2005 – Page 214

In the style of former Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa, countryman Aramis Ramirez batted three hits to contribute to the Chicago Cubs victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix at the start of the Major League Baseball season. Monday indeed was a great day for Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez. Early in the day, he …

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President Leonel Fernandez decreed three days of official mourning beginning at 6 am on Sunday. The President’s wife, Margarita Cedeno, Papal Nuncio Timothy Broglio, and the Archbishop of Santo Domingo Nicolas de Jesus Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez, will be in Rome for the funeral this Friday. Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez was mentioned in a Reuters wire as …

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The death of Pope John Paul II has deeply moved the Dominican Republic, first country of 105 he visited upon being named Pope and to where he would return on two other occasions. The DR was his second most visited Latin American country, only after Mexico. Pope John Paul II is the only Pope to …

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Foreign experts, contracted by the Central Bank to analyze the causes of the banking crisis of 2003, reported that unless profound changes are carried out in the culture of the legislature, judicial and governmental offices, another crisis will occur. The group handed in their report: “Expert International Panel Report on Dominican Banking Crisis” to the …

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The Alternative Energy Plan that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has prepared to save as much as US$554 million a year in energy costs, not only includes the use of alcohol from sugar cane and wind generation, it also calls for the replacing of light bulbs in the poorest barrios. Minister Francisco Javier Garcia …

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Representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited the National Congress at the end of last week to see if the goals that have been set out by the IMF regarding certain legislative processes have been met. The IMF delegation emphasized the need to revise some of the tax codes and the Law of Systemic …

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The director of Country-Risk for Latin America, a part of the Intelligence Unit of the British newspaper, The Economist, Robert Wood, said that one of the factors that will determine the amount of impact that can happen in the Dominican Republic as a result of the FTA with the United States will depend on the …

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The much read column “Que se dice” (What’s being said) in Hoy newspaper uses the idiom “macuteo,” a Dominican word that means “kick-back,” “pay-off” or “bribe” in the popular language. A “macuto” is a small woven basket used to carry personal items. The idea is that the payee will fill the basket. The columnist warns …

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Insured automobiles are being stolen at a higher rate than last year. According to Hoy newspaper, in just the first two months of the year there have been 111 stolen cars and just 9 have been recovered. What makes things more serious is the fact that these vehicles are 30% more expensive, with 60% of …

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Several export leaders, including Jose Antonio Flaquer, the head of the Dominican Association of Exporters, are warning that the Dominican Republic could come up a loser with regards to the free trade agreement to be signed with the United States. Flaquer met with members of the media at the Hoy Economic Meeting, and he pointed …

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