U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to arrive at around 11 pm tonight for a 36-hour visit to the Dominican Republic. She will spend the night in Santo Domingo at the residence of the United States Embassy. The following morning she will visit the Center for Family Integration (CIF) and then meet at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra with non governmental organizations (NGOs) and civic groups, with an emphasis on those concerned with women’s issues. She will then go to the National Palace to meet with President Fernández, will meet the Dominican government cabinet, and after which she will deliver President Clinton’s message to the Dominican people from the Ambassador’s Room at the government house and then meet with local and international press. Subsequently she will travel to San Pedro de Macorís to visit the Dr. Carl T. George Hospital, and then on to La Romana to visit the Hogar Casa del Niño, to which she has contributed. From La Romana she will go to Punta Cana for a private visit, leaving Saturday from the airport there to Haiti, last stop on her tour of countries affected by September and October hurricanes. In Punta Cana she will stay at the beach home of Oscar de la Renta, in a new development of the Punta Cana Group next door to Club Med Punta Cana. Accompanying the First Lady on this trip are Deputy Secretary State for Latin American Affairs John Hamilton, Agency for International Development (AID) Administrator Mark Schneider, and Representative Charles Rangel (Democrat-New York). The last visit of a First Lady of the US to the DR occurred in 1934 when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited. The Chamber of Deputies approved a resolution declaring Mrs. Clinton "a distinguished guest." She will be received at the Las Americas International Airport by Mrs. Lissy Campos de Fernández, wife of the Vice President of the Republic, and by Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Latorre.
