Word: scandalizer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Perhaps even more audacious, for a country still rebounding from a colossal banking scandal, the D.R. is trying to germinate a new $800 million regional financial center. "Leonel Fernández is very much a vision man ... This is exactly the sort of visionary project he absolutely loves," says Gaetan Bucher, a Swiss-Dominican banker and the lead investor in what will essentially be an offshore entity, first trading Latin American debt and later offering a safe haven for private wealth and corporate banking...
Fernández has a record of delivering. During his first term (1996-2000), the D.R. enjoyed the highest growth rate in the Latin American region. His successor and predecessor, Hipólito Mejía, presided over a banking scandal in 2003 that triggered an economic nosedive that wiped out 20% of GDP (imagine $2.8 trillion disappearing in the U.S.) and plunged an additional 1 million Dominicans into poverty. Since retaking the top job 20 months ago, Fernández has put the country back on the mend, restoring macroeconomic stability and business confidence. Last year's growth soared 9.2%, with single-digit...
...country's economic troubles have conveniently handed international donors--who ponied up more than $1 billion to see it through the banking scandal--more leverage to drive reform. Most critical for business is the debilitated electricity sector: 45% of the national utility's receivables go unpaid, requiring a government subsidy of $620 million last year. Such is the bitter fruit of decades of political favoritism, and donors such as the World Bank say they want to see an aggressive--and unprecedented--crackdown on delinquent customers, no matter how, uh, connected they are. "If you don't address the issue...
...barometer of where the D.R. is headed: the upcoming trial of the six alleged masterminds of the so-called BANINTER (Banco Intercontinental) scandal, in which $2.5 billion was looted. For the first time, scions of some of the most élite families will be in the dock. It's a case expected to go to the D.R. Supreme Court, which has been the focus of recent U.S. efforts at judicial reform. The trial may be just as symbolic of the Dominican Republic's future as the new subway is. If the court's justice isn't perceived as fair...
...Especially in an election year, the continuing corruption scandal is a big embarassment to Lula, a man whose measured discourse and conservative fiscal policies marked him as Latin America's moderate alternative to radical, anti-U.S. leftists like Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. But amazingly, it has done little to affect his popularity with the general public, which has shown a steadfast refusal to believe Lula knew what was going on, accepting his claim that "no one in this country can lecture me on ethics...