标签： Dominican Republic

In a televised appearance on the local current affairs program *LA Agenda Semanal*, Dominican Republic’s Minister of Public Works and Communications Eduardo Estrella has laid out the government’s ambitious national road infrastructure initiative, a multi-year plan designed to transform the country’s transportation network, cut chronic urban congestion, and strengthen economic links between the nation’s distinct regions.

Estrella opened his remarks by noting that the Dominican Republic already boasts one of the most extensive road networks across Latin America, and outlined that the government’s immediate priority is upgrading key access points to the Greater Santo Domingo metropolitan area while eliminating persistent traffic bottlenecks that slow daily commutes and freight movement.

A core focus of the initiative centers on upgrades to the capital region’s transportation arteries. Projects underway include comprehensive renovations at Plaza de la Bandera, a new underground connection linking Avenida Isabel Aguiar and Avenida Luperón, expansion of the newly constructed Avenida Ecológica, and improvements to the Kilometer 9 entrance of the Duarte Highway. Three new overpasses are also in development along Duarte Highway at kilometers 17, 22, and 28: the first contract has already been awarded, the second is in final award negotiations, and the third is currently open for tender through the national public works entity RD Vial.

Once these projects and parallel bypass routes are completed, Estrella confirmed that passenger and freight vehicles traveling north from Santo Domingo will be able to make the entire trip without stopping at a single traffic light. The long-awaited full completion of the Amber Highway will also deliver uninterrupted, signal-free travel between the northern coastal city of Puerto Plata and the southern border town of Pedernales, cutting cross-country travel times significantly.

The minister also announced that the government has launched the tender process for an expansion of the Sánchez Highway between the Haina tollbooth and the capital’s ring road. This expansion will create a new alternate access route into Santo Domingo, reducing overwhelming traffic volumes on the existing Kilometer 9 and Pintura entrance corridors.

One of the most high-profile projects in the plan is a new bascule bridge spanning the Ozama River, which will replace the aging floating bridge currently in operation. Estrella revealed that the construction contract for the new bridge will be awarded this week. Unlike the existing structure, which often closes for multiple hours to allow passing ships, the new bascule design will only require roughly 15 minutes of closure to open for maritime traffic, drastically reducing disruptions for cross-river commuters.

Along the heavily traveled Duarte Highway, the government has prioritized safety-focused upgrades between the capital and Villa Altagracia, and between Santiago’s international airport and Loma Miranda. These upgrades include wider bridge spans, additional traffic lanes, and purpose-built U-turn access points designed to eliminate dangerous at-grade crossings and reduce the frequency of accidents in high-risk sections of the highway.

Beyond the capital, the government is advancing a series of regional bypass projects designed to divert through traffic away from densely populated urban centers in Navarrete, Los Alcarrizos, Moca, San Francisco de Macorís, and La Otra Banda. The Baní bypass was completed in 2024, and construction is already ongoing on the new bypass for Azua. The Navarrete bypass, scheduled to open by the end of this year, will drastically improve access to the country’s Northwest Line corridor and the deepwater port of Manzanillo. It will be extended by an additional six kilometers to the Esperanza intersection, with a dedicated overpass to separate local traffic heading to Esperanza, Mao, and Santiago Rodríguez from through traffic traveling to Montecristi and Dajabón, eliminating conflicts that have caused frequent congestion.

In the country’s southern region, the government plans to tender an extension of the completed Baní bypass to the Ocoa intersection, including two new overpasses: one near the Los Pilones bridge and another in the 15 de Azua district.

Estrella also highlighted that Avenida Ecológica, a new east-side arterial corridor, is nearly complete. This route will serve as a second major eastern entrance to Santo Domingo, connecting directly to the Caucedo international port and distributing overflow traffic away from the already overcrowded Las Américas Highway.

Across the entire country, Estrella confirmed that 957 kilometers of new and upgraded roads are currently under active construction, with an additional 141 kilometers of that network scheduled to be completed and open to traffic within the next three months. As an example of the government’s progress, he pointed to San Francisco de Macorís, where 46 kilometers of new roads have already been finished in recent months, with more than 50 additional kilometers planned for the coming year.

A new 103-kilometer cross-country corridor will also connect the country’s eastern and northeastern regions directly to the Northwest, eliminating the need for interregional traffic to route through the already congested Santo Domingo metropolitan area. The corridor will integrate existing and upgraded routes including Bayaguana-Monte Plata and Monte Plata-Cevicos.

The national infrastructure program also includes 220 bridge projects across the country. Of these, 51 are currently under construction, 21 are on track to be finished within three months, 43 have already had construction contracts awarded, 65 are awaiting open tender, and 35 are currently undergoing major structural repairs. A separate 150-bridge rehabilitation program is being developed with financial and technical support from the Inter-American Development Bank, with major overhauls planned for four of the country’s busiest crossings: the Duarte, Hermanos Patiño, Juan Bosch, and San Pedro de Macorís bridges.

Estrella emphasized that the entire infrastructure strategy is being rolled out in sequential phases aligned with the country’s top national priorities, with independent oversight provided by a multi-sector infrastructure commission that includes representatives from both the public sector and private industry to ensure transparency and accountability for public funds.

In a recent leadership transition for Dominican Republic’s banking regulatory sector, President Luis Abinader has named seasoned legal and financial specialist Víctor Livio Enmanuel Cedeño Brea to the post of Superintendent of Banks. Cedeño Brea succeeds Alejandro Fernández W., who stepped down after six years at the helm of the key regulatory position.

The official appointment is formalized under Decree 606-26, and aligns with the provisions of the nation’s Monetary and Financial Law, which sets a two-year term of office for the role.

While Cedeño Brea’s foundational professional training is in law, the bulk of his decades-long career has centered on economics, financial governance, regulatory framework development, and enterprise risk management. He is no stranger to the Superintendency of Banks (SB), having previously held the role of Deputy Manager of Regulation and Innovation within the institution, and currently serves as its principal advisor and technical coordinator. Between 2022 and 2024, he also led the Capital Markets division of the Dominican Republic as Deputy Director.

Throughout his tenure at the Superintendency of Banks, Cedeño Brea has overseen a broad range of high-priority portfolios, including regulatory updates, anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) protocols, fintech innovation, expanded financial inclusion, economic policy research, financial entity registration and licensing, and administrative enforcement for regulatory violations.

His expertise runs particularly deep in the areas of prudential regulation, regulatory compliance, and robust financial supervision, with a specialized focus on strengthening global frameworks to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Beyond his domestic work, Cedeño Brea has built an extensive international profile: he has delivered more than 100 professional training courses in both English and Spanish for international banking stakeholders across 22 cities spanning Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia.

Academically, Cedeño Brea holds a joint doctorate in Law and Economics from the European Doctorate in Law and Economics (EDLE) program, a competitive collaborative initiative delivered by three top European institutions: Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the University of Hamburg in Germany, and the University of Bologna in Italy.

In a landmark step for regional security cooperation, Honduras has formally announced its interest in acquiring locally assembled military hardware from the Dominican Republic, a move aimed at reinforcing national security forces against rising organized crime and cross-border threats.

The announcement came at the conclusion of an official state visit by Honduran President Nasry Asfura, who traveled alongside his Dominican counterpart President Luis Abinader to inspect key Dominican defense facilities, including San Isidro Air Base, and tour the country’s northern border security infrastructure. During the visit, Asfura confirmed that his administration has already launched formal negotiations with the Dominican government to advance the potential acquisition of two key defense products: the TP-75 Dulus patrol and training aircraft, and Furia armored tactical vehicles. Both platforms are developed and assembled domestically by the Dominican Military Industry (Indom).

Asfura emphasized that the Dominican Republic has made notable strides in advancing its domestic military production sector, noting that the proposed equipment would directly enhance the operational and patrol capacity of Honduras’ National Police and Military Police. Beyond the hardware itself, the Honduran leader commended the Dominican Republic’s robust border security framework, including the fortified border wall and advanced digital surveillance systems that he observed firsthand during a stop in the Dajabón border region.

Addressing shared regional security challenges, Asfura underscored that nations across Central America and the Caribbean face converging threats from transnational drug trafficking, terrorist activity, and organized criminal networks. These common risks, he argued, create an urgent need for security forces across the region to upgrade their capabilities with modern, effective technology and equipment.

In a notable observation on regional development, Asfura positioned the Dominican Republic’s domestic military industry as a replicable model for other nations across Central America and the Caribbean. He explained that expanded regional access to locally manufactured defense equipment would allow partner nations to strengthen their security postures more rapidly, while also benefiting from more competitive pricing compared to importing hardware from extra-regional suppliers.