1999 – Page 234

On Monday Senator Milton Ray Guevara (PRD-Saman?) submitted a bill to expand the number of seats on the Central Election Board (JCE) by two. The Senate President, Ram?n Alburquerque (PRD-Monte Plata), immediately created a special committee to consider the proposal which is chaired by Senator Milagros Ort?z Bosch (PRD-Distrito Nacional). [It should be noted that …

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The Dominican Teachers’ Association (ADP) has called a 48-hour national teachers’ strike for next Monday and Tuesday, February 8th and 9th. The ADP says that the strike is necessary to force the Education Ministry to pay the incentives it has long promised teachers, stop deducting certain "unjustified discounts" from teachers’ salaries and to "comply with …

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Public Health Minister Dr. Altagracia Guzm?n Marcelino announced yesterday that Dominican recording star Juan Luis Guerra has agreed to finance the construction of one of the Ministry’s new neighborhood family health clinics. In an interview with the news daily El Siglo to discuss Ministry plans to create a series of neighborhood-based "Family Health Teams" throughout …

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The Dominican Republic destroyed Venezuela 10-2 in the opening match of the Caribbean Baseball Series yesterday afternoon. Venezuela scored its two runs in the first inning, after which the game was controlled by the Dominicans. The most valuable offensive player of the game was undoubtedly Nefi P?rez, whose home run and single accounted for four …

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Just hours before being inaugurated as Venezuela’s new President, Hugo Rafael Ch?vez Fr?as, met privately with Dominican President Leonel Fern?ndez and Cuban President Fidel Castro at the Caracas hotel where the latter is staying. Although details of the discussion have not been released, it focused on Ch?vez’s foreign policy plans during his presidency. President Fern?ndez …

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The diplomat in charge of representing U.S. interests in the absence of a confirmed Ambassador to the DR, Linda Watt, raised many eyebrows in Santo Domingo yesterday with a visit to Central Election Board (JCE) President Dr. Manuel Ram?n Morel Cerda. Watt said that the U.S. "admired" the "laudable" work of the JCE and its …

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The party luminaries vying for the presidential nomination of the PRD yesterday decided to resume their official leadership posts and actively guide their Party’s political strategy. Meeting at the home of pre-candidate Hatuey Decamps, Senator Milagros Ort?z Bosch, ex-Santo Domingo Mayor Rafael ("Fello") Suberv? Bonilla, Decamps and former Agriculture Minister Hip?lito Mej?a all agreed that …

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An engineer in charge of system and technology issues at the Superintendency of Banks, Felipe Llaugel, told reporters yesterday that the DR’s banks should be prepared to handle the Year 2000 ("Y2K") computer problem in time. He said that all the smaller Dominican firms already converted their computer systems by end-1998 as required by an …

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Public Health Minister Dr. Altagracia Guzm?n yesterday backed the suggestion that Dominican doctors’ should be tested every two years to ensure that they are staying up-to-date in their fields. The suggestion was made publicly by the National Association of Private Clinics (ANDECLIP), which suggests that checks be made every two years by a tripartite commission …

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The National Union of Businessmen (UNE) and the Association of Industrial Firms of Herrera (AEIH) yesterday backed the tax amnesty idea recently espoused by famed businessman Jos? Luis Corripio ("Pepin"). UNE’s President Andr?s Dauhajre also backed Corripio’s call for simplification of the DR’s tax bureaucracy and paperwork, with all forms made easy-to-use and all rules …

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