2013 – Page 326

The Catholic Church has condemned the destruction of the 60-year-old shrine to the Virgin of Altagracia located by the El Puerto bus stop on the road from La Vega to Jarabacoa, reportedly by several gunmen. Local residents say that they were woken up by the sound of shooting, and the security guard who looks after …

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The Attorney General, Doctor Francisco Dominguez Brito, has rejected the claim that cutting his hair was a violation of the rights of rap singer Manuel Varet Martes (Vakero), who was sent to the Rehabilitation and Correction Center in San Pedro de Macoris on three months remand for aggression and psychological violence against his wife, singer …

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The death penalty doesn’t exist in the Dominican Republic, but as crime escalates more policemen, alleged criminals and innocent bystanders have been killed in armed confrontations. A study by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) reports that since 1997 up to August 2012, 4,069 men and women, including minors, have died at the hands of …

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The Ministry of Culture, the City Government of the National District and the Santo Domingo Tourism Cluster have announced a very busy schedule for carnival in the city. This year there will be a children’s carnival parade and the first ever Colonial City Carnival parade is scheduled for 10 February. Mirtha Olivares is in charge …

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The Emergency Operations Center (COE) reports that there were 28 traffic accidents during the Altagracia Day long weekend, resulting in 20 injuries, as reported in Listin Diario. The long religious holiday was from Friday, 18 January through Monday, 21 January. COE director General Juan Manuel Mendez said that it was the same number as last …

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According to Juan Alberto Aguilera, an Executive Committee member of the Dominican Students’ Federation (FED), the leading student organization at the state university, the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), around 25,000 students have not been able to register for the January to May semester. Classes will start today. Aguilera said that the FED would …

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Julio Cesar Garcia Cruceta, General Secretary of the National Nurses Union, (Sinatrae), has complained that four patients died over the weekend in the Neuro Surgery Intensive Care Unit at Dario Contreras hospital in Santo Domingo due to lack of equipment such as ventilators and vital sign monitors, as reported in El Nacional. The deceased included …

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Summing up the four years of work of departing IDB head of mission Manuel Labrado Fernandez, Treasury Minister Simon Lizardo Mezquita highlighted that over the period, the Dominican Republic had received US$1,316.7 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for a series of projects designed to contribute to the progress of the country, as reported …

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Yesterday, Tuesday 22 January, the PRD Political Committee declared the expulsions of former President Hipolito Mejia and party operations president Andres Bautista to be invalid, as well as the two-year suspensions imposed on general secretary Orlando Jorge Mera and organizational secretary Geanilda Vasquez. They also called a meeting of the National Executive Committee (CEN) for …

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Supreme Court judge Esther Agelan Casasnovas has ordered the reversal of the decision to archive the investigation into Senator Felix Bautista’s alleged misappropriation of funds, saying that the investigation must proceed. Her decision followed an objection lodged by the President of the National Lawyers Convergence (Cona), Junior Ramirez Ferreiras against the decision by the National …

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