US bars diplomats from leaving Santo Domingo amid strike unrest

Thursday, January 29, 2004

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): The United States on Wednesday banned US diplomats in the Dominican Republic and their families from leaving the capital of Santo Domingo amid reports of violence during a two-day national strike.

In addition, the State Department, through its embassy in Santo Domingo, barred embassy staff from traveling to or through certain areas of the capital where unrest was expected to be the most severe.

"Embassy employees and dependents are restricted from traveling outside of Santo Domingo city limits during the national strike," the embassy said in a notice to Americans in the Dominican Republic.

"Embassy employees and dependents, including Peace Corps workers, are restricted from traveling to sectors of Santo Domingo identified ... as areas of potentially intense protests," it added.

The notice, a copy of which was provided to AFP in Washington by the State Department, said the embassy would remain open during the strike but noted that some schools attended by expatriate children in the Dominican Republic would be closed.

Shortly after the notice was issued, on the first day of the planned Wednesday and Thursday strike, the embassy said it had received unconfirmed reports of civil disturbances, including vehicles set afire, in Santo Domingo's Los Praditos neighborhood.

The embassy said there were also reports of unrest in other areas, with demonstrators throwing rocks, nails and other sharp objects.

Police in the Dominican Republic were on high alert as the strike began on Wednesday, supported by unions, community organizations and leftist groups to protest the sharp devaluation of the peso, soaring inflation and persistent power outages. 

  Back...

  Most popular articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed

  Printable version