SANTO DOMINGO.- The Dominican Retailers and Industrialists Federation (Fenacer) today asked president Leonel Fernandez to dismiss Industry and Commerce Melanio Paredes, who showed disrespect when calling them "thieves, speculators and gougers."

Fenacer president Antonio Cruz Rojas asked to the political parties and the Government not to politicize the prices of basic staples and denied that retailers are price gouging on products, whose rise he attributes to external and internal factors, citing a sharp shortage nationwide.

In a press conference, Cruz said there are only 500,000 quintals of rice in the country, which he said meets the demand of barely 15 days, contradicting Agriculture minister Salvador Jimenez’s assertion of abundance yesterday.