Word: santo
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...part of a Portuguese naval captain, Diogo Cão, who sailed into the mouth of the river in 1482. In Kikongo, the local language, it was called the Mzadi, which means, naturally, "big water." The mangled word survived the centuries in the name of a town, Santo Antonio do Zaire, on the Angola side of the river, where Portugal still maintains a colonial government by force of arms...
...eight Americans were greeted at Santo Domingo's Las Americas Airport by a smiling host who guided them effortlessly through customs and on to the posh El Embajador Hotel for cocktails and a sumptuous dinner. Next morning the visitors were shuttled to the country's thriving new tourist attraction: the Palace of Justice. By noontime they were divorced from their spouses back home. The cost: about $500 in legal expenses, plus air fare and the price of an overnight stay...
...Santo Domingo was slower getting into the quickie divorce business, primarily because of opposition from the church, feminist groups and the press; President Joaquin Balaguer vetoed the original bill. But once leading legislators were assured of a share of the legal business, the measure was passed in June over Balaguer's veto. Already, Haiti has been forced to reduce its price to compete with its neighbor's figure. The package fee, which varies somewhat depending on the case, is divided among the stateside lawyer, the Caribbean lawyer, and government agencies including the court...
Manuel G. Espinosa, 43, is the resident expert in the Dominican Republic's new divorce business. When word of the change in Mexican divorce law came down, Espinosa, a Mexican lawyer who had plied the Juárez trade for eight years, moved to Santo Domingo and eagerly awaited the chance to do business there. Now Espinosa is director of the city's leading domestic relations firm (otherwise made up exclusively of members of President Balaguer's Reformista Party...
...consent to be divorced), they have nothing but kind words for the procedure. They do not even mind that the ceremony takes almost a minute-a full 30 seconds longer than the superefficient Juarez procedure. Said one veteran of Juarez: "It was like a cattle run there; here in Santo Domingo it's got class." Those who opt for the Caribbean have one final decision to make: whether to get divorced in French (Haiti) or in Spanish (Dominican Republic...