2005 – Page 263

Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito requested that the Chamber of Deputies strip deputy Radhames Garcia Ramos, now known as “Chino Ramos”, of his legislative immunity. The nickname was earned when he was arrested of smuggling 16 Chinese nationals across the Haitian border into the Dominican Republic in 2002. In his letter to the president of …

Read more…

The Supreme Court has postponed accused drug trafficker Quirino Paulino Castillo’s extradition hearings until next Tuesday. The reason given for the delay was to allow translators more time to finish working on the documents sent by the US Justice Department as part of the extradition request. Paulino Castillo was taken to the Supreme Court under …

Read more…

Three Dominican workers were killed and a fourth is very seriously injured after an explosion at an acetylene bottling facility in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Pablo Morillo, Ino Perez and German Gonzalez were killed by metal shards from the explosion, and Giovanny Pena Gomez is in critical condition at the New Brunswick Hospital. The explosion …

Read more…

International currency reserves at the Central Bank are up over 460% from last year and are now back at 2002 levels. The El Caribe reports that on 12 January the reserves reached US$639.8 million, up 6% on the 31 December figure, or in money terms, up US$37.6 million. The new levels are also 460% greater …

Read more…

The founder of the Dominican Republic, Juan Pablo Duarte, whose real ‘day’ is today, lived, wrote and fought in Santo Domingo. The Santo Domingo of Duarte’s time was the colonial walled city. It was not very large by today’s standards, just the river and sea on two sides, Avenida Mella to the north and Palo …

Read more…

The Tigres of Licey, behind big-leaguer Juan Cruz’s stellar pitching, stopped the powerful Aguilas Cibaenas offensive, winning 3-0 at a packed Quisqueya Stadium last night. Ronnie Belliard accounted for all three runs, un-earned after an error by Aguilas second baseman Felix Martinez blew a double play in the fourth inning. The error allowed Jose Herrera …

Read more…

President Leonel Fernandez is meeting with a delegation from the People’s Republic of China, headed by Cai Wu, deputy minister of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, as reported in Diario Libre. China is courting several countries in the Americas that have traditionally maintained very good relations with Taiwan, including the DR. The mission …

Read more…

The Ministry of Public Works announced that the government is investing RD$1.48 billion in repairs to the Duarte Highway, the nation’s most important thoroughfare connecting the country from south to north. The works will cover some 150 kilometers.

Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda announced a cooperation agreement with the New York City police aimed at fighting crime in the DR. He said that Charles Campisi, head of the New York City Police Department Internal Affairs Bureau, will be visiting the country on Friday to prepare a code of conduct manual for Dominican …

Read more…

The Department of Drug Control (DNCD) has increased fivefold the number of drug busts in the first five months since the new government took power. The Listin Diario reports that the DNCD, under Rear Admiral Ivan Pena Castillo, has confiscated 3,248 shipments, including the 1,387 kilos of cocaine linked to arrested former army captain Quirino …

Read more…