SANTO DOMINGO.- The Presidency’s Administrative Minister affirmed yesterday that the president of the bus owners grouped in Fenatrano shouldn’t be allowed to continue the use of violence, to force drivers who disagree with his calls to strike to support him, but fell short of announcing possible charges.

Luis Manuel Bonetti said Juan Hubieres isn’t a union leader, rather a transport businessman, and has the right to stop his buses when he wishes it, but called the stabbing of the car tires of vehicles of those who want to continue working, an attack against on the citizens’ rights. “But what’s most serious about the situation is that they stab the tires of other drivers who need to make the bread each day."

Yesterday morning thousands of passengers in Santo Domingo province and the National District found it difficult to get to work and school, because Fenatrano called a "surprise strike" to demand that its affiliates are included in the subway’s feeder routes.

The desperate commuters, amid pushing and shoving, boarded the vehicles that dared to disregard the call to strike, but Fenatrano’s members allegedly stoned and stabbed the tires of some of them, leaving its passengers stranded.