Protests shut down northern town, northeastern city

Navarrete, Dominican Republic.- Several local groups of Navarrete and nearby towns are staging a 24-hour walkout to demand the paving of all streets and the construction of schools and municipal works.

Traffic on the Duarte highway and streets of the town has been mostly halted since early morning, as protesters placed boulders, cinder blocks, tree branches and debris.

The demonstrators also torch tires at major intersections, prompting increased police patrols throughout the city, with no clashes bee reported thus far.

In San Francisco

In the northeastern city of San Francisco de Macoris most stores shut their doors, schools were ordered closed and the commute snarled by the shutdown organized by the leftist organization, FALPO, which demands the resignation of mayor Felix Rodriguez, indicted on embezzling tens of millions of pesos from the city.

Tension has gripped the city since late Monday, when a youngster was shot dead in front of a colmado, in an incident yet to be clarified.