There were again traffic bottlenecks this Wednesday morning as capital city residents resumed their normal activities after a day of tranquility in the bustling life of the city. Despite the Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares, Sindicales y Choferiles call to continue the strike, it was apparent that the strike was soon to be over in the capital city and the rest of the country will follow suit. The Coordinadora called the strike to protest the increase in fuel prices. Secretary of the Presidency said that the government will not negotiate with the promoters of the strike. The Coordinadora primarily represents concho and minibus unions that are rapidly being displaced by the modern units of the OMSA. It is unlikely the transport unions will be able to achieve their objective of an indefinite strike because the government’s OMSA buses can serve the upwards of 250,000 persons that use public transport in the city of Santo Domingo. OMSA reported, it had opened temporary bus routes along Winston Churchill and Núñez de Cáceres avenues. (They later reported they are considering leaving these routes permanently.) Public schools, nevertheless, continue closed, as the Dominican Association of Professors, which is said to be strongly politicized, is supporting the national strike. Private schools, including universities, many of which operated as usual yesterday, are almost all back to work as usual today. Yesterday the national strike primarily affected commercial activities. Those who didn’t have to go out or go shopping, didn’t do so. City activity was at a minimum last night, although the Iberoamerican Theater Festival continued as usual, with an evening of world class flamenco performances at the National Theater. The Theater had a 60% attendance of persons who paid RD$1,000 to RD$400 per admission. The strike has had little effect on tourism areas.
