2021 – Page 96

Former Vice President Milagros Ortis Bosch was honored in the Senate for her six years of service in an event held at the National Congress on 23 August 2021. She was honored for her exercise of transparency, honesty and general contributions to the country as a senator, Vice President of the Republic (2000-2004) and politician. …

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Guillermo Moreno, president of Alianza Pais, in an opinion piece in Diario Libre on 23 August 2021, observes the dilemma of a government that seeks to present itself as the government of change while continuing many of the same odious practices of the past administration. Moreno mentions the excessive use of propaganda and the turning …

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Former President Leonel Fernandez gave a speech yesterday analyzing the first year in government of President Luis Abinader and rejecting the proposal to reform the Constitution. The 2015 Constitution in effect enables Fernández to run for the Presidency in 2024 and impedes his rival in his former Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), former President Danilo Medina …

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Could the Samana toll road become a Pandora Box or a can of worms, or both? Or will the government contract just become another government deal too convoluted to be aired in public or prosecuted by independent justice? Past governments signed a 30-year concession contract for the so-called Autopista del Nordeste (Juan Pablo II Highway), …

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The prevalence of Covid-19 in the Dominican Republic continues on the downward trend begun in July after the May Mother’s Day spike. The national 4-week positivity rate has dropped again and is now at 5.31%. The 24-hour positivity for the day was 5.26%, down from the previous day. The Ministry of Public Health’s Epidemiology Department …

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President Luis Abinader and Vice President Raquel Peña spent the weekend in the Cibao. They held the meeting of government ministers in Valverde. There, President Abinader announced public investment for US$29 billion to be made in the northwestern provinces. The works are contemplated to be begun in the second semester of 2021 and the first …

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Education Minister Roberto Fulcar announced the 2021-2022 school year will begin on Wednesday 1 September, with public schools reopening for in-person learning on Monday, 20 September 2021. The school year is scheduled to end on 29 July 2022. Minister Fulcar emphasized that while the school calendar is flexible, any changes must be authorized by the …

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The Ministry of Agriculture, headed by Limber Cruz Lopez, is spending hundreds of millions in its fight against the invasive African Swine Flu that has affected small hog farming, mostly in Sanchez Ramirez province. According to statements made at the most recent press conference, Cruz Lopez said that the ministry will buy, sacrifice, process, pack …

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The recently created Ministry of Housing that merged National Housing Institute (Invi) with the Office of Supervising Engineers for State Projects (Oisoe), has announced a sweeping program of construction that includes low-cost housing, schools, trauma centers and cancer centers. Housing Minister Carlos Bonilla Sanchez says the Abinader administration plans to build trauma and oncological centers …

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In Venezuela’s heyday, the Dominican Republic sourced most of its petroleum needs from that country. Today, the Customs Agency reports that upwards of 75% of fuel purchased comes from the United States. For the first semester of 2021, the government paid US$1.47 billion to import fuel. Of this total, US$1.11 billion were paid to US …

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