2005 – Page 170

Superintendent of Banks, Rafael Camilo defined the government’s position on the relaxation of the strict definitions regarding asset evaluation as “not negotiable.” Camilo also told reporters from the Listin Diario that his auditors were now going to look not only at the bank itself, but at the entire financial group and all of the associated …

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The World Bank is proposing that ITBIS (the value added tax on the transfer of manufactured goods and services) should be applied to the industries located in the tax-free industrial parks around the country. To prevent the companies from picking up and leaving hundreds of thousands of workers in the lurch, the World Bank proposes …

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Venezuela confirmed yesterday that it is asking the Dominican Republic to respect “its sovereign right” to transport the oil that it sells under the Caracas Agreement on Energy Cooperation. This would force the rescission of the contract between the Dominican Refinery (REFIDOMSA) and OSG, the current shipping line. The refinery’s president Aristides Fernandez Zucco warned …

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It took US President George W. Bush less than three months to get Congress to pass Free Trade Agreements with Chile, Morocco, Australia and Singapore, but a year after the initial signing, the legislation that empowers the DR-CAFTA agreement is still pending in the US Congress. A proposal now on the table, to submit the …

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The Central Electoral Board is objecting to legislation that grants Protestant churches in the Dominican Republic the authority to carry out marriage ceremonies according to their own traditions. According to the Listin Diario, the JCE declared, nonetheless, that it is the obligation of the legislators to determine beyond a doubt which congregations are to be …

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The first part of today’s “Que se dice” (What’s being said) column takes on the Justice Department’s announced plea-bargain offer to the nearly five dozen former and current police officials that have been indicted on charges of using recovered stolen property for their own benefit. The author called the plea bargain, reported as much as …

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The hearing in the Chamber of Deputies regarding abortion issues got a lot hotter yesterday when Magaly Caram and Magaly Pineda, representatives of NGOs defending women’s rights, spoke out in favor of abortion in special cases, and called for its legalization. Monsignor Benito Angeles, representing the Dominican Council of Bishops, together with other representatives from …

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Under a judge’s questioning, Joaquin Ruiz, the owner of Importadora Fenix, the company that sold the Colibri helicopter that eventually ended up in the hands of accused drug trafficker Quirino Paulino Castillo, told the court that he received the final payment of US$600,000 on 2 December 2003 from colonel Pedro Julio (“Pepe”) Goico, who asked …

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Heydi Rodriguez won gold medal in the 19th Panamerican Karate Championship that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 27-29 May. Rodriguez won gold in the under 53 kilogram division. She had won gold in the Panamerican Games held in Santo Domingo in July 2003. This is the third gold medal at a Panamerican level …

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Today marks the official beginning of the 2005 Hurricane Season all along the East Coast of the United States and across the entire Caribbean. This means that for the next 182 days the Dominican Republic and the rest of the Caribbean are facing the threat of tropical cyclones or hurricanes. According to the National Hurricane …

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