2006 – Page 59

On his official visit to the United States, President Leonel Fernandez showed up on time, sometimes even early, to most of his scheduled meetings in Washington, DC. The President did arrive late to a meeting with IMF president Rodrigo Rato. Listin Diario reports that the meeting was scheduled for 2:30 last Tuesday, and President Fernandez …

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Economist and director of the Economic and Development Foundation Jaime Aristy Escuder is quoted in Hoy newspaper as saying that President Leonel Fernandez is a prisoner of the PLD party’s leadership, the Political Committee, and that this is preventing him from making major changes or the necessary moves to help the population. Aristy points out …

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The Presidential announcement that the Dominican people would be undergoing a third tax reform in three years has moved just about everyone to emit an opinion. The Superintendent of Banks, Rafael Camilo, one of President Fernandez’s closest advisors, said that the current luxury taxes on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages would be changed to an ad …

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The projected budget for the 2007 fiscal year will be RD$240 billion and is based on two plans. The first includes the announced tax reform, and if it is passed, then the budget will be RD$240 billion. The second plan is for a budget of RD$230 billion in case the tax package does not get …

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There was a political cartoon over the weekend that showed a voice coming from the seat of government and shouting “Health, education and electricity!!! Health education and electricity!!! Health education and electricity!!! Can’t you talk about anything else??” The reality is that two of the major newspapers, El Caribe and Diario Libre feature important stories …

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Interior and Police Minister Franklyn Almeyda has announced that he will ask President Fernandez to relax the decrees limiting the sale of alcoholic beverages over the Christmas period. According to Almeyda the reduction of alcohol sales, along with increased police activity has reduced the amount of violence during the period since the alcohol decree was …

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Hans Dannenberg Castellanos is the new Dominican ambassador in Vietnam after presenting his credentials on Wednesday, 25 October in Hanoi. During the 46-minute special meeting, Vietnamese President Triet emphasized the independent approach, open and focused on promoting world peace, stability and regional development of the world carried out by the Vietnamese government. He confirmed that …

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Eneida Lopez de Contreras, General Consul to Mexico from the Dominican Republic, has been named head of the consular corps in Mexico. It is the first time a Dominican has been chosen for the position. The consular corps is a group made up of consuls from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Lopez de …

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Dominican exports to Mexico are growing at an impressive rate, reaching US$100 million in 2005. Over the last five years, according to Marco Antonio Sanchez, they have grown by #0%. Sanchez, the head of the Dominican-Mexican Chamber of Commerce, told Hoy editorial executives that the Dominican Republic imported US$215 million, excluding petroleum products. Recent reports …

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The cities of Santiago, La Vega, Bonao, La Romana and the area between Santo Domingo and Haina are the most polluted in the Dominican Republic. This is how they appear on the recently developed map issued by the Environment Ministry. The high levels of pollution are attributed to heavy industrial concentration, the massive use of …

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