Archive for November, 2019
No visa-free travel to Russia
Verify with the embassy of the country before traveling to one of the countries that the Ministry of Foreign Relations announces visa-free travel for Dominican citizens. Last year the Ministry of Foreign Relations announced visa-free travel to Russia, but this is not happening yet. One Dominican recently posted a video of the hardships and penalty he had to pay after he traveled to Russia without a visa.
A report in El Dia on 21 November 2019 confirms visa-free travel to Russia is not yet available. The newspaper reveals that the Ministry of Foreign Relations says that while the agreement was signed for visa-free tourism travel to Russia on 26 November 2018, that country has yet to complete the necessary protocols so the measure can go into effect. The Ministry also says that visa-free travel that had been announced with Brazil and Morocco is also pending procedures to start in those countries.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Nov 22, 2019
Phone call tips Police off to solve Anton murder crime
A news story in Hoy reveals that the Police was able to promptly solve the 63-year old Patricia Ann Anton murder case because one of the robbers used the victim’s cell phone to call a friend. Anton was strangled to death on the evening of Monday, 11 November 2019. She had just moved into a new apartment in Pro Cab, Cabarete, Puerto Plata.
The Hoy report said that the Police were able to track down the men and arrest them. One person, supposedly a Venezuelan, is still on the run. The newspaper’s informant says that the person who received the call in Santo Domingo was investigated but released without charges. He did cooperate with the police leading to the arrest of six men.
The suspects Michael Mariñez (Chayán), Heuris Flores Hernández (Yikiu or Yito), Junior Alexis Suárez (Liquides), Juan José Andújar Mella (Jeffrey), Oroniel Canario Montero and Alexis Mackey (Luisito Gasoil) were arrested for the case last weekend, according to a police report in Puerto Plata.
At large is so-called Eiden (El Venezolano), who took a laptop computer, a 40-inch television and about US$80 from the victim’s apartment, located in the Pro-Cab residential complex in Cabarete.
The informant said that those under arrest had traveled to Puerto Plata in a black Sonata that had been rented in Santo Domingo. One day before committing the crime, the group had robbed a colmadón in the municipality of Altamira, where they stole RD$100,000, a large amount of alcoholic beverages, cell phones and personal items of the owner of the colmadon and his personnel.
A source from the prosecutor of the judicial department of Puerto Plata told the Hoy reporter that the suspects will first stand for charges for the Altamira robbery and later for the murder of the American teacher.
The informant said that the group was able to enter Anton’s apartment when one of them, whose name he did not reveal, went for a walk on Cabarete beach and observed that the foreigner lived in an uninhabited place. He informed his partners of the potential victim and the men proceeded to enter the apartment to rob her and kill her.
Source: DR1, Hoy
Nov 22, 2019
Cash is still used for 87% of payments in the Dominican Republic
Luis Bencosme, executive president for CardNet, says “the world is transforming,” but the Dominican Republic is still mostly a cash-based society. CardNet is a leading electronic payment system. He spoke during the past ClaroTec on the future of payment methods.
Bencosme said that the use of checks has stagnated. In the country that has a population of around 10 million people, at least three million people have credit cards and 4.8 million debit cards. He said payrolls are paid through accounts linked to employee debit cards.
Likewise, he said thousands among the poor have begun to enjoy the means of electronic payments through the government welfare program “Progressing with Solidarity” under the Vice Presidency of the Republic. “The way they receive the subsidies is with prepaid cards and there are 1.2 million of them in the hands of the public,” he said.
CardNet is introducing contactless payments. “I would tell you that 95% of points of sale (POS) or “verifones” use or are already prepared to accept contactless payments. The issue is that all banks have not yet issued the contactless cards,” he explained. Bencosme forecast that in three years’ time the entire country will be able to enjoy this form of payment.
The CardNet executive maintained that the country lags in electronic commerce. But he said this is the norm for the region. “If you add up all of Latin America, only 2.6% of the transactions that occur in retail consumption are done in e-commerce,” he said.
Bencosme said that payment schemes require authentication mechanisms that the industry has not had until recently and this has hindered progress in this area. Nevertheless, he said cell phone payment schemes are gradually gaining acceptance locally. One is MONI, an application that allows you to pay using your cell phone in establishments affiliated to CardNET.
Source: DR1, Eldinero
Nov 16, 2019
Mapping transport routes in Santiago
The city of Santiago becomes the first Dominican city partaking in the smart city solution that is now part of Google Maps. Students from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), UASD, UTESA and UNEV in Santiago were trained to develop the route map. Transport operators and users, and organizations of groups of people with disabilities, together with the Santiago municipal authorities and power distribution company workers, participated in the mapping of Santiago de los Caballeros for Google Maps.
The information is part of the platform, DATUM, that provides detailed information on29 popular city routes and 25 urban and six interurban transport routes. The teams recorded geo-referenced data of the routes and their stops to be included in the app.
The community mapping of urban infrastructure effort is part of an international effort of the partners – the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), World Resources Institute (WRI) Mexico, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Columbia University and Mastercard – that created DATUM, described as a platform that acts as a guide for collecting, processing and publicizing urban mobility data. DATUM is the Spanish acronym for Open Urban Transport and Mobility Data. As explained, it conveys clear information on transportation routes and schedules that was not available previously in one source. Today, residents, businessmen and leisure travelers have had to rely on “word of mouth” to get around.
Source: DR1, Smartcity
Nov 16, 2019
Dominicans can now travel visa-free to six Asian countries
Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas announced that Dominican citizens can now go for leisure to the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Laos without a visa. He said Dominicans are now eligible to apply online for an e-visa to visit Laos, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.
The minister said that there are talks for another 12 proposals to enable visa-free travel abroad for ordinary Dominican passport-holders to other countries in Asia and Latin America.
“This good news contributes to strengthening friendly relations and cooperation among our countries, based on trust and solidarity,” said Vargas. He said the aim is to stimulate higher economic growth and development and the welfare of the inhabitants of both countries.
The announcement comes at the close of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) that took place in Santo Domingo last week. FEALAC is an interregional cooperative organization composed of 36 states (16 from Asia and 20 from Latin America) that aim to increase dialogue, cooperation and bi-regional understanding.
Source: DR1, Mirex.gob.do
Nov 16, 2019
Last updated January 23, 2026 at 4:16 pm