2008 – Page 129

The Inter American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States deplores the murder of cameraman Normando Garcia on 7 August in a resolution by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. The journalist was gunned down on 7 August while waiting at a car wash. Garcia covered drug dealer …

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Lt. Colonel Ricardo Rafael Guzman Perez, his wife, Scarlett Aristy Rojas and their driver Marcos Fajardo have all been sentenced to one-year preventive custody after being caught with 8 kilos of cocaine earlier this week. Guzman was sent to La Victoria and Aristy and Fajardo to Najayo jails. The trio is also facing charges of …

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More than 20 people are believed dead and several more injured after a frontal two-bus accident on the La Romana-Higuey highway at 8am on Friday, 15 August. It has been raining intensely. El Caribe reports that the accident occurred at the 35th kilometer of the highway, at the point known as “Curva del Gordo” (fatman’s …

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Citizens and eligible nationals of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) of the United States need to be aware that beginning 1 August 2008, the US Customs and Border Protection is now asking all to seek authorizations to visit online through the new Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). This does not apply to Dominican nationals, …

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Dominican hurdler 30-year old Felix Sanchez’s dreams of a second Olympic gold were dashed in less than 60 seconds. Sanchez, who has been recuperating from a foot injury, came in fifth place during his first round classificatory race in Beijing. The Athens Olympics gold medalist hours before the race had been saddened when he learned …

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Puerto Rico is on Friday under flooding watch this Friday, 15 August due to a tropical wave that is crossing over. It has been raining in the DR already today, and the forecast is for more rains through Saturday. On Saturday, 16 August the tropical wave is expected to have become a depression as it …

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The Supreme Court of Justice issued an opinion backing the position of free zone companies in a dispute with workers, represented by the Federation of Textile Workers, Cotton Producers and Footwear (Fenatraca). The free zones prior to 2005 had the common practice of every year making severance payments to their employees that were rehired. This …

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The government’s *GOB (*462) information line has received 10 million phone calls since its start, according to the OPTIC. The government says it will expand the service to include information on all government departments and city government services. The *GOB program is run by the Presidential Office for Information Technologies and Communication (OPTIC).

Edwin Ruiz of Clave newspaper writes today about the contradiction between the millions invested in the “electronic government” of President Fernandez and the backlog in publishing economic statistics. He makes the point that the Budget Department (Digepres) has a freedom of information access department but this is not yet operating, four years after this was …

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Once again the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) has called for a 24-hour work stoppage at public hospitals to pressure the government to accept their demands. The strike will be held today, and a protest will be held on 16 August, the day President Leonel Fernandez is sworn in for his third term. The CMD has …

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