2001 – Page 34

Expo USA, a trade show with exhibits of US products and services, opened yesterday at the Dominican Fiesta Hotel exhibition hall. The event is open to the general public from 20-22 September. President Hipolito Mejia was present at the opening.

El Siglo says the Dominican Consulate in New York has reported 33 Dominicans are missing as of yesterday, due to the collapse of the World Trade Center. Roberto Saladin, ambassador in Washington said on Dominican TV that most of the victims worked on the 106th floor at the Windows of the World restaurant. News reports …

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DR1 Daily News carried an erroneous headline yesterday that referred to travel restrictions for Muslims. The Dominican Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Dominican immigration officers could not and would not screen passengers for religious affiliation. The report referred to the fact that Dominican airport authorities have specifically established new restrictions for the arrival and departure …

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The National Police have placed a two-man guard at the Islam Circle, a meeting point for followers of Islam in Santo Domingo, as reported in El Caribe. El Siglo, in turn, points out that Middle Eastern and Central Asian citizens, many who study medicine in Dominican universities, complain of harassment by the Police. They stress …

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Ramon Reyes of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) says that an early audit of identification and voting cards (cedulas) has found 5,500 were incorrectly issued. The early audit was carried out by the JCE prior to contracting Price Waterhouse Coopers to carry out the final audit. President of the JCE Manuel Ramon Morel Cerda had …

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Former Central Bank governor Luis Toral said he will give a proposal to President Hipolito Mejia to set a ceiling of 10% of the Gross Domestic Product for government debt. He expressed his concern over the increasing levels of debt that will oblige coming generations to pay higher taxes. Toral spoke following a meeting with …

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Lawyer Francisco Alvarez has appealed to President Hipolito Mejia to name the organizations and persons who the President said had lobbied for candidates to the Supreme Court. Three vacancies were filled last week. Alvarez was spokesperson for the Coalition for an Independent Justice which lobbied to deny election to people with strong political affiliations. Interviewed …

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Former President Leonel Fernandez did not visit the District Attorney for questioning yesterday regarding the handling of a RD$1.4 billion fund during his last eight months in office. PLD spokesmen said that Fernandez would show up on Thursday at 4 pm to answer the questions. They said that Fernandez and his officers did not go …

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