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The Dominican Republic team to the World Baseball Classic ended its warm-up games with one win and two losses in Jupiter, Florida. Yesterday, in the game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the DR lost 4-1. Interestingly, Dominican Albert Pujols chose not to play for the Cardinals out of respect for the Dominican team. He was not able to get clearance of the Cardinals to play for the DR in the WBC.
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a href=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090305content_id=3922284vkey=news_stlfext=.jspc_id=stlhttp://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090305…/a
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The Dominican team now flies to San Juan, Puerto Rico where it will play its first match in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday, 7 March against the Netherlands team at 11amET (12 noon Dominican time). The DR plays in Group D (Panama, Puerto Rico, Netherlands and the DR). The Pool D winner and runner-up advance to Round 2 in Miami, Florida.
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Other teams vying for the 2009 World Baseball Championship are Pool A [...]

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Punta Cana is picking up carnival, after it has dazzles crowds in Bonao, La Vega, Santiago and Santo Domingo. Punta Cana has set Saturday, 7 March as the date for its 2009 Carnival. The event will take place on Boulevard 1 de Noviembre at Puntacana Village as of 4pm. This is the second year that Punta Cana has celebrated its own Carnival. More than 15 provinces from all around the country, with an expected 1,000 costumed participants, will parade to show off their folkloric traditions. The event is sponsored by the Puntacana Resort Club and the Union Carnavalesca Vega, with the support of Presidente, Brugal, Tropigas and Codetel.

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One of the best traditional merengue bands in the country, led by Sergio Vargas, is booked for Jet Set in Santo Domingo on Monday, 9 March. Tickets are RD$800 at the door.
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For more calendar events, see a href=http://www.dr1.com/calendarhttp://www.dr1.com/calendar/a

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The former president of the board of the Banco de Progreso, Pedro Castillo has been sentenced to serve 10 years in Najayo Jail and to pay a penalty of RD$2 million and RD$12.2 million in compensation to the Grupo Progreso and the Banco Dominicano del Progreso. He was found guilty of fraud totaling RD$14 billion against the bank, asset laundering and hiding information. Castillo was president of the board of the bank from 20 November 1999 to 30 October 2005, when he was removed and investigations began. Last November the Eleventh Circuit Court in Dade County, Miami, Florida, ordered Castillo to pay nearly US$80 million to the Banco del Progreso for having appropriated the banking entity’s resources for his own personal use.

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The Show Business Writers Association (Acrocarte) has opened the vote for the winners of several categories in the show business awards ceremony, the Casandra to the general public. The categories are Street Merengue, Bachata of the Year, Bachata Performer of the Year, Comedy Show, Discovery of the Year and Weekly Variety Program. To vote for these, just call 809 220-2200 (from fixed line phones) or 809 200-0002 from cell phones. The initiative is sponsored by Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana (Presidente beer) and the Codetel telecom company.

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There will be Go-Kart action at the Kartodromo Don Julian Barcelo off the Ciudad Ganadera fairground on the western side of the Malecon. A total of 65 competitors are expected to race in the start of the national go-karting competition. Rafael Luciano, spokesman for the Dominican Club of Go-Kart Competitors (CDCK) said that this year the championship includes six races in two four-day championships. Competitions begin Saturday, 7 March at 10am and will last through 6pm. They continue all day on Sunday, 8 March. The categories are Baby Kart, Mini Kart, Mini Max and Rotas Max Jr.
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For more on upcoming events, see a href=http://www.dr1.com/calendarwww.dr1.com/calendar/a

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Carlos Santana returns to the Altos de Chavon Amphitheater on Saturday 7th March. For many old-timers, he will be picking up where he left off. As it happened, on 22 August 1982, as part of the inaugural concert series for the Amphitheater, Carlos Santana opened a legendary full-house concert that had to be suspended due to a torrential rain storm to the loud protest of all. The crowds had enjoyed the start of the concert under the rain so much that thousands stayed on in the hope that the rain would subside. The concert had to be canceled, nevertheless. Santana acknowledges that his fans have been eagerly awaiting a new opportunity to be inspired by his music. Carlos Santana will perform in La Romana as part of his tour Live Your Light 2009. A Latin music living legend and member of the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame, Santana’s sales surpass [...]

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An initiative aimed at boosting capacity among Central and South American security forces is being put to test as 18 countries come together for a national security exercise in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. The United States and Great Britain join 16 Caribbean countries during the 25th annual Tradewinds exercise that is taking place 4 March through 18 March.
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US Marine Corps Forces South leads in the US Southern Command-sponsored exercise focused on maritime interdiction and search-and-rescue operations with an emphasis on command and control. Representatives of every military service, the Coast Guard, Joint Inter-agency Task Force South and the Drug Enforcement Agency are among the about 500 participants in Tradewinds 2009.
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During the exercise, they will conduct boarding party operations training, evidence processing and hazardous material identification and handling during realistic scenarios in Nassau and the Dominican Republic, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. David Hercher of Marine [...]

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Journalist Guillermo Tejeda claims that complicity between the authorities and drug dealers has prevented his son’s murder from being resolved. As reported in Hoy, he said that the influence of drug money has swayed the will of many. He denounced complicity with drug dealers that he says has taken hold of the police, the judicial and military authorities, and even the body in charge of fighting drug trafficking.
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His son Guillermo Tejeda Kranwinkel was murdered on 3 March 2008 and his father maintains that he was killed by the drug dealers he had been pursuing.
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Tejeda says that from the outset he has said that cops and military personnel are closely linked to the murder and that the investigations so far have shown that police will erase evidence from the scene of a crime in return for multi-million peso sums. At the time of his murder, Tejeda [...]

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El Dia reports that the US judicial authorities have requested 21 people in extradition in relation to the drug case involving ex-Army captain Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo being heard in the New York South District Court. The requests were made after it was reported that the Dominican and US judicial authorities had reached a plea bargain agreement. The first person requested in extradition, Ernesto Bienvenido Guevara Diaz (Maconi) was issued on 11 February by US judge Gabriel Gorenstein. The local judicial authorities have yet to authorize his extradition.

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