2004 – Page 64

A group of 10 PRD senators sat down with the party’s ex-president Hatuey Decamps yesterday, with the aim of unifying the PRD’s membership. The meeting with Decamps, who was unseated from the head of the party after refusing to support Hipolito Mejia’s bid for re-election, took place at the home of Senator Celeste Gomez Martinez …

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Employers and workers’ representatives will renew their talks designed to achieve a new minimum wage and comparable wage increases across all levels of the work force. The workers’ unions are requesting a 60% increase in the wages between the minimum wage and RD$20,000 per month. From this point on, the unionists want each business or …

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The state-owned Minmetals Corp, the most powerful mining group in continental China, has been announced as a possible buyer of Falconbridge, the company that operates the nickel and iron mine in Bonao. The US$5-billion price tag represents one of the largest investments of the Chinese company outside of its borders. The Listin Diario says that …

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Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox and Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees were three of the most outstanding players in yesterday’s American League Playoffs game. Pedro and Manny guided Boston to a convincing 8-3 win over the Anaheim Angels. Anaheim’s Vladimir Guerrero batted two runs in, but his team …

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The Fernandez government kicked off its welfare program, “Comer es Primero” (Eating Comes First) with the distribution of debit cards with a balance of RD$550 available for use by 6,000 poor families in the Los Guandules slum. This is a pilot program. The debit cards can be used to purchase food in grocery stores that …

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The president of the Basque Country, Juan Jose Ibarretxe and the mayor of Biarritz, France Didier Borotra are in the Dominican Republic for the meeting of the Biarritz Forum. The forum is discussing “The State and Governance in Latin America.” Topics to be covered during the two-day encounter of past presidents and heads of government …

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The World Trade Organization has ruled that the exchange surcharge imposed in the Dominican Republic on imports is a discriminatory tax against freedom of trade, Juan Guiliani Cury, deputy minister of Foreign Relations for economic affairs told El Caribe newspaper. The surcharge was disputed by Honduras in the specific case that the tax affects imports …

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The hours of blackouts have considerably declined since the weekend, at least in several neighborhoods of Santo Domingo. Blackouts that stood at 20 hours a day have declined this week to around 12 hours a day. El Caribe newspaper reports that power on line has increased after the negotiations between the government and the companies …

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Customs director Miguel Cocco Guerrero says that his department will give industries a 50% discount on the base declared value of machinery on which taxes are applied. He told Listin Diario that the discount is offered as part of a plan to help local industries renew their equipment and technology. He said that now that …

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Bear Stearns Central America and Caribbean Month Report issued 6 October reveals that the DR has missed another coupon payment (on its 2006 bond) and is again making use of the 30-day grace period. The practice of postponing payment to the ultimate deadline was begun in the final days of the Mejia administration and Franco …

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