2004 – Page 263

Hoy newspaper has a very interesting column called “Que se dice” (What’s being said). On Saturday, the columnist shared some comments by Robert Zoellick, the United States Trade Representative, who tied in clean, free elections with the signing of any trade agreement with the US. Regina Vargo, the lead negotiator on the US team that …

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Resolutions drawn up by the Monetary Board will remove excess currency from circulation, according to Hector Linares of the Listin Diario. The idea is to remove the excess liquidity of the banks and savings and loan associations from circulation and thereby reduce the demand for dollars. The plan calls for a removal of between RD$7 …

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The president of the Administrative Chamber of the Central Electoral Board, Judge Nelson Gomez, says there are 5,065,000 Dominicans registered to vote in the 16 May election. He expects the total able to vote in the election to reach 5,070,000 when more expatriate voters are listed. According to the initial July 2003 results from the …

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Miriam Diaz Santana, the co-ordinator of civil society organization Participacion Ciudadana, said on the TV news Channel 37 (Cadena de Noticias) morning show today that “the specter of electoral fraud is still lurking in the country.” Although she desisted from naming names, she said that if President Hipolito Mejia exercised fraud in the 16 May …

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The ruling PRD party held another convention, or primary election, in which members were given the opportunity to choose their Presidential candidate. The first such gathering took place in December and resulted in victory for party president Hatuey Decamps, an avid opponent of Presidential re-election. Decamp’s convention was later declared invalid by the Central Electoral …

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President Hipolito Mejia has called for dialogue between the various groups in the ruling PRD party, in order to avert a complete split, according to this morning’s papers. Speaking on the day of the party convention on his weekly television interview “Una vez a la semana”, he said, “The doors of unity are open, (I’m) …

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The opposition PLD was also in action this weekend, with a reported 250,000 activists campaigning for their party in the upcoming Presidential elections. The campaigners were able to reach 5 million voters with their message, according to the party’s elections director, Franklin Almeyda. He said that the sympathetic reception and positive reaction to Leonel Fernandez’ …

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The PRSC’s Presidential candidate Eduardo Estrella has expressed his distaste for the fact that the country is having to import rice. Rice is a staple food and a major domestic crop, and Estrella attributed the imports to the government’s “improvisation and lack of capacity.” The authorization to import 500,000 quintals of rice comes just a …

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Contrary to recent speculation, defeated PRSC pre-Presidential candidate Jacinto Peynado has come out against the controversial Ley de Lemas. There had been speculation that he would benefit from the proposed reform in electoral law, which would allow more than one candidate to run under the same party banner. Peynado said it would only serve to …

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There are 933 foreign nationals in Dominican prisons, an 11% increase on last year’s figure, according to a report by the general directorate of prisons. The vast majority of these are male (91.5%), while only 79 of these foreign prisoners are female. The detainees hail from over 20 countries and approximately a third (over 300) …

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