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In crisis management silence is not golden – it usually makes things worse. The manager of JetSet Club, Antonio Espaillat took 15 days to release answers to questions regarding the tragedy that happened when the roof of the nightclub collapsed killing 232 persons, included customers, staff and performers.
At the time of the collapse of the roof of the nightclub during the Rubby Perez merengue concert, Espaillat was in Las Vegas, Nevada attending a radio and TV innovations expo. Espaillat is said to own at least 50% of the radio stations in the country. He is also the owner of the Jalao nightclub in the Colonial City. He is also the owner of the Jalao and Jet Set Lounge in Manhattan, all businesses that have not reopened after the tragedy of 8 April 2025.
Espaillat would return from Las Vegas to Santo Domingo arriving on 8 April in the afternoon. He...
Emma Polanco, sworn in Wednesday, 23 April 2025, as the new president of the Dominican Republic’s Chamber of Accounts, has promised a “transparent and responsible” administration, seeking to restore public trust in the embattled oversight body. The Chamber of Accounts is tasked with auditing government institutions.
Polanco, a certified accountant and educator, assumed leadership for the 2025-2029 term. She vows to tackle the “difficult task” of rehabilitating the Chamber of Account’s reputation. The administration of her predecessor, Janel Ramírez, was marked by major differences between the audit members that did not enable the progress of objectives set when they were appointed.
To demonstrate her commitment to transparency, Polanco announced she would hire an external firm to audit her own management during her time as rector of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo...
The president of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel), Guido Gómez Mazara, accused some internet service providers on Wednesday, 23 April 2025, of cheating consumers by delivering less than promised.
Gómez Mazara, speaking on the radio program El Despertador, stated that “the famous little packages sold to people deceive them,” citing a recent study conducted jointly with the National Statistics Office (ONE).
He identified combating these scams as one of the primary challenges facing Indotel, the regulatory body for these services. “They sell a product at a certain price, but it doesn’t match what they deliver,” he said. “With Indotel’s new resolutions, we are forcing companies to increase service quality.”
He explained that Indotel has issued specific regulations “to protect consumers and ensure they receive what they pay for.”
Gómez Mazara...
A new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) reveals that an estimated 85% of children in the Dominican Republic have completed their vaccination schedules, Diario Libre reports. The data underscores the progress made in the country’s immunization efforts.
As part of World Immunization Week, celebrated this year under the theme “A Dose of Good News,” Unicef has launched a global campaign to emphasize the transformative power of vaccines in saving lives, amidst growing misinformation, polarization, and declining health funding. The campaign, which runs from April 23rd to 30th, involves over 40 countries and territories in the Americas.
“The national goal is to achieve a 95% coverage rate for all recommended childhood vaccines according to the Sustainable Development Goals,” Unicef stated in a press release. This initiative, led by international organizations...
In a strong reiteration of his stance, President Luis Abinader asserted on Wednesday, 23 April 2025, that the country has shouldered an excessive burden related to Haiti and insisted that the international community is obligated to step up its response to the crisis afflicting the poorest country in the Americas.
Abinader made these remarks while presiding over a meeting where municipal institutions signed an agreement supporting the government’s measures to curb irregular migration from Haiti.
President Abinader signed the agreement with mayors from all around the country, and representatives of the Migration Agency (DGM), the Dominican Municipal League (LMD), the Dominican Federation of Municipalities (Fedomu) and the Dominican Federation of Municipal Districts (Fedodim). The municipal representatives agree to back the...
135 were deported on the first day of a switch from the practice of offering free medical services to all needy Haitian migrants. The government is now limiting free medical services at public hospitals to undocumented foreigners.
Gangs control Port-au-Prince and there is a practical collapse of medical services in that country, putting the burden on the Dominican public health system. For years, the pace of Haitians seeking free medical services in the Dominican Republic has been increasing. The world seems to be asking the DR to provide medical services for the more than 10 million Haitians.
The Migration Agency announced the deportation of 135 undocumented Haitians seeking medical services on the first day of the implementation of measures to curb the increasing Haitian demand for public health system services in the DR. Amnesty International...
The Dominican Republic and the United States held high-level talks in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, 22 April 2025 to address the recently announced global tariff policy by the US government. Minister of Foreign Relations Roberto Alvarez, Minister of Industry & Commerce Víctor (Ito) Bisonó, and Minister of Hacienda José Manuel Vicente met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and with Sam Mulopulos, chief of staff of the Office of the US Trade Representative; Daniel Watson, Deputy Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere; and Andrea Malito, senior director for DR-CAFTA.
The Dominican trio had traveled to Washington after the US government announced tariffs would apply to Dominican exports that previously entered duty-free under the DR-CAFTA trade agreement. The tariffs are having a major impact on the cost of free zone exports that have always entered tax free to the United States.
The Dominican Presidency issued a note describing the meeting as positive...
President Luis Abinader and First Lady Raquel Arbaje with Pope Francisco / Z101 Digital
President Luis Abinader and First Lady Raquel Arbaje will travel to Rome this Friday, 25 April 2025 to attend the funeral mass of His Holiness Pope Francisco. The mass is scheduled for Saturday, 26 April at 10:00am local time in St. Peter’s Square.
The presidential couple is scheduled to return on Sunday.
The Vatican has confirmed that official delegations sent by governments can participate in the ceremony, with a limit of five members per delegation if led by a head of state or government.
Among the presidents from the Americas confirming they will attend the funeral are Donald Trump for the United States, Javier Milei of Argentina and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil.
Read more in...
The PRM majority Senate chose Emma Polanco Melo to be the next president of the Chamber of Accounts, the government entity tasked with auditing government. Francisco Tamárez Florentino was chosen as the vice president. The appointments were approved by 23 out of 26 senators present at the regular session on 22 April 2025.
Joining Polanco and Florentino as members of the chamber will be Francisco Alberto Franco Soto, Ramón Méndez Acosta, and Griselda Gómez Santana. The decision came after the report presented by Senator Guillermo Lama, who chaired the committee reviewing the nominees sent by the Chamber of Deputies. The representative of the Fuerza del Pueblo issued a dissenting report arguing that the choice lacked genuine consensus and had been imposed by the majority.
An accountant and academician, Polanco Melo is the former rector of the State University of...
Fernando Henríquez / Hoy
Fernando P. Henríquez is the new general coordinator of the legal team representing the Dominican state in actions and agreements for compensation and restitution of misappropriated assets, funds, and securities. He was appointed to head the Public Patrimony Recovery Team (ERPP) by Decree 217-25. He had been serving since 2021 as co-coordinator of the ERPP.
The decree also confirmed Manuel Conde Cabrera and Rafael Rivas Solano as coordinators of the team.
The appointment follows the resignation last week of attorney Jorge Luis Polanco as head coordinator of the ERPP. Polanco stepped down to represent legally Antonio Espaillat in connection with the tragic collapse of the Jet Set nightclub roof, which claimed 232 lives and injured hundreds more.
Fernando Henriquez is the brother of Paino Henriquez who was named Minister of Environment in August 2024...
In a coordinated effort to enforce immigration laws and retake private property, the Migration Agency (DGM), backed by state institutions, conducted a large-scale operation in the Mata Mosquito community near Friusa, Bávaro. The intervention resulted in the arrest of over 500 undocumented individuals and the demolition of precarious dwellings, the Migration Agency reports.
The operation, focused on identifying and removing unauthorized occupants from privately-owned land, specifically targeted individuals with irregular immigration status. Authorities confirmed that the majority of those detained were Haitian nationals lacking the necessary legal documentation to reside in the country.
Those apprehended were transferred to the Haina detention center for verification and subsequent repatriation, in accordance with the country’s General Migration Law 285-04.
The joint...
Franklin Guerrero / N Digital
N Digital journalist Franklin Guerrero asked President Luis Abinader on Monday, 21 April 2025 the question thousands of Dominicans must have when watching all the videos the Migration Agency uploads showing how they red-handed catch many Haitian smugglers. Guerrero said that it is evident lots of the same people are being caught again and again smuggling more Haitians.
The Haitians caught attempting to enter illegally are just deported. They use the “revolving door” as Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez has called the ease of returning to the Dominican Republic after being deported. The government is aware of the networks that operate to smuggle the Haitians, but seemingly if and when these cases go to the judiciary, the smugglers are let off paying a fine that does not discourage their operations.
Almost every week, or several times a week...
Héctor Herrera and Eliezer Jiménez / El Nuevo Diario
The president of the Dominican Emergency Medicine Society, Dr. Eliezer Jimenez Puello urges the government to regularly inspect closed public spaces where large numbers of people congregate for safety issues. He also said the lack of government supervision needs to be a matter of the past.
Interviewed by Hector Herrera Cabral of D’Agenda, Dr. Jimenez Puello said that the construction and operation of venues have become a matter of public health. He said it does not matter where they are private or public because the structural failures will have repercussions in the public health system and this is why the state has to get its act together.
“It is not only the traffic problems and the motorcyclists, but also the structures,” he said. He said that accidents happen, but this is usually because of human...
From 4 to 6 May 2025 more than 200 high-level legal experts from around the world are expected for the World Law Congress Dominican Republic 2025 organized by the World Law Foundation. The event will open at the Aula Magna of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. The main day for panels will be 5 May, in which +40 panels will take place simultaneously at Universidad del Caribe (Unicaribe) on the Malecon.
During the closing ceremony on 6 May, the World Peace & Liberty Award will be bestowed at the Aula Magna of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Previous awardees include Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, René Cassin, Felipe Vi of Spain, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the People of Colombia in the hands of Ivan Duque, US civil rights leader Andrew Young II, and the European Commission in the hands of president Ursula von der Leyen.
Tickets are available online to this event...
Juan Soto / Diario Libre
The first round of the World Baseball Classic, the leading global baseball tournament, is scheduled to be held from 5 to 17 March 2026. The winners of the top two positions in each of the four groups of four teams move on to phase two.
Dominican Republic is in Group D, playing against Venezuela, Netherlands, Israel and Nicaragua at the Miami Marlins’ stadium, the loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida.
Albert Pujols, who won the Caribbean Series and the Dominican Professional Winter League tournaments in 2025, is the manager of the Dominican team. Nelson Cruz is the team’s general manager.
The DR will play Nicaragua on 6 March, then the Netherlands on 8 March, Israel on 9 March and Venezuela on 11 March.
The top two winning teams from Group D will face the top two winning teams from Group C that is made up of Japan, Australia...
Despite a larger deployment of volunteers for the “Conciencia por la Vida” (Awareness for Life) operation during the Easter Week break, the number of fatalities did not decrease. Instead, the death toll rose from 27 in 2024 to 32 in 2025, leaving a trail of lost lives and shattered dreams.
Motorcyclists topped the list of fatalities, followed by deaths due to alcohol and food poisoning, and drownings.
The holiday period claimed the lives of 32 individuals, during an operation involving 49,997 members of the Center for Emergency Operations (COE).
Of the total fatalities, 26 were the result of traffic accidents involving motorcycles. The remaining deaths included one pedestrian struck by a vehicle, three involving light vehicles, and two drownings.
This year’s figures represent an increase of five deaths compared to the previous year’s Easter Week, which...
A Dominican mission made up by Minister of Industry and Commerce Victor (Ito) Bisono, Minister of Hacienda Jose Manuel (Jochi) Vicente and Minister of Foreign Relations Roberto Alvarez is in Washington, D.C. for high-level meetings on Dominican and United States relations, especially with officials of the US Trade Representatives Office. The negotiators seek to remove the 10% tariff, the Trump administration has levied on all Dominican imports to the United States, including free zone imports as of 5 April 2025. The Dominican Republic is a signatory of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement.
Speaking on the issue during the 21 April 2025 press conference, President Luis Abinader said that the 10% tariff should be removed given that it is a tariff levied to ensure trade reciprocity. The United States has an enormous trade surplus with the Dominican Republic. “If...
President Luis Abinader issued Decree 216-25, instating three days of mourning (22, 23 and 24 April 2025) for Pope Francisco. The Pope died on Monday, 21 April 2025 in the Vatican City.
His last act as head of the Catholic Church was to appear on Easter Sunday on the balcony of St Peter’s Square, waving at thousands of worshippers after weeks in the hospital recovering from double pneumonia.
Less than a year ago, President Abinader, after winning his second term in office on 16 May 2024, traveled with First Lady Raquel Arbaje and his three daughters Esther, Graciela and Adriana, to Rome and the Vatican for an official visit with the Pope on 27 May 2025. He fondly recalls speaking with the Pope for about 45 minutes and recalls the Pope as a person of much humor. He says they spoke of the DR in general, the church in the DR, geopolitics, global leaders and...
Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez speaking for his 15th time in four years at the United Nations National Security Council spoke this time of the gruesome 378 registered cases of sexual rape in Port-au-Prince, with lives destroyed and people terrorized. “The international community needs to respond to this humanitarian emergency,” he pleaded once more.
“Are we perhaps waiting for the governing body to be displaced by uncontrollable movements that force us to negotiate with criminal groups? This is the decisive moment for coordinated action and shared responsibility. It is crucial for the restoration of peace and sustainable development in Haiti,” said Alvarez.
He once again stressed the seriousness of the threats for the Dominican Republic, the only country that shares a land border with Haiti. “Recently, we declared terrorists the Haitian criminal groups that are becoming...
President Luis Abinader dedicated his 21 April press conference to share details on the advances of the 15 points the government is focusing on to curtail the flow of Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic. Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez has said that while the government spends billions in protecting the border and deporting Haitians, the border is a revolving door, with Haitians being deported and promptly returning to the country.
15th time at the Security Council in 4.5 years. All my appearances have been to instar a este organo a tomar medidas de lugar ante multidimensional crisis in Haiti. The human drama is identified among 15 conflicts in the world in 2025. The brutal of the gangs we cannot ….
Among the 15 measures are amendments to the Migration Law to curb Haitian migration, and people and contraband goods smuggling.
The presentation...
The president of the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD), Vice Admiral Jose Manuel Cabrera Ulloa clarified that in the case of National District alderman Edickson Herrera Silvestre there is yet only a capture or arrest order issued by a Florida court. This is only effective in the United States. Herrera Silvestre does not face judicial charges in the Dominican Republic where he is an alderman for the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM).
Cabrera Ulloa said the country has not yet received an extradition request from the United States.
The case is heard by the South Florida District Court of the United States dated 5 March 2025 and indicates the indictment dated 5 March 2025 was levied to Edickson Herrera Silvestre (Yeyea or El Regidor) and Jose Eduviges Aponte Torres and William Duran Jerez, accomplices in the alleged international cocaine trafficking network that operated from May 2020 to November 2022 in Miami-Dade, Florida, the DR. If extradited to the United States...
Garrick Higgo / Official Instagram Site
25-year old South African golfer Garrick Higgo won the trophy and cash award for the PGA Tour Corales Puntacana Championship that ended on Sunday, 21 April 2025 in a very windy Punta Cana. He defeated 37-year old Joel Dahmen who had a strong first three rounds but didn’t pull through on the definitive final play.
PGA Tour reported that Dahmen closed with three consecutive bogeys at Corales Golf Course, including a missed par putt from roughly 3 feet at the par-3 17th hole, to finish one shy of winner Garrick Higgo, who made birdie at the par-4 18th on that windswept Sunday in the Dominican Republic. It marked a sudden turn of events for Dahmen, who held a three-stroke lead through 54 holes and closed in 4-over 76, the highest final-round score of the top 37 finishers at Corales GC.
PGA Tour reported that Dahmen was gracious...
The year had started out as usual, with a significant increase in travelers in January 2025. In January 2025, a new record for the month was hit with 1,155,484 visitors, up 53% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019, 22% compared to 2023 and 8% compared to 2024. The numbers also reflected the strong maritime tourism numbers. Air arrivals were 759,929 tourists, with cruise ship tourists reaching a high 395,555.
Yet for the first time in four years, when reviewing the monthly statistics, Tourism Minister was not able to announce another record in travel arrivals. Tourist air arrivals in February 2025 were 588,212, down 9.85% compared to the 652,487 visitors in February 2024.
It is important to take into consideration that 2024 was an out-of-the-ordinary year because, as occurred in 2023, it accumulated the thousands of vacations people who had postponed vacationing in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due...
The 29th annual Hato Mayor/Vicentillo Beach Volleyball Tournament kicked off with an exciting opening match, where Flor Colón and her team, Las Populares del Banco de Reservas, defeated former captain of the Reinas del Caribe (the national senior women’s volleyball team) Prisilla Rivera and the Olímpicas, led by Cosiris Rodríguez. The final score was 21-13, with Colón’s experience on the sand outshining Rivera’s expertise on the hard court, a tournament press release explains.
They competed in the Hato Mayor tournament that offered more than RD$3 million in prizes at the Rancho Turístico Doña Callita. The opening ceremony featured Leo Corporán, sports editor of El Nacional, who performed the honorary serve to kick off the competition, which is dedicated to his legacy.
This year’s tournament includes competitions in the open, men’s, women’s, and regional...
Starting 18 June 2025, travelers will be able to fly nonstop from Santo Domingo to Bonaire. This weekly seasonal service will operate every Wednesday from La Isabela International Airport (JBQ) in northern Santo Domingo to Flamingo International Airport (BON) in Bonaire.
The airline will utilize CRJ-200 aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers for this route. One-way fares start at US$199.
The new route facilitates travel for tourists as well as individuals visiting family and friends on the Dutch Caribbean island and strengthens regional connectivity in the Caribbean.
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The Dominican peso has retaken somewhat the pace of depreciation estimated by the Central Bank for 2025. The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) recorded the exchange rate at 61.32 pesos to the US dollar at the close of December 2024. But in the first months of the year, the peso began a steep depreciation to the US dollar. For 2025, Central projections anticipate the exchange rate will average 63.11 pesos per dollar, reflecting an expected year-over-year depreciation of 5.5%.
The Central Bank announced on 17 April 2025, that the exchange rate had fallen below RD$60.00 to the US dollar, signaling a notable appreciation of the national currency.
According to the Central Bank’s report on the same date, the weighted average exchange rates for buying and selling US dollars in the market stood at RD$59.55/US$ and RD$59.83/US$, respectively. These figures represent...
Dominicans and people around the world awoke on Monday, 21 April 2025, to the sad news that Pope Francisco, 88, has left this world. Those watching the evening news on Sunday, 20 April had celebrated he was able to greet his followers at the Vatican Easter Sunday celebration after a long bout of illness. Moreover, the news had reported he held a brief meeting with visiting US Vice President JD Vance at the Vatican on that same day.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, would announce the death of Pope Francisco at 9:45am, local time, from the Casa Santa Marta with these words:
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us...
As every year, a massive effort was undertaken to reduce accidents by COE. Yet, the Center of Emergency Operations announced 23 deaths and 75 traffic accidents in its third of four bulletins recapping the Easter Week vacation sojourn — from Thursday to Sunday.
The Center of Emergency Operations (COE) had prepared as usual for the Easter Week holidays. There were 50,000 volunteers working to prevent accidents of any type over the long weekend. Their job was to ensure the safety of families at swimming places along rivers, at the beaches, and on the highways and expressways of the entire country.
This year’s Holy Week, which extended from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday, is expected to be less than the 27 deaths in 2024, reflecting the damper on vacationing spirits left by the horrific tragedy at the Jet Set Club, just days prior. The latest fatality of the roof...
Presidency Minister Jose Ignacio Paliza brought traffic control back into the spotlight on Good Friday, 18 April 2025, when he advanced that the government will be announcing 143 new measures that are aimed at improving the flow of traffic in Greater Santo Domingo.
In recent years, the government has been lax allowing the violation of traffic rules nationwide, leaving drivers to step up defensive driving to avoid accidents, especially with the scourge of millions of motorcyclists that blatantly ignore traffic laws and the negligence of authorities called upon to implement the laws and regulations.
Telling reporters that the traffic situation has been studied by international experts for the past eight months, Paliza said that some of the measures will be “disruptive, but necessary”. He added that the population will be well-informed as to the measures themselves, as...
The Central Bank (BCRD) has announced a continued downward trend in interest rates across multiple banks during the first quarter of 2025, El Caribe reports. Despite a challenging global economic landscape, the nation’s financial system maintains robust indicators, according to a recent BCRD analysis.
The report, titled “Strength and Resilience of the Dominican Financial System in a Complex, Turbulent, and Uncertain International Environment,” revealed that the weighted average interest rate on loans issued by multiple banks stood at 14.77% at the close of March 2025. This represents a significant decrease of 132 basis points compared to November 2024, when the rate reached 16.09%.
This decline is attributed to measures implemented by the BCRD and the Monetary Board in the final quarter of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, coupled with a cumulative reduction of 125 basis...
The Ministry of Labor recently announced that the minimum wage for domestic service was to be increased by 30%, going from RD$10,000 to RD$13,000 per month. Since many people employ domestic help on a day-to-day basis, the El Dia newspaper has calculated the daily rate at RD$546 per day. This new pay scale goes into effect on 1 May 2025.
However, in fact, most day workers will not work for less than RD$800 to RD$1,000 per day, plus transport. And live-in help will be far more expensive. There are about a quarter of a million persons involved in domestic service.
Read more in Spanish:
Brigadier General Pilot Jonas Reynoso Barrera / El Día
Brigadier General Pilot Jonás Reynoso Barrera has been named the new executive director of the National Anti-Terrorism Agency (DNA), according to an announcement from the Ministry of Defense.
The Ministry of Defense says that the appointment, made by Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, Minister of Defense, is part of an ongoing effort to modernize the institution to effectively address the threats posed by terrorism and transnational organized crime.
General Reynoso Barrera is a graduate of the “Batalla de Las Carreras” Military Academy and has a background as a combat pilot. His academic achievements include master’s degrees and specialized studies from institutions such as the Inter-American Defense College in Washington D.C., the George C. Marshall Center in Germany, and the US Air Force Air...
President Luis Abinader has signed Decree 215-25, creating the Observatory of Migration Policies, the Presidential Office announced. The new entity is in addition to the existing and the Migration Agency (DGM), the National Migration Institute (INM). The new entity will fall under the National Migration Council.
This new body will serve as a platform for citizen engagement, aiming to enhance organized oversight, transparency, and civil society participation in the formulation, monitoring, and evaluation of the Dominican Republic’s migration policies.
The presidential act establishes that the Observatory will operate under the purview of the National Migration Council. An executive commission will lead its operations, headed by Miguel Franjul, appointed by the Executive Branch as president of the organism, and coordinated with the Ministry of Interior and Police.
The...
It no secret that some of the provinces along the border with Haiti are among the poorest in the Dominican Republic. Provinces like Bahoruco, Independencia, and Elias Piña have the smallest populations and a large number of low-income people. Other border provinces are joined by Santiago Rodriguez, Dajabon, Montecristi and Pedernales.
A recent study by the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Development revealed that, on average, 17.7% of the population of these provinces is illiterate. The stat is well above the national average of 11%.
In the rural areas of these provinces, 28% do not know how to read or write, more than twice the 12% illiteracy rate in the urban areas. Adults and the elderly are the most limited with averages going between 12% and 20%.
However, the study also found that since 2010, the illiteracy rates had decreased by nearly 11%.
On the positive...
The National Observatory for Consumer Protection (Onpeco) has voiced its serious concern that the lack of crucial information on the death certificates issued to the families of the victims who perished in the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub on 8 April 2025, El Caribe reports.
In a press release, Onpeco highlights that the documents released by the Institute of Forensic Pathology (Inacif) and the Central Electoral Board (JCE) merely state that the deceased “died on Independencia Avenue” or in the capital city, conspicuously omitting any mention of the nightclub’s collapse. The consumer protection agency says that the unprecedented omission obscures the actual cause of death and could significantly impede potential insurance claims and other legal rights of the victims’ families.
The consumer protection agency argues that the failure to explicitly...
With the collapse of the 1970s edifice that had housed the JetSet Club on Tuesday, 8 April 2025, several took to the media to urge the government avoid a tragedy (at least 232 deaths) regarding the aging structures of the Francisco del Rosario Sanchez Bridge (Puente de la 17) over the Ozama River and the aging Court of Appeals building in the Centro de los Heroes. The government has been dragging its heels despite numerous petitions that those works were urgent.
The collapse of the roof of the Jet Set club brought to the open the urgent need for the government to act with these two structures. The Ministry of Public Works closed the bridge to tr traffic and announced maintenance and repair works for the bridge.
Around 800 meters long, the bridge is the third alternative, from south to north, that crosses the Ozama River that divides east and west Santo Domingo. It...
The tragic death of musician, singer, and songwriter Ruddy Perez has cast a gray cloud over the Dominican music scene. Roberto Antonio Perez Herrera (Ruddy) was 69 years old and had spent the last 40 years as a singer-songwriter of merengues.
He followed in the footsteps of the great Dominican musicians such as Luis Alberti, Wilfrido Vargas, and Johnny Ventura.
Strangely, it was an automobile accident that crushed his dreams of joining his brother in the Big Leagues but sent him in the direction of music stardom.
Diario Libre compiled a short list of his most famous songs. They can be found on YouTube quite easily. The most famous is perhaps “Volveré,” but most people will say that songs like Dame Veneno, El africano, Cuando estés con él, Enamorado de ella, Tu vas a volar, El perro ajeno, Penas, and Buscando tus besos are the Top Ten of this Dominican legendary performer.
Read...
As a consequence of the collapse of the roof of the JetSet Club during a Rubby Perez concert, so far 232 persons have been reported dead. This is the Dominican Republic’s largest fatality causer, outside of natural disasters.
The government has entrusted the Onesvie to prepare the official report. Likewise, the Attorney General Office prosecutors are carrying out investigations.
In the meantime, engineer Piter Bonilla has presented a preliminary report with the possible causes. He used the before and after visuals presented by Somos Pueblo to sustain his observations.
The observations focus on the power generators, air conditioning and more heavy loads that appear to have been on the roof, and the irregularities that caused filtrations and further damaged the structure of the roof.
The discussions continue with lawyers reviewing the possible course for the accusations...
Jorge Luis Polanco / El Nuevo Diario
In new developments over the weekend, lawyer Jorge Luis Polanco, the lawyer that headed the special legal entity President Luis Abinader had designated to strike deals for the early recovery of assets for the government from predetermined corruption legal cases traced to the past Danilo Medina administration, announced he would take on the defense of Antonio Espaillat, lead owner of the JetSet Club.
Also over the Easter holiday, the Attorney General Office announced precautionary measures to impede the transfer of assets of properties in which Espaillat is a shareholder. Jorge Luis Polanco would announce later that his client had not transferred assets.
Media programs continue to analyze the possible course of the case in the Dominican justice and reparations to the victims.
As reported, the JetSet Club same owners have shut...
The El Portal neighbors nearby the JetSet Club whose roof collapsed on 8 April 2025 causing the death of 232+ most instantly, say for years they had been placing complaints about the operation of the club and were ignored by the authorities. The neighbors in a video tell of the noise and vibrations that impacted their lives.
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