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P 211745Z DEC 07
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UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 002780 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ENRG DR
SUBJECT: SANTO DOMINGO ECONOMIC-POLITICAL ROUNDUP, DECEMBER 
21, 2007 
 
(U) In this edition of the Roundup: 
 
¶1. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Journalist's FOIA Request 
¶2. New Model Community for Sugarcane Workers 
¶3. Government Will Not Prosecute Electricity Theft 
¶4. Music Inspires Social Progress 
 
¶1. (SBU) Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Journalist's FOIA 
Request 
 
On December 6, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of journalist 
Luis Eduardo "Huchi" Lora in an important test of the 
Dominican Republic's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Lora 
had requested documents regarding construction plans and 
geological studies of Santo Domingo's controversial subway 
project after he received information that proper feasibility 
studies had not been conducted.  A lower court ruled in April 
that the Presidential Transportation Reorganization Office 
(OPRET) must provide the requested information; however, the 
government appealed the decision on national security 
grounds.  The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling, 
forcing OPRET to provide the requested information.  Lora has 
already received several bins and folders of documents from 
the government and he expects to receive additional 
information.  Comment:  During the Ambassador's courtesy call 
on Supreme Court President Subero Isa on December 19, Subero 
cited the subway FOIA case as one the two most important 
decisions made by the court this year.  It is indeed rare 
here to see the executive branch lose a major court case and 
this one is precedent setting, since the public and 
government are testing the scope and limit of the 2004 FOIA 
law.  The two court rulings and OPRET's eventual compliance 
are significant steps toward open, transparent governance and 
adherence to the rule of law.  End Comment. 
 
¶2. (SBU) New Model Community for Sugarcane Workers 
 
The major sugar producing firm the Vicini Group has broken 
ground on a USD5.5 million housing project designed to 
improve living conditions for its sugarcane workers and other 
"batey" (sugarcane community) residents.  The 18-month plan 
calls for relocating approximately 1,000 individuals -- 
workers, their families, and selected long-term non-working 
batey residents currently scattered among three bateys -- 
into a new community of 127 basic concrete homes centered on 
a primary school, a health clinic, and two churches. 
According to the Vicinis, residents of this new community 
will be provided with electricity, water (potable water and a 
sewage system), and trash collection, none of which are 
currently common.  Two additional communities are in planning 
stages.  All three communities will be served by a high 
school, paid for by the Vicinis, that is nearly complete. 
Vicini Group senior officials took pains to assert that these 
relocation plans are part of a long-term, preexisting effort 
to improve social responsibility and not a response to NGOs 
and others that have recently criticized conditions in the 
sugar industry, most notably in a spate of films (e.g. "The 
Price of Sugar," "Big Sugar," "Sugar Babies"), and in the 
controversially titled photographic display, "Slaves in 
Paradise." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Government Will Not Enforce Prosecution of 
Electricity Theft 
 
The Dominican Superintendent of Electricity announced on 
December 3 that recently passed legislation criminalizing 
electricity theft will not be enforced for at least another 
three months.  This announcement was made despite the fact 
that the grace period for implementation, which was supported 
by officials from the distribution companies, has expired. 
The legislation was passed as a condition of the country's 
current IMF stand-by agreement and is a pillar of the reform 
efforts necessary to reduce the country's roughly USD650 
million subsidy for electricity.  Comment:  Upon passage of 
the legislation in July, Bear Sterns' regional analyst made a 
prescient warning, i.e. "We are concerned about the 
government's ability and/or willingness to enforce this new 
 
law given the proximity of next May's presidential election." 
 While excuses were provided such as the need to launch a 
public awareness campaign and hire special prosecutors and 
staff, the failure to implement this legislation clearly 
reinforces the perception that the government is currently 
unwilling to pay the political cost of holding those 
responsible for theft accountable.  The decision also 
contradicts the government's recent statements about the need 
for energy conservation in the context of rising fuel prices, 
since there is little incentive to save energy when there is 
no penalty for its theft.  Resolving the electricity sector's 
problems is essential to reducing the government's burdensome 
subsidy and, more broadly, for improving the prospects for 
economic growth.  End Comment. 
 
¶4. (U) Music Inspires Social Progress 
 
The First Lady of the Dominican Republic headlined the launch 
of a campaign against domestic violence on December 19 
entitled, "Pegale a la Pared," which was inspired by a song 
of the same title by Mexican musician Reyli Barba.  The 
launch witnessed the signing of a law enforcement and 
assistance cooperation agreement between the Attorney 
Generals' Offices of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. 
Domestic violence has reached alarming levels in recent years 
in the Dominican Republic, according to the Dominican special 
prosecutor for women's issues.  Barba, who played the 
campaign's theme song live to a packed audience, was joined 
by musician Gilberto Santa Rosa, also know as the "Gentleman 
of Salsa," and a representative of the Dominican merengue 
music idol Juan Luis Guerra, who together have added 
celebrity clout to this campaign's message.  The most 
concrete outcome of the campaign's launch appears to be the 
initiative to open as many as 27 domestic violence support 
centers throughout the Dominican Republic in 2008. 
 
(U) This report and additional information can be found on 
Embassy Santo Domingo's SIPRNET site, 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  
FANNIN