2010 – Page 295

Avenida Espana will be the setting for carnival parades this Sunday, 21 February at 2pm. Santo Domingo East Mayor Juan de los Santos said that musicians Jose Pena Suazo and Omega would be the star attractions at the mini-carnival event. For more on upcoming events, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar  

President Leonel Fernandez proclaimed Santo Domingo as the Cultural Capital of America 2010 during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace yesterday. Last year the International Bureau of Cultural Capitals in Barcelona chose Santo Domingo to become the first Caribbean and Central American nation to receive this title. Speaking at the start of the ceremony, Bureau …

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President Leonel Fernandez will travel to Mexico this Sunday to take part in the Rio Group Summit. The meeting will take place in Cancun on 22 and 23 February.

A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded its review of the Dominican economy and compliance with the Stand-by arrangement signed last November. The mission observed: “Performance under the current SBA has been largely positive. While the economy remains weak, there is evidence of a rebound in activity in the last several months …

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First Lady Margarita Cedeno says that her office will reach out to extend coverage of the “Getting Ahead” (Progresando) program to 196,000 families nationwide, to encourage their long-term development. Progresando currently benefits 130,000 families in 18 provinces. The office aims to help 606,140 people through health prevention plans and to provide sickness benefits for 163,070 …

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Economist Bernardo Vega says that the DR could feel the short-term effects of its growing foreign debt. He says the problem is not so much the total of the debt, or its relation to the GDP, or the payments that need to be made against foreign exchange receipts. The problem is that every day a …

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The blackouts that are affecting the common folk in the barrios have now also reached the privileged circuit of the Presidential Palace, where yesterday afternoon the electricity supply went out for approximately 25 minutes. The unusual event, which happened at 12:25pm through 12:50pm, occurred when First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez was hosting the presentation …

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The Central Electoral Board (JCE) is still RD$877 million short, part of the RD$1.364 billion additional budget required for the logistics and organization of the congressional and municipal elections next 16 May. JCE president Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman told reporters from El Nuevo Diario that the board had received RD$487 million but they were expecting …

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In another, perhaps more serious matter, the possible nomination of Julio Romero, an admitted pederast, will be investigated by the JCE if it does take place. Castanos Guzman did say however, that if there is no conviction for a felony, a person does not lose his right to stand for election. Feminist groups are challenging …

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You can walk over the dike of the dam in the Haina – Manoguayabo system. What is usually a concrete wall covered by the flow of water that is going to the intake, is now a bridge that connects both sides of the Haina River that can be used by two-wheeled vehicles. Haina – Manoguayabo …

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