2001 – Page 110

Businessmen are divided on whether or not there should be tariff reform as the 1 July date of the GATT system nears. On 1 July, the DR will begin using the GATT valuation system. In this system, imports are taxed based on the real price of the item as stated in the invoice, or the …

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Judge Dario Gomez Herrera did an unusual thing yesterday. Since the public school teachers union (ADP) president Olimpia Gonzalez did not comply with his summons to court to answer his questions about the case of a RD$15 million fraud in her union, he personally went looking for her. He visited her home and the hospital …

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Vice President Ortiz Bosch has accused former President Leonel Fernandez of violating the Constitution and the law by taking out three international loans without the authorization of Congress. She said in a press conference that the Fernandez government used a US$12.6 million loan to finance the so-called “pollito” taxis, US$3 million for equipment to automate …

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El Caribe reports that inflation is now under control. A recent Central Bank Consumer Price Index report says accumulated inflation in January-May was 3.11%. Annual inflation for May 2000 to May 2001 was 11.90%. The report says the price index barely increased 0.26% in May. The conclusion is that the economy has absorbed the effects …

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Seven Cubans who entered the DR through Haiti are seeking political asylum. They say they will be killed if they return to Cuba. The Department of Migration is investigating the case, but says the final say is up to President Mejia. The Cubans arrived after their boat went adrift near Bahamas. They made it to …

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President Hipolito Mejia has accepted full responsibility for the strange case of the Police Chief personally traveling by helicopter to Las Matas de Farfan to arrest a man for lying. PRD member Pedro Montero was arrested for disputing the area’s water situation with the local water supply director. (See http://www.dr1.com/daily/news060801.shtml). President Mejia confirmed yesterday on …

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President Hipólito Mejia said he will leave it up to former President Joaquin Balaguer to decide the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. Mejia favors Rafaela Alburquerque be re-elected. In practice, despite being in the opposition, Alburquerque has voted in favor of most PRD projects. The post is being sought by competing PRD factions. By …

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Everyone’s complaining about the heat in Santo Domingo. Temperatures have reached 34 degrees Celsius, about the hottest it gets here. The heat is felt even more because humidity ranges from 65 to 80%.

President Hipolito Mejia has announced the start of consultations next week with the Supreme Court of Justice, political parties and civic society before convening the body in charge of selecting Supreme Court justices. Two judges must be chosen to replace resigning Bernardo Pichardo and deceased Julio Genaro Campillo Perez.

An official mission from Haiti, headed by Haiti?s Industry and Commerce Minister Stanley Theard, wants to start talks on a free trade agreement between both countries. Minister Theard, in a press conference after meeting with President Mejia, invited Dominican businessmen to look into the Haitian market. He urged them to seriously consider investment projects in …

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