2008 – Page 142

President Leonel Fernandez will travel to Cartagena, Colombia today to attend the Regional Summit on International Drug Problems. Also expected to attend are the Presidents of Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will open the anti-drug summit. Then the participants will meet to discuss key issues related to the international drug trade. The …

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Business sectors are expressing concern that the Fernandez Administration seeks to reduce funds allotted to recapitalize the Central Bank and pay interest on certificates of deposit, as per a bill sent to Congress. The complementary budget bill calls for the approval of an increase in the Central Government deficit to the tune of RD$20.76 billion. …

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The National Social Security Council (CNSS) is extending their coverage and will allow single persons between the ages of 18 and 21 to be covered under their parents’ health plan even if they are not in school, as long as they are financially dependent on the parents. The measure is part of resolution 184-05 that …

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Carmen Natividad Melendez, director of the new National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Pro Consumidor) warned the National Association of Gasoline Retailers (Anadegas) that Art. 87 of Law 358-05 on the Protection of Consumer Rights prohibits businesses from charging consumers extra for the use of their credit cards. Juan Ignacio Espaillat, president of …

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Spanish Vice President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega is expected Friday, 8 August in Santo Domingo, the third stop of a 12-day tour of Latin America. She will visit the Mexico, Haiti, the DR and El Salvador. It is the VP’s fourth official trip to the region. The goal of her trip is to …

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Public Works Minister Victor Rua Diaz said that the government will not allow Concesionaria Dominicana de Autopistas y Carreteras (Codacsa) to keep collecting the tolls on the La Romana-Santo Domingo highway. He said he would not allow a group of foreigners “to live off of the DR’s money”. Rua Diaz’s comments are in response to …

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The Central Electoral Board is suspending the cedulas of baseball prospects Angel Luis Joseph (son of undocumented Haitian parents) and Eduard Starlin after alterations in their birth certificates were detected. Both prospects obtained their cedula identity cards irregularly. There is the concern there may be other baseball prospects that have altered their data to appear …

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The Dominican Medical Association (CMD) announced it has once again suspended talks with the government and will call for a general strike of public hospital physicians on 14 August followed by a protest on 16 August, the day President Leonel Fernandez is inaugurated for his third term in office. CMD director Waldo Ariel Suero says …

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Celso Marranzini, president of the pro elementary education organization, Action for Basic Education (Educa) says the nation’s educational system should be declared in a state of crisis, mainly because of its low quality. He said that while more children are going to school, quality has remained low. Marranzini based his comments on findings presented at …

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The DR’s social sector is at a disadvantage, according to a report released by the Juan Montalvo Social Studies Center. According to the report, Observatorio de Politicas Sociales, the percentage of the budget allotted to the social sector dropped from 39.9% to 37.7% this year. The trend has been for less spending on education, health …

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