NewsWhore
12-12-2006, 05:20 PM
Executive Director of the Presidential Council on AIDS (COPRESIDA) Humberto Salazar says that in the last nine months the government, through COPRESIDA, has invested more than RD$20 million in fighting the disease in the sugar cane workers settlements, known as bateyes, where mostly Haitian migrants live. Salazar made his comments in response to the concerns voiced by a delegation of US congress members about the quality of life in the bateyes. Salazar said that the funds have gone towards helping stop the spread of the disease and that the work has been done in conjunction with 25 other organizations. Senator Francisco Dominguez Brito, also responding to the findings of the delegation, said that the visitors were not meddling in Dominican affairs, adding that the most important thing would be an international effort aimed at helping the Haitian community.
On the other hand, Labor Minister Jose Ramon Fadul has accused the US delegation of discrediting the government and said that the purpose of their trip here was to dirty the DR's image. Fadul says that government officials know what they have to do about the issue at hand and that no other country should come in and denounce or express their opinions on how the government does things.
Vice President Rafael Alburquerque says that whom the country decides to give nationality to is a matter of national sovereignty and that no country has the right to express their views on the issue. He says that foreigners have no right to tell the government who they can or can't call Dominican and that you can not go against what is written in the Constitution. US legislators apparently are under the impression that all born in the DR are due Dominican nationality, while a December 2005 Supreme Court ruling clarified that only those born to legal residents qualify for citizenship.
Pre-presidential candidate Miguel Vargas Maldonado was supportive of the trip by the delegation, describing their visit as positive and saying that relations between the two nations have always been good.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
On the other hand, Labor Minister Jose Ramon Fadul has accused the US delegation of discrediting the government and said that the purpose of their trip here was to dirty the DR's image. Fadul says that government officials know what they have to do about the issue at hand and that no other country should come in and denounce or express their opinions on how the government does things.
Vice President Rafael Alburquerque says that whom the country decides to give nationality to is a matter of national sovereignty and that no country has the right to express their views on the issue. He says that foreigners have no right to tell the government who they can or can't call Dominican and that you can not go against what is written in the Constitution. US legislators apparently are under the impression that all born in the DR are due Dominican nationality, while a December 2005 Supreme Court ruling clarified that only those born to legal residents qualify for citizenship.
Pre-presidential candidate Miguel Vargas Maldonado was supportive of the trip by the delegation, describing their visit as positive and saying that relations between the two nations have always been good.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)