Independent deputy taps social activist for running mate

Santo Domingo.- Minority party DemocraticChoice presidential candidate Minou Tavarez Mirabal on Tuesday presented socialactivist Mario Berges as her running mate for the May 16 elections.

"This is a man committed tothe Dominican Republic’s best interests, with a political activism when he believedhe should have, and with social activism demonstrated through years of strugglejoined with the Dominican people," she said

"Mario Berges was in thetrenches demanding 4% for Education, demands respect for our natural resources,a man who mobilized for the defense of Loma Miranda, against open pit miningand against impunity, among others," said Tavarez, an independent deputy.

Tavarez noted that the minority oppositionparty Alliance for Democracy (APD), led by Max Puig, signed a politicalagreement with her organization last year, “aimed at promoting importantchanges to improve the Dominican people’s precarious living conditions.”