2005 – Page 172

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Julio Cesar Corniel Amaro new Bishop of the Diocese of Puerto Plata. A former vice rector of the Roman Catholic Church’s Pontificio Santo Tomas de Aquino Seminary, Monsignor Julio Cesar Corniel Amaro was previously a priest in San Francisco de Macoris. The 46-year old priest was born in Rio San …

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Miss Dominican Republic Renata Sone was chosen second runner-up in last night’s Miss Universe 2005 pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand. Canadian Natalie Glebova was the winner over 81 other participants, and was followed by Miss Puerto Rico, Cynthia Olavarria, who was chosen first runner-up. Other finalists were Laura Elizondo, from Mexico, and Monica Spear, from …

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President Leonel Fernandez is scheduled to speak at the opening of the 30th annual Caribbean Studies Association Conference, which will be attended by an estimated 350 delegates. Hundreds of Caribbean-oriented academics have registered for the event, as reported by Caribbean journalist John Collins. The theme of the conference is “Caribbean Cooperation in the Era of …

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The Integrative Fiduciary Assessment of the Dominican Republic carried out by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank establishes that the Dominican political system is based on extensive presidential prerogatives with few checks from other sectors in government, to the extent that there is virtually no limit on the President’s power to grant direct …

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United States Ambassador Hans Hertell, speaking before the American Chamber of Commerce in Santo Domingo, called for a rapid approval of the DR-CAFTA pact and the removal of the exchange commission on imported goods. The exchange commission is a 13% charge the government levies on the use of hard currencies in purchases of raw materials …

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United States ambassador Hans Hertell continued his push for a quick approval of the DR-CAFTA by the Dominican Congress as he told reporters that one of the reasons that there is gathering support for the treaty in the United States Congress is that there are many sectors in the US that see the treaty as …

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Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa told reporters that the government was negotiating more flexible limits on some of the fiscal goals established by the IMF Letter of Intent. According to Bengoa, the IMF was mistaken in some of its estimates. He cited inflation as one area in which the government has surpassed the IMF estimate, which …

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The Economist features a story on the DR’s economic recovery, highlighting that the country is half way back to recovery. The magazine comments that Leonel Fernandez took office after four years of profligacy under his predecessor, Hipolito Mejia, including a dubious bank bail-out, that had doubled the public debt and wrecked what was one of …

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Franco Uccelli of Bear Stearns concludes that the first quarter numbers confirm that the consolidation of the economic recovery continues. “All in all, DR’s external performance confirms that the country’s recovery continues and that external liquidity conditions are improving,” he writes. Uccelli explains that while much of the focus has been on monetary and fiscal …

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The United States will be providing technical assistance to the Tax Department (DGII) in an effort to stymie tax evasion in the Dominican Republic. Juan Hernandez, the head of the DGII hailed the agreement with the Office of Technical Assistance of the US Treasury Department as the end of the “era of the sacred cows.” …

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