2005 – Page 157

The German embassy in the Dominican Republic announced the successful conclusion of the bilateral inter-government talks regarding German cooperation from 2005-2008 to the DR held in Santo Domingo 15-16 June. The German government announced it will allot allot EUR9.5 million for the Protection and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources primarily in the river basins of …

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President Leonel Fernandez has said that he considers it “prudent and opportune” to retain the government’s subsidy on propane gas for the time being. Speaking to the nation on the government television station CERTV, Fernandez provided a sigh of relief for many households. At the current price of RD$25 per gallon, propane is subject to …

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One gunshot wound and several arrests was the toll following yesterday’s demonstrations by different groups in the town of Moca, Espaillat Province. Victor Breton, spokesperson for the FALPO group, said that the aim of the 48-hour protest was to put pressure on the government to maintain the propane subsidy and to protest against the high …

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The Liga Municipal Dominicana (Dominican Municipal League), created by Law 49 in 1938 to manage, and advise municipal governments on what to do, is under attack in the Chamber of Deputies again. Deputy Ruddy Gonzalez told the chamber that given the current tendency to decentralize the government’s micro-management, as well as the new budget autonomy …

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Today is the Tobacco Day in the DR. Tobacco remains one of the country’s main exports. In spite of the production surplus of 1998, generated by the “Cigar Boom”, the sector has recovered sufficiently to be able to export US$300 million in leaf and cigars to the world. Both the public and private sector are …

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An 11 to 9 vote in the United States Senate Finance Committee was a successful precursor to the bill’s introduction to the floor of the Senate some time later this month or in July. The vote, however, was a test vote and not the real thing. Most of the 20 committee members were not even …

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Virgilio Bello Rosa, contender for the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) presidency in the party convention held on Sunday is disputing the preliminary results that show senator Ramon Alburquerque as winner. Alburquerque is leading in the first bulletin, with 10% of the votes counted, with 34% to Bello Rosa’s 31.5%. Alburquerque had the support of former …

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Judge Eduardo Sanchez has ordered the arrest of the former Banco Mercantil president Andres Aybar Baez, together with the bank’s former vice president of finances, Evelyn Perez. Their case will be heard in a criminal court with charges of bank fraud to the tune of RD$6.5 billion. Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, however, said that …

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The three Riu chain hotels operating in the Maimon, Puerto Plata area, Mambo, Merengue and Bachata reopened today, after a week-long closure from 8 to 15 June. The Listin Diario reports that the hotels were closed to effectively combat the Norwalk virus that was reportedly brought to the hotel in December by Canadian tourists, but …

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Bear Stearns researcher Franco Uccelli reports that while the lower levels of inflation seen in the Dominican economy over the past few months are positive signs, he feels that the country should guard against the negative consequences of a potential deflation in the economy. Ucelli tempers his warning by saying that a deflation would be …

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