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The American Chamber of Commerce is promoting an upcoming talk by community development expert Lawrence Harrison. Harrison is the author of the bestseller The Central Liberal Truth. In Santo Domingo, Harrison will speak on Culture, Competitiveness and Development at the Salon La Mancha of the Gran Hotel Lina on Sunday, 22 March.
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For more information, contact AmCham at a href=http://www.amcham.org.dowww.amcham.org.do/a

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The Dominican Republic is the favorite to win against the Netherlands today in the World Baseball Classic first round being played in Puerto Rico. But after the Dutch team’s strong performance in the first match against the DR, and yesterday against Puerto Rico, nothing can be taken for granted. The Netherlands was winning the game by one run against Puerto Rico until the eighth inning, when Puerto Rico advanced three runs. The DR was supposed to easily defeat the Netherlands in its first match, the opening game, only to lose 3-2 to the European team that is being regarded as the revelation of the tournament. The Netherlands vs. DR match is today at 6:30pm. The winner will qualify for the second round in Miami. Puerto Rico has already won its right to play in Miami. The winner of tonight’s game will play Puerto Rico for the US$300,000 prize money.

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Two members of the armed forces attached to the Specialized Corps of Airport Security (CESA) K-9 Unit have been arrested at Las Americas International Airport (AILA) with 27 packages of cocaine that they were trying to put on a flight to Europe. According to investigators, Corporal Victor Alvarez Almonte and Private Santiago Torres Calzado were taken to the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) headquarters. The dispatch of the drugs for Madrid, Spain was stopped by intelligence agents from the Armed Forces working in coordination with members of the Customs Department that track members of the CESA and the DNCD on the tarmac at the airport. The involvement of members of the DNCD and the CESA in similar incidents has led to the use of plainclothes intelligence agents from the Armed Services at AILA. After they were discovered, the CESA troops tried to use their assault rifles to flee, but they [...]

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National Police chief Rafael Guillermo Guzman Fermin has fired and then arrested the officers in command of the police force in La Vega, for negligent behavior in the pursuit of crime, according to a press release from the Police. Meantime, in Cotui he ordered the 30-day arrest of the commander of that jurisdiction for not taking the police actions necessary to prevent the stopping of traffic on the road that gives access to the Falconbridge Dominicana mining company. Traffic was shut down during a protest by freight carriers in the area. The high ranking officers fired from their posts in La Vega are Colonel Elido Garcia Rodriguez, the commander of the jurisdiction, Nelson Vidal Baez Ubiera, the head of the Investigations Department, and Major Jose Anastasio Brea Roman, the executive officer. The police said that Guzman Fermin would go to La Vega to personally swear in the new officers. [...]

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Four people were killed and three wounded during a shoot-out between the National Police and two assailants in the community of Cambita Garabito in the province of San Cristobal. According to reports by local eyewitnesses, the shooting started after the assailants held up a man, Sergio Vega at about 2:30 in the afternoon on Francisco Bono Street and stole his handgun. After the robbery, the motorcycle they were using did not start, forcing them to run towards the Banco de Reservas on La Trinitaria, where they were stopped by the bank’s security guards. Hoy newspaper reports that the first two people who were killed had been used as human shields by the assailants who then killed them when they tried to run away. In the midst of all of the confusion, the thieves pointed their weapons at motorcycle driver Guillermo Lorenzo, 22, getting on his motorcycle and began to flee. [...]

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Hoy newspaper reports that the bonanza of raises in the decentralized government organizations continues with the city councilors in the National District. They have voted in favor of increasing their wages to RD$130,000 or RD$150,000 depending on the month. They gave themselves a wage adjustment of RD$45,000. The basic wage of a city councilor, whose responsibility is to attend some work sessions, is RD$92,000 a month, but they also get RD$40,000 for professional services and RD$25,000 for other expenses. This is the second increase they have received since 2006.

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Consumers keep waiting for prices to go down, but all they seem to get are price increases. Producers, millers, traders and importers have left the Dominican people waiting and have not kept their promise to lower prices. A month and a half ago these sectors promised President Fernandez that they would not increase their prices on basic foodstuffs, yet that is just what they have done. Mass-market products like eggs and vegetables have gone up, sometimes by as much as 25% and even 30%. A carton of 30 eggs is sold at RD$180 and consumers are paying as much as RD$6 and RD$6.50 per unit, when they used to cost RD$5. Reporters from El Caribe took to the streets yesterday and visited public markets and supermarkets run by the National Price Stabilization Institute (Inespre) and found the same product being sold at different prices. In the case of eggs, in [...]

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Santo Domingo province prosecutor Perfecto Acosta confirmed on Monday that a Lieutenant Colonel from the National Police was arrested for alleged ties to the Parmalat case. Tomas Garcia Lebron was detained last Saturday while trying to escape to Haiti, according to official reports. Perfecto Acosta says that the officer, who was already subject to an exit ban, was detained by border authorities as he tried to cross. Recently, a 12-member commando unit headed by an Air Force major carried out a raid on the Parmalat Company, located in Villa Duarte and Los Mameyes in the province of Santo Domingo. Major Jorge Luis Vargas Cuello was wounded during the raid and is currently under three months’ detention pending the investigation. Garcia Lebron is being held at Police headquarters, according to the official report.

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The Tourist Boulevard of the East, the essential highway linking tourism developments along the east coast was declared a high priority for the Leonel Fernandez government in 2005. Hoteliers provided RD$600 million in advances on taxes. But three years later, the avenue has at most advanced on its first phase. Investigative reporter Alicia Ortega, on her Antena Latina Channel 7 report, indicates that when Victor Diaz Rua was appointed minister of Public Works he rescinded the construction contract with Perco S.A. that had fast-tracked the work, and chose Constructora JM, S.A. to continue the highway that is expected to cost around RD$1.6 billion. Ortega reports this same company has received eight contracts from the Ministry of Public Works, worth a total RD$3.17 billion. She says the Ministry only acknowledges three of these contracts. Diaz Rua justified the awarding of the contract on the base of Decree 697-07 that was issued [...]

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The Director General of Customs (DGA) has announced the end of financial guarantees or deposits on goods entering the country under the Regimen of Temporary Admission for Asset Improvement. The new policy will improve competitiveness of local industry by removing one of the more important financial burdens for exporters and free zone manufacturers. DGA deputy director Eduardo Rodriguez told El Nuevo Diario reporters that the decision establishes a procedure for the automatic cancellation of the guarantees so that companies that act on good faith just have to go to the DGA and bring their accounts up to date. Rodriguez said that exporters had complained that these guarantees imposed a heavy burden on their production and competitiveness in the world markets. A paid public announcement by the DGA in most of today’s papers asks exporters to hand in their requests for the cancellation of their bonds or guarantees. The Customs decision [...]

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