2007 – Page 319

Most observers knew that Aura Celeste Fernandez’s appointment to the Central Electoral Board (JCE) would provide a breath of fresh air to the oft-cited depository of political patronage. In yesterday’s Hoy newspaper, the eminent jurist revealed that some departments at the JCE are composed of entire families. She called these situations “distortions” in the JCE …

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The process leading towards a bilateral free trade agreement with the government of Taiwan began last October, and it opens new opportunities for increasing Dominican exports to the Asian industrial giant as long as the tariffs are reduced judiciously and some items excluded entirely. According to Hugo Rivera, one of the chief negotiators in the …

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Bishop Gregorio Nicanor Pena delivered the sermon during Sunday’s Mass celebrating the Patron Saint of the Dominican Republic, Our Lady of Grace, and took the opportunity to give President Leonel Fernandez an earful. According to El Caribe, the Bishop called for the application of strict laws to curb drug trafficking and halt the current wave …

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Despite the US$20.42 drop in international oil prices over the last six months, the average price paid by Dominican consumers has not kept pace. Premium and regular gasoline have fallen by just RD$25.30 and RD$23.60 each. According to Federico Quezada from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s Hydrocarbon Department, crude oil prices are not the …

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Massachusetts General Hospital has released humorist and television mogul Freddy Beras Goico after surgery to remove part of his pancreas. Beras Goico is recovering from the eight-hour operation in very good spirits and is expected to return to the Dominican Republic this week. Likewise, the Dominican Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez is out of intensive care and …

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The police have apprehended most of the gang that kidnapped a Cuban-born US citizen from his house in Villa Duarte in Santo Domingo. While they were being surrounded, the kidnappers opened fire. Two of the criminals were killed in the resulting exchange and two others were captured. The accused were found in a house in …

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Air Century pilot Rafael Alejandro Cid Rosario was very lucky last Friday, as his PA 34 crashed and burned a few minutes after takeoff from Hig?ero International Airport (La Isabela), north of Santo Domingo. The plane, with tail number HI-607CT, was bound for the new El Catey International Airport in Samana. The director of the …

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The Coastal Corporation managed to get propane shipments going smoothly once more, and the shortage that was beginning to be felt in Santo Domingo was eased. On Saturday, an LPG shipload placed 3.9 million gallons on the local market via the National Refinery. According to refinery spokesperson Alfredo Freites, the ship’s arrival on Saturday will …

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Bear Stearns analyst Franco Ucceli says that the low rate of inflation, just 5% as reported by the Dominican Central Bank, is an example of the DR’s prevailing monetary stability. According to a report in Diario Libre, the ” 0.7% inflation rate for December closed 2006 at 5% inflation, less than the 7.4% reported for …

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The weekend saw three exciting games between the Tigres del Licey and the Aguilas CibaeOas. In the first game, star pitcher Jose Lima pitched a gem and the Aguilas won handily, 9-3. In the second game, played in Santo Domingo’s Estadio Quisqueya, another great pitching performance allowed Licey to even the series at one game …

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