The Dominican Republic

Weather Report

2005-05-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Heavy rains this weekend in the Dominican Republic are causing rivers to overrun their banks in several areas of the country. This follows on the heels of a severe power outage due to problems with the power generation facilities.

This is a typical report for the week:

Los indicadores meteorológicos muestran la continuación de las precipitaciones intensas en el territorio nacional debido a la humedad que habrá en la atmósfera local. La vaguada persistirá sobre el país, sin embargo el frente frío se habrá movido lentamente un poco más hacia Puerto Rico. - El Caribe

I noticed that Prensa Latina from Cuba has an English RSS feed.

The Dominican Military - Air Force

2005-05-01T05:39:00.000-07:00

President Fernandez made sweeping changes to the Dominican military yesterday, replacing generals and admirals, as well as replacing the National Police Commissioner.

The country has a relatively small military.

Here's a nice summary of the Fuerza Aérea Dominicana (FAD), the Dominican Republic's air force and related air assets in other branches. The FAD is used in a variety of ways, including fighting forest fires. The force uses several key bases. Following Hurricane Jeanne, the force was used to distribute humanitarian supplies to Haiti, as well as in country. The force lists 5,500 active personnel. Here's a rundown.

Dominican Cardinal a possible replacement for Pope

2005-04-02T23:12:00.000-08:00

Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo is mentioned as a possible replacement for Pope John Paul as the Catholic church begins its search for a new leader. Lopez Rodriguez is a conservative who has argued strongly against Marxism, abortion, and allowing gays in Catholic seminaries.

Last month, he called for people in the Dominican Republic to unite in “an intense network of prayer” to overcome the problems that are affecting the country.

Lopez Rodriguez was born in Barranca, La Vega, and was ordained on 18 March 1961.

From what I hear, I am impressed with this man.

Sabana Perdida

2005-03-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

Sabana Perdida is perhaps the poorest area of Santo Domingo. The community which consists of something like 54 neighborhoods (barrios) sprawls over the hills in the northeast area of the city, located about 40 minutes from the center of Santo Domingo. José Luis Alcántara was killed there while protesting electricity blackouts. The area has seen sporadic urban renewal efforts, not always focused on the well-being of the inhabitants.

The Centro Internacional de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo, Edmundo Morel & Manuel Mejía, published an excellent study of evictions associated with such urban renewal efforts. For example, construction of the "outer ring" road forced the resettlement of dozens of families in Sabana Perdida.

In 1988, I spent a year in Guadalajara, Mexico studying the problems with home ownership and public service deliver in irregular settlements. Sabana Perdida is similar. In fact, recently the president of the DR "regularized" over 3500 homes, providing the owners with title to their properties. Income in the area is probably $60 per month or less and electricity may be shut down for 10 hours a day.

Higuey Prison Deaths

2005-03-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

A deadly fire at the Higuey prison highlights this weeks news from the Dominican Republic. The fire, which began following the outbreak of fights between rival gangs in the prison, resulted in the deaths of 134 prisoners - probably the largest Higueyan death toll since the conquest of Higuey in 1502.

Also, Carib indians from the DR are protesting the portrayal of Carib indians as cannibals in the movie, Pirates of the Carribean 2.

Dominican Cuisine

2005-02-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

Dominican food certainly requires an adjustment for some Americans. Here's a sense of what you're looking at from Dominicana:

"Chenchén, a typical dish in the south that consists of cracked corn boiled for hours with diverse spices and accompanied by goat stew; Chacá, also elaborated from a corn base, is a dessert prepared with milk, sugar and cinnamon; sometimes the milk is substituted with goat milk; Fish with coconut and rice with pigeons peas is a typical dish of Samaná; Rice with red beans, cooked in different ways is a staple of the Dominican meal;

Aunt Clara's Kitchen specializes in Dominican recipes. Clara even has a Foro de Cocina where you can discuss anything on Dominican cooking.

One of the more popular dishes is Mangú.

Wcities has a rundown on some of the local Santo Domingo restaurants.

And the Worldwide Gourmet offers a Food Lovers Tour of the DR.

Bill Gates in Country

2005-02-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

The Seattle PI reports that Bill Gates is visiting the Dominican Republic. While there, President Leonel Fernandez dropped in for a visit. No problem, he was only about 75 miles from the capital. They met at the home of Venevision's Gustavo Cisneros. Cisneros is aggressively expanding his business ventures well beyond Venezuela, moving into Spain, Portugal, the US, and even China.

Higher Ed in the Dominican Republic

2005-02-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1538, the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo is probably the oldest university in the western hemisphere. According to the Enciclopedia Catolica, it was established by papal edict, but didn't begin classes until 1558. Santo Domingo has a number of other colleges and universities, including:

There may be others, but this appears to be a fairly solid group of higher ed institutions with a wide variety of educational programs.

My son happened to be at the Autonoma last week when a mini riot broke out. Someone hit a guy over the head with a two-by-four and big fight erupted.

I ran across Livio's site, a site with dozens of links about everything Dominican.

A couple of weeks ago, the Rector of the UNAM in Mexico City received an honorary doctorate from the Autonoma de Santo Domingo and gave this speech drawing comparisons between the two countries and the development of their respective university communities. In addition, he confirmed the creation of the Red de Macrouniversidades de América Latina y el Caribe, a network of major universities in Latin America that will allow more student exchange and mobility.

About 24% of Dominicans begin classes in the country's system of higher education, while only 47% finish the eighth grade. The recent Presidential Forum on Academic Excellence served to discuss academic issues of critical importance in the country.

Cocaine Bust in the DR

2005-02-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

When I lived in Guadalajara, I was occasionally asked if I was from the DEA. Back then, Jalisco was a common transit point for Columbian cocaine headed for the U.S. Before I arrived, Enrique Camarena, a DEA agent on assignment in Guadalajara was killed there. I spent a lot of time in the irregular settlement areas of the city while I was doing a study for the University of Guadalajara located in los Belenes.

Anyway, it now appears that the DR has become one of the major stops for cocaine on its way to the U.S., this thanks to a guy named Ernesto Castillo. Seems like Castillo has worked his way up in public circles, making friends with police, prison officials, even an ex-president, while expanding his businesses throughout the country. According to the Washington Times, Castillo's empire, valued at over a billion dollars, includes ranches, auto dealerships, hotels, helicopters, import and export businesses, etc. He was a large contributor to local politicians.

There is a substantial debate in the DR about Castillo's extradition to the United States.

The Revista Dominicana is another great local news source. They report that his bank accounts valued at $116 million have been frozen.

Increase in Violence in DR

2005-01-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

In the past five months, 47 persons have been killed due to increased violence in neighborhoods throughout the Dominican Republic. The national police force of the DR has 27,800 officers throughout the country and is working with the National Human Rights Committee to put a stop to the violence.

read more about it

Columbus Remains

2005-01-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

The Giralda tower overlooks the Seville cathedral where many believe Columbus to be internedBBC reports that the Dominican government is now willing to open up the Christopher Columbus tomb to determine whether the bones there are the real ones. A church in Vallodolid and the cathedral in Sevilla also claim to have the remains, but tests there have been inconclusive.

giralda
Originally uploaded by dfletcher.

Images of the Dominican

2005-01-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

ElBohio.com shares some stunning images of scenery and architecture in the Dominican Republic.

Some time ago, dbrian posted these interesting comments about the "Faro a Colón", a spectactular monument to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Columbus discovery of America back in 1492.

Violence on the Border

2005-01-08T06:55:00.000-08:00

When I was in Honduras, in the vally of Comayagua, there was an ongoing problem that the locals had with their neighbors in El Salvador. During the night, the Salvadorans would come across the border with trucks and load up burros that were owned by Hondurans. The problem would occasionally result in serious violence.

Now we have a report from AP about three Dominicans that crossed the border to steal 10 cows. After killing the owner, the Dominicans returned across the border. They were later tracked down by relatives of the dead owner who killed and mutilated the thieves with machetes.

It appears that violence in Haiti continues to express itself in many forms. The other day, Brazilian peacekeepers were fired on while trying to clear debris from the streets of Port-au-Prince.

A film entitled A Bridge over the River Massacre documents the situation which is perpetuated while Haiti appears to be mired in poverty and the DR is experience something of an economic boom.

The Council on Foreign Relations is trying to answer the question, "What's Next for Haiti?"

More Bloggers visit the Dominican Republic

2005-01-07T23:20:00.000-08:00

Andrea posts some nice shots of her visit to the DR on her photoblog.

Steven Ketchpel shares details of his trip to the DR while on assignment with the Grameen Foundation Technology Center. Grameen promotes technology to help out in poor areas of the world and Steven's group has developed an open-source loan portfolio management system.

Speaking of open source, which I would normally discuss in one of my other weblogs, Paul Taylor is blogging again after a long layoff. It must have been a New Year's resolution. Paul is discussing the open source in government initiative being led by the State of Massachussetts. We (State of Utah) may have something to contribute. I know several states are interested in a new first-of-its-kind online service that we created recently.

Bird Watching in Punta Cana

2005-01-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

Nick K, who is on a quest to photograph 1000 bird species, is on his way to Punta Cana. It will be interesting to see what he finds. I have a timeshare membership with RCI and they have some beautiful resorts in Punta Cana. I'll have to find a way to get down there.

Learn Thai if you want a real challenge

2005-01-07T22:40:00.000-08:00

Blogger Graham Glass, who recently visited the Dominican Republic, lists some of his New Year's resolutions which include visiting China, Russia, Thailand, Japan, Spain, and Indonesia. That's a very interesting list, particularly for me. I spent a great deal of time in southern Spain and speak Chinese and Russian. I attempted to learn Thai while I was at the University of Washington and found it to be the most difficult language that I have studied. Halfway through the semester, I was the only student (of eight who started) remaining in my Thai class responding to vigorous drills from the professor and a Thai graduate student. It just about wore me out. With its numerous tones, it can be very challenging for an English speaker.

Regional Economic Comparison

2005-01-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

John Bowler, Regional Director for the Economist, put together this brief comparative study of several Latin American countries, including the Dominican Republic, that gives you a good perspective of how things have been progressing in the region over the last 5-7 years. As I mentioned yesterday, things are looking up economically for the DR with per capita income climbing faster than any of the comparison group, including Mexico, Brazil, and Chile. On the other hand, it appears that inflation which was somewhat level in the DR has seen dramatic climbs over the past two years, more than any other country in the group.

Real Post Reports

2005-01-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

Personnel from the US Embassy in Santo Domingo contribute to Real Post Reports. These are unofficial reports about the country, living conditions, services, etc.

El Caribe, a local paper, posted an article a couple of days ago about weblogs. Here are a few that reference or originate from the DR:

Dominican Economy 2004

2005-01-01T01:39:00.000-08:00

El Caribe summarizes the performance of the DR economy in 2004. Overall, for the year, the economy grew by 2% with decreases in both the inflation and key interest rates. Although inflation for the year last summer had been projected at 45%, it ended the year at 28.74%. Interest rates charged by the Central Bank dropped from 59.6% to 25.3%, certainly a significant reduction, while the exchange rate against the dollar lowered from 42 to 31 pesos. The communications sector grew by over 19%, a great sign that technology is beginning to impact the country. All this was achieved in spite of the impact on tourism caused by some major hurricanes.

The Consumer Price Index report released by the Central Bank in November is also full of good news. Prices are finally declining on just about everything which shows up on the year end inflation rate reduction. Even prices on things like health care and transportation dropped in November.

Traveling to the Dominican Republic

2004-12-29T01:22:00.000-08:00

According to the Witchita Eagle, travel to the DR is a real bargain right now. And if you're traveling from New York, you can fly on Jet Blue for as low as $75 one way. That does sound like a bargain. Timeshare giant, RCI, has some great resorts there, absolutely beautiful. And the government plans to spend millions on modernisation of the tourist areas. I just hope they don't negatively impact the colonial charm of some of the historic areas. The DR is also hosting a summit in January to rebuild Haiti in preparation for democratic elections. With a 225-mile long border, they would certainly benefit from more stability in their neighbor on the island.

USA Today reports a growing number of malaria cases in the country following Hurricane Jeanne.

A Compendium of Dominican Republic Links and Information

2004-12-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

CIA Factbook on Dominican Republic

This site is similar to the encyclopedia an has basic facts on the DR: population, business, climate, etc.

Wikipedia

Obviously, an excellent, community-maintained resource, pretty comprehensive.

DR1.com

Daily news, as well as information on travel and life in the DR. There's also a group of Dominican Republic weblogs. Only one there now of a couple of guys living on the beach.

The Official Dominican Republic Internet Portal

This site is directed at tourists and businessmen looking to visit the DR. It contains a hotel guide, but much more. I wanted to get a dominicanrepublic.com email address which is offered, but like many of the links on this site, it is broken.

The embassy of the Dominican Republic in the US

The Lonely Planet guide to the Dominican Republic map

Dominican Republic: a country study

Chapterized summary of the Dominican Republic presented by the Library of Congress. Much of the information is dated and is similar in format to the CIA factbook

Secretary of State Tourism Information

Yahoo Directory of the Dominican Republic

US Embassy in Santo Domingo

Getting Ready

2004-12-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

My son is flying to the Carribean in one month, specifically to the Dominican Republic, so I have a renewed interest in the area. This blog will look at his experiences and the experiences of others in the area, as well as news and commentary on life and events there. I have several good friends from Santo Domingo, some going back to the early eighties when I was living in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Cesar and Mona Abreu were stationed at Fort Bragg at the time and were our next door neighbors.