VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #1456/01 2621242
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181242Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1440
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PRIORITY 2188
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0927
RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN PRIORITY 1100
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON PRIORITY 2892
RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO PRIORITY 1225
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PRIORITY 4857
RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN PRIORITY 1926
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0205
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMISTA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001456 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR ELAB EFIN ECON PGOV VE PM CA DR
SUBJECT: SANTO DOMINGO ECONOMIC-POLITICAL ROUNDUP, 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 
 
(U) In this edition of the roundup: 
 
¶1. Open Skies Agreements with Panama and Canada 
¶2. U.S. Company Purchases Airport Operations 
¶3. Bank Fraud Conviction Upheld 
¶4. Venezuela: Scandal Over Houses Donated to Storm Victims 
¶5. Unions Press for Wage Increase 
 
¶1. (U) Open Skies Agreements with Panama and Canada 
 
The Dominican Republic recently signed open skies agreements 
with Panama and Canada.  Civil Aviation Board President Luis 
Rodriguez told EconOff that the Dominican Republic is also 
negotiating an agreement with Chile.  He said that the 
Dominican Republic is looking to increase air traffic to the 
island to boost tourism, among other objectives.  Rodriguez 
added that he hopes to see foreign airlines use the Dominican 
Republic as a jumping-off point for flights between the 
Americas and Europe and Canada. 
 
¶2. (U) U.S. Company Purchases Airport Operations 
 
On September 9, U.S. private equity company Advent 
International announced that it had acquired Aerodom, the 
Dominican airports operator, from the Hazoury Group, 
Vancouver Airport Services, and other local investors.  The 
value of the transaction was estimated to be US$400 million. 
Aerodom has a 30-year concession contract with the Dominican 
government and the Airport Commission to develop, operate, 
and mange six airports in the Dominican Republic.  According 
to Advent, Aerodom's existing management and Vancouver 
Airport Services will continue to run the company.  Advent 
told the media the company plans to invest over US$1 billion 
in the airport system over the next five years. 
 
¶3. (U) Bank Fraud Conviction Upheld 
 
On September 11, the National District Court of Appeals 
upheld the August 2006 conviction of Bancredito President 
Manuel Arturo Pellerano and Vice President Juan Felipe 
Mendoza Gomez for the fraud which led to the collapse of the 
bank in 2003.  The court sentenced them to eight years in 
prison, an increase from the original sentence of three 
years.  The defendants have not yet said whether they will 
appeal the case to the Supreme Court. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Venezuela: Scandal Over Houses Donated to Storm 
Victims 
 
On September 16, President Fernandez fired the appointed 
Governor of Monsenor Nouel Province, Nestor Melenciano.  The 
President's action, announced by decree without further 
explanation, comes after the Venezuelan Ambassador, Francisco 
Belisario Landis, wrote to the Dominican Government to 
protest the GODR's handling of Venezuela's donation of 100 
homes to the province's victims of Tropical Storms Noel and 
Olga.  In the letter, which was leaked to the media, Landis 
accused Melenciano of turning homes over to occupants without 
using the proper process for designating beneficiaries. 
Separately, Narciso Isa Conde, a far-left Dominican 
politician and public supporter of Colombia's FARC guerillas, 
criticized other leftists for their role in the housing 
allocation.  Isa Conde told the media that activists such as 
Fernando Pena had interfered in the designation of 
beneficiaries for "personal reasons," which damaged the 
effort for "political solidarity" (a presumed reference to 
relations with Venezuela). 
 
¶5. (U) Unions Press for Wage Increase 
 
The National Council of Union Unity (CNUS), a labor 
confederation, is pushing hard for a private sector wage 
increase and states that it will organize protests to press 
home its demands.  CNUS cites the high cost of food, 
transportation, and electricity to justify is wage proposal, 
and notes that most government workers received a 15 percent 
raise in August.  Minister of Labor Max Puig, who has been in 
 
office for only one month, told the press that the Government 
would not intervene in the dispute, but rather will play the 
role of mediator.  The last pay increase occurred in April 
2007, when labor unions and business groups negotiated a deal 
that raised the minimum wage by 15 percent and increase 
salaries by 5 percent for all other private employees earning 
30,000 pesos (approximately US$1,000) per month or less. 
 
(U) Please visit us at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  
BULLEN