2008 – Page 4

This holiday season is filled with the excitement of the Santo Domingo Metro. Yesterday was the Metro’s unofficial inauguration with the government allowing passengers to ride the Metro for free throughout the holiday season. Hoy reports that taking a ride on the SD has become somewhat of a family outing with families happily riding the …

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After two consecutive sessions the Senate has passed the 2009 budget for a total of RD$328.99 billion, as presented by the Executive Branch. The Senate also approved an addendum that replaces the US$1.9 billion four-year authorization for foreign loans with one that assigns RD$100 million to each of the 32 provinces for infrastructure works. Of …

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Diario Libre is reporting that the National District Municipality has agreed to allow temporary parking in the Chinatown area of Santo Domingo. The temporary agreement will allow parking from 23 December until 7 January, typically the year’s busiest commercial season. Once the holiday season is over the former no parking restrictions will go back into …

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President Leonel Fernandez used his constitutional right to pardon Baninter banker Vivian Lubrano de Castillo, exempting her from serving a five-year jail sentence. She had been found guilty of a part in the RD$55 billion Baninter fraud. Fellow bankers Ramon Baez Figueroa, financier Luis Alvarez Renta and former bank operations executive Marcos Baez Cocco are …

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In a deal with New York prosecutors, former Dominican army captain Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo has agreed to plead guilty to charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. In return, charges against eight members of his family, based in the DR, will be dropped. Quirilio Paulino Castillo, Zaira Castillo Ramirez, Luis Marmolejos, Felicita Consuelo Medrano, …

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Peravia Senator Wilton Guerrero says that organized crime rings are behind people smuggling and the transport of drugs and cash using private flights and charters. As reported in Diario Libre, Guerrero commented on the disappearance of a private flight with 12 people on board that took off from Santiago airport after filing a private flight …

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According to the Quisqueya Foundation, tourism took a 5.8% dip in November 2008 after only 268,469 visitors visited the DR compared to 284,969 in November of 2007. The Foundation says that the decrease of 16,500 visitors is partly due to an 11.7% decrease in arrivals among Dominicans living abroad and a 4.83% decrease in arrivals …

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A French court has ordered Didier Bidaut and his wife Denise to pay EUR4,500 to a Dominican domestic worker, as well as a EUR1,000 fine each for illegally hiring a foreigner and abusing a domestic worker. Listin Diario reports that Didier Bidaut, former director of Air France in the DR, and his wife, have been …

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Major League Baseball has suspended two more Dominican baseball players for failing doping tests. The suspensions will total 50 games. One of the players, Damian Taveras is a catcher with the Yankees and the other is Ambiorix Suero, a pitcher with the Orioles. The latest announcements add to the astronomical number of Dominican athletes caught …

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Although Manny vowed never to don the hated Yankee pinstripes reports are starting to surface that the Bronx Bombers are courting Ramirez. The story, first reported by the New York Daily News, has many interesting aspects including the fact that the Yankees are the only team in baseball willing to take on a massive contract …

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