2006 – Page 39

Grupo Leon and the US-based tobacco conglomerate Phillip Morris International have finished their 37-year business partnership. According to Hoy newspaper, Leon Jimenes, the country’s largest tobacco producer, will no longer be in the cigarette production market (Nacional and Marlboro cigarettes). Grupo Leon will continue manufacturing Aurora brand cigars. In the divesting, it was agreed that …

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The Permanent Commission for Patriotic Anniversaries (CPEP) has launched a new exhibition commemorating the war for the restoration of Dominican Independence. The exhibition is being held at the Ave. Venezuela park. Listin Diario writes that the exhibition will be up until the 20 December, and many other similar exhibits commemorating those events will be displayed …

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Author John Fleury has published a new book about the life of the Virgin of Altagracia. The book, Nuestra Senora, la Virgen de la Altagracia (Our Lady the Virgin of Altagracia), was launched yesterday at a ceremony at the House of the Annunciation. The book, which was presented by Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, …

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Despite enjoying one of the best seasons in recent history, Dominican Albert Pujols lost out in the MVP race to the Philadelphia Philly star Josh Howard. Also, David Ortiz and Neifi Perez, who have recently arrived in the country, announced that they would not be playing for their team, the Leones of Escogido in this …

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President Leonel Fernandez is pushing for joint elections in 2012. According to the President, holding elections every two years is “tiring”. El Caribe says that the Chief Executive is proposing the 2012 scenario whereby Presidential, municipal and Congressional elections would be held the same year, although not on the same date. In fact, the President …

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Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa’s announcement of VAT increases on a series of basic food items has both consumers and traders in a twitter. Cooking oil, chocolate, coffee, butter, margarine and sugar will soon be subject to the 16% rate from which they are currently exempt. The common cry is that these are items that affect …

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The International Monetary Fund wants to put an end to the DR’s government subsidies on propane gas and electricity. However, the international financial organization has not drawn up any guidelines on just how to achieve this task, nor has it said just how to focus any reduced subsidies on the nation’s very poorest citizens. IMF …

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In a feature published over the weekend in Hoy newspaper, former Agribusiness Council (JAD) leader Jose Antonio Martinez Rojas suggests that the government cut some of the RD$3 billion spent on propaganda, eliminate the “complacent” credit cards for government officer no-limits spending that in his words, “lead to afternoons of drinks and snacks of up …

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The state-owned Banco Nacional de la Vivienda is reported to be offering loans for the purchase of vehicles for staff at the state university, the UASD. According to Diario Libre, the university authorities have signed an agreement by which professors and employees will be able to purchase a vehicle or a “jeepeta” under extremely advantageous …

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Santo Domingo hospitals, normally the nation’s busiest, are nearly empty, and, with the exception of the occasional accident victim, most of the emergencies are of a minor nature. According to El Caribe, all emergencies from Friday to Sunday are associated with alcohol or food poisoning, and wounds sustained during fights or traffic accidents. However, even …

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