2004 – Page 232

Today’s Diario Libre, a paper that is distributed for free throughout the country, blasted the Listin Diario, the nation’s widest-read paper, for presenting what it calls an “unrealistic” picture of the Dominican Republic. The Listin Diario, taken over by the government last May on the heels of the Baninter fiasco, is accused of sweetening the …

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The Listin Diario carries a beautiful photograph this morning of a winter wonderland – in Valle Nuevo, Constanza! The fairly rare event covered the ground with what looked like snow as the trees were weighed down with huge accumulations of ice. Pictures depict small pine trees doubled over under the ice and the ground looking …

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It looks like an ad for a gymnasium, but it is a story in El Caribe that tells of the Walkers’ Club at the Botanical Gardens. The 2 million square meters of the park are open daily to the members of the Walkers Club, who pay RD$1,000 per year per family to enjoy the beauty …

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Migration director Miguel Vasquez has called a temporary freeze on repatriations of illegal Haitian migrants, as requested by the Jesuit Refugee Service in Santo Domingo yesterday. According to this morning’s Listin Diario, the process is being suspended until the current unrest is over, and will be accompanied by continued reinforcements along the border. The other …

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Senate president Jesus Vazquez has said he opposed allowing large numbers of Haitians onto Dominican soil and declared that the responsibility lies with the international community – which never keeps its oft-repeated promises of help for Haiti. Former Foreign Minister Hugo Tolentino Dipp, quoted in Hoy newspaper, predicted chaos and said that the government should …

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The Haitian crisis could have serious repercussions on the Dominican Republic, according to the European Union’s Ambassador in Santo Domingo, Miguel Amado. The main threats to the Dominican Republic, said Amado, were not just the military movements, but also increased migration, flight of political refugees and the humanitarian situation. Amado met with Senate and Congress …

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It is reported today that the PPH (Proyecto Presidencial Hipolito, the internal PRD campaign promoting the President’s re-election) has stepped up its efforts to woo former Presidential hopeful Rafael “Fello” Subervi Bonilla into accepting the candidacy for Vice-President alongside Hipolito Mejia. Subervi has been visited by senior party figures such as Vicente Sanchez Baret, the …

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Yovanny de Jesus Pena Cordero, revealed earlier this week to be in possession of three identification and voting cards (cedulas), has told reporters that he in fact has none. The 37-year-old builder said that he lost the one he used to vote in the last congressional and municipal elections in 2002 and only learned that …

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The dollar-peso exchange rate continues to reflect the current uncertainty in the foreign exchange market, with a recoil to RD$49 to US$1 from yesterday’s peak of RD$55. Hoy newspaper’s economic section attributes the vicissitudes to a substantial injection of dollars into the exchange market as a result of people selling their dollars when the rate …

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Diario Libre’s economic pages carry the sober reminder that the Dominican authorities have yet to renegotiate the terms of debt repayments with the Paris Club. If an extension is not reached, most of the funds entering the country from the International Monetary Fund will end up being used for debt obligations. Central Bank Governor Jose …

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