2004 – Page 189

The police sergeant assigned to security at the Las Americas airport who attempted to stop Colonel Pablo Leonel Velasquez Taveras from taking a suitcase full of jewelry through Customs without payment of duties is now under arrest and being held incommunicado. Gerardo Ramirez Vicioso, a National Police sergeant, was asked by Customs inspector Diomaris Almonte …

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El Caribe writes that after the Dominican Conference of Bishops issued a message that stated that the Central Electoral Board (JCE) should, among things, offer bulletins on the election process ?without dangerous delays,? the JCE judges ratified their obligation to produce transparent elections. Judge Luis Arias, the JCE chief justice, told reporters: ?There will be …

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The Diario Libre-Gallup poll released today provides corroboration to the likelihood of former President Leonel Fernandez wining the 2004 presidential election in a first go. According to the most recent poll, conducted from 14-18 April, 54.8% of eligible voters asked if the election were held on that date who they would vote for said they …

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Former Vice President Jacinto Peynado announced his endorsement of the candidacy of Leonel Fernandez for President. Peynado had previously remained neutral in the electoral campaign, declining to back his PRSC party?s candidate, Eduardo Estrella. Peynado, not Estrella, had been expected to run on the PRSC Presidential ticket until the lesser-known Santiago senator and former minister …

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President Hipolito Mejia rallied for the votes of Protestants in the Dominican Republic yesterday, with promises to equalize the privileges to Protestant Church leaders with those already granted to the Catholic Church made at a campaign event held yesterday at the Dominican Fiesta Hotel. Together with Vice-Presidential candidate Rafael Subervi Bonilla, President Hipolito Mejia announced …

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Yesterday the Dominican Conference of Catholic Bishops called on the officials, candidates and voters in the upcoming May 16 elections to work together to ensure elections are free from fraud. ?It would be very sad if a victory should be sought not in a fair way, but marred by shady maneuvers. No one should accept …

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The government has reduced the taxes for a motorcycle driver to procure a license to RD$100 from RD$350, the present cost of the document, according to the traffic law. Orlando Pimentel, the director of the Direccion General de Transito Terrestre, the governmental department that issues the licenses, made the announcement. The Mejia administration also recently …

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Yesterday, the Junta Central Electoral (JCE) declared the recent voter verification exercise a valuable endeavor. Judge Nelson Gomez said, ?Democracy has its cost in pesos, but those pesos are necessary to ensure that no one?s rights are violated.? He indicated that there was good enough participation, with approximately 20% of the electorate?s participation. JCE Judge …

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Armed Forces Minister Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez said that the Dominican soldiers stationed in Iraq will return in July, following the completion of their commitment. The Dominican Republic has sent two contingents, the second of which has 302 men currently stationed in Diwaniya as part of the Plus Ultra brigade, called the Quisqueya Task Force …

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Children under five will be vaccinated against polio, measles and rubella (mumps) in both the DR and Haiti next weekend. As part of the vaccination campaign sponsored by the Pan-American Organization of the Health (OPS), the Fund of the United Nations for the Childhood (UNICEF), the Center of Rehabilitation and the Ministry of Public Health, …

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