2004 – Page 132

Geoffrey Gottlieb, of the Goldman Sachs brokerage firm, comments today on the reported US$154-million public-sector external financing gap that the country must fill, either by restructuring private-sector claims or by contracting new loans in order to avoid a default. The government restructured US$193 million of the US$293-million debt, leaving a US$100-million hole, which is now …

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The case against Radhames Ramos Garcia, the PRD deputy for La Vega who is charged with the trafficking of 16 Chinese trying to reach the US by entering the DR via Haiti, has once again been delayed. Ramos Garcia was using his former consular position in Haiti when he allegedly brought the illegal migrants to …

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The PPH-PRD chose Ramon Agramonte as its spokesman for the party in the Chamber of Deputies, as announced by party president Vicente Sanchez Baret. Agramonte?s appointment comes at a time when differences within the party could work against the interests of the PPH faction of the party. The block of deputies loyal to Hatuey De …

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Leonel Fernandez arrived yesterday in Madrid, Spain, the second country on his July European tour. While there, his itinerary includes a meeting with Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the King and Queen of Spain, according to a press release. The DR?s President-elect has also scheduled a meeting with the Comision Espanola de Organizaciones …

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A US citizen presented a formal suit against Diamond Casino in Santo Domingo. As reported in the Listin Diario today, Carl Leyva Ramos, a CPA and owner of businesses in the US and Puerto Rico, filed his case against the casino alleging he was duped for US$22,000 by the fraudulent maneuvers and influence in the …

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While the clamor for austerity continues, El Caribe newspaper reports today that the celebrations to mark the change of governments will cost Dominican taxpayers RD$12 million. Former Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez is in charge of the event slated for the 16 August inauguration of President-elect Leonel Fernandez, whose PLD party has a guest list of …

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The red-hot issue of tax reform received renewed attention yesterday when the National Council of Business (CONEP) weighed in with its suggestions. Every newspaper carries the story this morning. Hoy?s Soila Paniagua reports that CONEP wants the tax reform to include income management and austerity in spending as part of the package. CONEP president Elena …

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The economic thinkers are worried about the apparent dominance of fiscal interests surrounding the deliberations on the tax reform proposals that must be approved by the IMF. Mario Mendez, the economic editor for Hoy, points out that the proposal being worked out by the incoming PLD government team, working with an expert from the IMF …

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Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado lashed out at the government?s treatment of its public hospitals yesterday, saying that the authorities ?had abandoned them.? The rector of the prestigious Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) said that the government?s actions vis-a-vis the public hospitals ?gives the impression that there is no sensitivity for the suffering of …

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Officials of the Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia Maternity Hospital (Our Lady of Grace Maternity Hospital), the largest of its kind in the Dominican Republic, have said they will hand the hospital back to the Public Health Ministry for its management, if the current situation is not resolved. This story, running parallel to the statements …

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