Thousands back after Easter break

[NewsWhore]

The Dominican Republic is returning to normal after the long Easter recess, and thousands of people are flooding the highways and bus terminals. Only students, most of whom have Monday off, can relax for one more day. There are several clouds on the horizon, one of which is a purported call for a national strike. Dominican Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez spoke out against such a move at this time, and, according to El Nuevo Diario, Fidel Santana, the leader of the Alternative Social Forum and Juan Hubieres of the FENATRANO transport union, have denied that any such is plan under way. Nonetheless, the fear of such an action, combined with the call for an opposition party summit to analyze the use of government funds in the current campaign has moved the Armed Forces to call in their troops. There were also rumors that the opposition parties were so offended by the use of government financial resources in the campaign that they were considering withdrawing from the May elections. When told of this possible scenario, Central Electoral Board (JCE) chief magistrate Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman told reporters that there would be an election on 16 May whether or not the opposition showed up. He further advised the reporters that if the parties did not go to the polls, they would have to reimburse nearly US$50 million in government-sponsored campaign funding.

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