2007 – Page 99

Financial analyst Alejandro Fernandez warns anyone taking on a Dominican mortgage that at any given time mortgage rates could go from the present low of 11% to 18%, in a contribution to Clave newspaper today. He said that if this happens, mortgage payments could increase by 43%. He encourages borrowers to bear this in mind. …

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The Specialized Frontier Security Corps (CESFRONT) with a 500-strong contingent will be dispatched to the border next Tuesday. The group has been training for two years and will be equipped with arms, technological equipment, motorcycles and planes that will be used for surveillance. Diario Libre writes that soldiers will receive salaries and expenses. Minister of …

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Though Dominican officials have increased their surveillance around Dominican territory in the fight against the illegal narcotics trade, drug traffickers have also increased their attempts to introduce drugs into the country, and seem to be succeeding. In the last thirteen months the DR has been bombarded by an increase in drugs from South America. Officials …

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Diario Libre is reporting an alleged plot to kill AILA security chief Colonel Juan Francisco Tejada Genao and Major Joran Baez Fernandez. The twist is that a high-ranking official of the Marine Corps has been arrested in connection with the assassination plot. Major General Valentin Jaquez Lopez, director of Armed Forces intelligence, has confirmed the …

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The Autonomous Petroleum Drivers Union (SACTPA) is threatening to go on strike next Thursday if gasoline distributors don’t increase their salaries. The union wants RD$35,000 a month wages for drivers with one to three years of service; RD$40,000 for four years of experience; RD$45,000 for four to six years experience; RD$50,000 for eight years experience …

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Diario Libre reports the government violated Law 141-97 when awarding the lease of the Jarabacoa Hotel Montana, to Pareatis, S.A. Law 141-97 establishes that the Commission for the Reform of Public Enterprise (CREP) is the entity in charge of leasing or capitalizing state hotels grouped under Corphotel, a division of the Ministry of Tourism. The …

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The PRSC political party lost long-standing member Eduardo Estrella after he claimed irregularities in the primaries. Now word is out that Juan Luis Seliman, PRSC Secretary of International Relations, and long time PRSC member has announced that he, and his wife Sergia Elena, Organization Secretary, will be leaving the party. They say these are disappointed …

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Reckless driving by a bus driver has led to two UASD students being sent to the Dario Contreras Hospital with serious injuries. Listin Diario writes that Johanny Garcia was taken to intensive care with a pelvic fracture and a leg fracture. Awilda Cuevas was also taken to the hospital with injuries to her clavicle and …

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President Leonel Fernandez tried to help the Dominican tobacco and textile sectors yesterday warning on the damaging effects a proposed US cigar tax bill could have on DR exports and for Dominican flexibility to import textiles from Mexico. Fernandez told US Trade Representative Officer Susan Schwab that the DR needed to source textiles in Mexico …

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Haiti’s former Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has spoken out against what he called an international campaign to discredit the DR, which includes false claims about Haitian immigrants supposedly living in conditions of slavery in the DR, as reported in El Nacional. “We will not allow people with bad intentions to attempt to sabotage the excellent …

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