2004 – Page 96

It has come to light that former Attorney General Victor Cespedes ordered the release of convicted drug trafficker and former vice-consul in Port Au Prince, Haiti, Ormis Freddy Pena Mendez, for alleged problems that included high blood pressure and diabetes. Pena Mendez was arrested on 27 August, 2002 in Santo Domingo, along with Gilberto Antonio …

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A report in the Diario Libre says that the initiative to prevent crime and protect the people began with police on foot patrol yesterday who lacked any means of communication or weapons of any kind. That is how four cadets set off to make the rounds of an area on 27 de Febrero near Paris …

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Felix “Super” Sanchez will be running in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece today at 3:30pm. This is certainly the closest the Dominican Republic has come to a gold medal since boxer Pedro Julio Nolasco became the first Dominican to win an Olympic medal in the 1984 Los …

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President Leonel Fernandez continued his hectic pace of filling the jobs to be vacated by the PRD faithful. In 43 decrees that range from numbers 943 to 986, he placed assistant prosecutors and district attorneys for most of the country. http://www.hoy.com.do/(43cabo455waiap45431koz45)/app/article.aspx?id=3615 Fernandez also placed a few more generals in retirement, among them Rafael Ramirez Vidal …

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President Leonel Fernandez has suspended the pensions awarded by former President Hipolito Mejia to public servants and civilians during 2004. El Caribe reports that Fernandez has instructed the Finance Ministry to analyze the pension amounts disbursed under the Mejia administration, which were the object of much scrutiny by the local press. At the same time, …

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Environment Minister Max Puig announced yesterday that his department would conduct a review of the contentious and widely-opposed Sectoral Law on Protected Areas. As Laura Martinez writes for Diario Libre, the minister said his people would examine the process in which the legislation was created, as well as its Congressional approval. According to Puig, the …

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An unusually reticent and diplomatic US Ambassador Hans Hertell visited the DR?s new attorney general, Francisco Dominguez Brito, yesterday, where the two discussed local initiatives to combat drug trafficking and organized crime. The digital edition of El Caribe says that Hertell requested the extradition of several individuals, but did not specify who they were. Hoy …

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The Dominican Refinery (REFIDOMSA) suspended propane service last Friday, a move that has caused much consternation for homemakers and transportation workers. If service is not resumed today, the crisis could become very serious. Hundreds of tank-truck drivers made their way to the refinery?s gates yesterday upon hearing the news that a shipment was due in …

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Although approximately half of the buses belonging to the OMSA transport organization are out of service, the remaining 250-300 units were circulating yesterday, according to Hoy, helping Dominicans get to their jobs and back home again. An unnamed source told the newspaper that there should be 500 buses operating in Santo Domingo today and about …

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Health care for tourists is turning into a highly lucrative business, in spite of its potential to damage the DR?s image as a safe tourist destination. Annet Cardenas, a reporter for the Diario Libre, discovered that some of the highest-priced services were found at the two clinics run by Hospiten in this country: one in …

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