Cibao protesters get what they wanted

[NewsWhore]

An official commission agreed to the Alternative Social Forum's demands on Friday and pledged to begin work on the projects that they are calling for this Monday as well as to investigate the deaths of the two young men that took place during last week's protests in the Cibao region. Nonetheless, the agreement is subject to the signing of a document that obliges the parties to work on the principal demands within the agreed timeframe. The leaders of the Forum set 5 November as the date for the commission, headed by Public Works Minister Victor Diaz Rua and National Police Chief Rafael Guillermo Guzman Fermin, to begin its work. Otherwise the protests will start again. During the meeting held at the Governor's Office, Diaz Rua and Guzman Fermin were accompanied by the director of the National Institute of Potable Water and Sewers (INAPA), Mariano German, the former director of the Dominican Agrarian Institute, Frank Rodriguez, the governor of the province, Luz Selene Plata and the mayor, Felix Rodriguez. Hundreds of people waited in the park outside the governor's office for the results of the meeting to be announced. The area was cordoned off by SWAT teams and sharpshooters were posted on nearby rooftops. The demands made by the four spokespersons changed course, somewhat, as each one agreed to ask for journalist Cesar Medina and his team to be declared "persona non grata" in San Francisco de Macoris, and demanded that the municipal council issue a municipal resolution condemning the alleged slurs made against the people of the city. They also wanted local cable companies to take the "Hoy Mismo" program, presented by Cesar Medina, off the air. Forum spokesperson Eddy Munoz demanded that damages should be paid to the families of the two deceased young men, and called for the release of those detained. However, the police chief had already ordered the release of some 20 of the protestors.

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