Two South Florida companies have won a US$50 million judgment against the governmental National Institute of Hydraulic Resources of the Dominican Republic over a canceled contract to build an irrigation system.
A Miami Federal Court issued a judgment by default on June 10 after the DR agency failed to respond to the suit. The plaintiffs in the suit were Architectural Ingenieria Siglo (AIS) and Sun Land LLC.
[June 2013]
Dominican Republic exports the highest amount of textiles and apparels to the US among the member nations of DR-CAFTA (Central America Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic), according to ‘Major Shippers Report – U.S. General Imports’ published by the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) of the US Department of Commerce.
[June 2013]
According to financial consultant Alejandro Fernandez, the best performing banks in the Dominican in 2012 were:
Citibank.
Santa Cruz.
BHD.
Popular.
Ademi.
Adopem.
Banesco.
Cibao.
APAP.
Scotiabank.
BLH.
Promedio.
Leon.
BDI.
Caribe.
Progreso.
Reservas.
La Nacional.
Alaver.
Proamerica.
Duarte.
[May 2013]
At a recent talk, Scotiabank vice president Pablo Breard highlighted the fact that the Dominican public debt is the lowest among Caribbean countries in the past decade. The Dominican global debt is around 30% of GDP, he stated. Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago have higher debt/GDP ratios. Breard forecast that the DR would benefit from the global economic recovery.
[May 2013]
District Attorney Yeni Berenice Reynoso shelved the case filed by former DA Guillermo Moreno against former President Leonel Fernández for corruption in office, stating that the allegations presented by Moreno were not a crime under Dominican law. Moreno accused former President Leonel Fernandez of obtaining millions for his foundation (Fundación Global) from individuals and companies that had benefitted from contracts during terms in office. Moreno announced that he will appeal the decision.
[May 2013]
Altagracia Paulino, executive director of the National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Pro Consumidor) received in her office Fabio J. Guzmán Ariza, president of Guzmán Ariza, Lawyers & Consultants, in his capacity as author of the work The language of the Dominican Constitution, which was recently published with the endorsement of the Dominican Academy of the Language.
The meeting took place last Wednesday, February 13; Both discussed the adoption of concrete measures to improve the linguistic quality of our legislation, including giving courses on drafting technique to those responsible for drafting the bills.
Guzmán Ariza chairs the Guzmán Ariza Foundation for the Dominican Language Academy and therefore holds a series of meetings with personalities related to the legislative and regulatory bodies of the country, with the hope that this will be the starting point to implement the plans to remedy the deficiencies of the current legal norms proposed in his work.
The Senate has elected Zoila Martínez as ombudsperson for a six-year term (2013-2019). A former District Attorney for Santo Domingo under the last Balaguer administration, Ms. Martínez obtained 15 votes out of 22 cast by the senators present. According to articles 190 and 191 of the Dominican Constitution, the ombudsperson is an independent authority with administrative and budgetary autonomy, whose basic duty is to safeguard the fundamental rights of individuals established under this Constitution and the law if they are violated by officials or agencies of the State and others.
[May 2013]
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito has issued a resolution aimed at ending the practice by some nightspots that deny admission on unclear grounds. He ordered prosecutors to identify locations where there have been complaints of persons being denied admission on grounds of color, race, dress, hairstyle or physical appearance. He said the Prosecutor General Office’s Human Rights Unit would supervise the resolution.
[May 2013]
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito has announced the strict enforcement of Law 248-12 for the Protection and Responsible Possession of Animals. Dominguez Brito said that cruelty to animals was a daily occurrence in the Dominican Republic that must be stopped, and called on the public to report cases of animal abuse and poisoning to the authorities.
[May 2013]
According to the latest report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), remittances to the Dominican Republic increased to US $3.2 billion in 2012, a 4.8% increase from 2009, among the larger increases in the region. The flows are an important source of income for thousands of families that receive the transfers to cover basic needs and invest in education, health, housing, and small businesses.
[May 2013]