2004 – Page 87

President Leonel Fernandez transferred to the Ministry of Finances the responsibility for the management of the foreign debt of the government. The Central Bank has undertaken this role so far. A presidential decree establishes this disposition will go into effect as of 1 October of this year. The decree establishes a period of 30 days …

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President Leonel Fernandez created by Decree 1090-04 the Oficina Presidential de Tecnologia de Informacion y Comunicacion (OPTIC) that will be in charge of establishing the policies for technological developments in the area of communications.

President Leonel Fernandez appointed Jose Armando Tavarez Rodriguez to head the Instituto Tecnologico de las Americas. Jose Francisco Martinez Baez was appointed deputy director. The ITLA is under a board presided by Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado. El Caribe reports, that it is unknown whether the rector of the PUCMM will continue in his role.

The new migration legislation, signed into law on 15 August by former President Hipolito Mejia, obliges companies hiring illegal foreigners to cover all costs in the event of their deportation, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Nevertheless, the law establishes that any violation of migration norms does not relinquish the employer from his legal responsibility to …

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Gasoline prices declined for a second consecutive week, reflecting the appreciation of the Dominican peso and reduced petroleum prices abroad. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce set the current price of premium gasoline at RD$95, down from RD$100.80. Regular gasoline will cost RD$86.60, down from RD$91 last week and regular diesel fuel will cost RD$67.20, …

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Lawyer Roberto Alvarez writes today in El Caribe that the Dominican community in the US could play an influential role in the US presidential election. He said that Dominicans are on the cusp of becoming the third strongest Latin electoral force in the US, behind the Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. By 2010, it is expected …

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Dianne Kerry, the wife of Democratic candidate John Kerry visited the Dominican Republic on 23 August to campaign to get more Americans resident in the Dominican Republic to register to vote abroad. Likewise, a Dominican chapter of the Democrats Abroad office is coordinated in the DR by Leo Perez Minaya. The plan is to register …

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The National Police has recovered 50 vehicles that had been reported stolen, were recovered by the police, and then irregularly transferred to police officers, including several generals. Some of the victims of the thefts, many of whom still had to continue making monthly installments on their vehicles, have demanded that these law officials be brought …

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Former president of the National Council of Drugs, Marino (Vincho) Castillo said that when he ended his term at the governmental organization in August 2000, he left behind an inventory of 319 vehicles that had been confiscated from drug traffickers and money launderers. He said a week into the Mejia administration, there were only five …

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Economist Eduardo Tejera, whose 15-year-old daughter was raped by a gang of five men on Friday, 27 August, said he expects those responsible to receive the full weight of the law. He questioned the fact that several of the accused had been released from custody on four previous occasions without having received any judicial penalties. …

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