Weekly Report - 11 November 2003

As this issue is being put to bed, Dominicans will be discovering if the Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares (an umbrella body representing about 60 social and civic organisations) has succeeded in mustering mass support for a 24-hour general strike to protest the government's economic policies. The main targets of the protest are the impact of inflation on basic goods and fuels, and the frequent power blackouts, which have become particularly intense in the north of the country.