scientific” ties. Fernandez explained the difficult economic situation the country is experiencing, and also extended an invitation to Powell to visit the DR. Morales also told reporters that President Fernandez conveyed his belief that the Dominican economic sectors were reacting with confidence, as shown by the strengthening of the peso versus the US dollar. The President also explained the austerity measures that were in place to reduce spending in the public sector, as well as how the propane and electricity subsidies are to be redirected to only the neediest members of the nation’s society. The meeting in Panama was attended by Presidential Technical Secretary Temistocles Montas, US ambassador Hans Hertell and former US ambassador to the Dominican Republic Linda Watt. President Fernandez also met with President Ricardo Lagos of Chile, where they discussed the possibility of a bilateral free trade agenda within the accords of LAFTA, the Latin American Free Trade Agreement. Other topics addressed were Chilean support for judicial reforms, prison reform and modernization of the state for the Dominican Republic. The two leaders agreed on an exchange of technicians in order to assist educational reforms in the DR’s public schools.