It seems theres always a reason to strike in the Dominican Republic. It's really sad, theres no reason to strike. From what i've seen many people are better off now then they were 5 years ago.

Ignorance is killing Dominican Republic with so many lazy people and not willing to go the extra mile.

Someone is blind! Throw the bums out!

Sleepyhollowguy: who might these people be whom you characterise as being better off than 5 years ago? have you conversed with them to ascertain their current circumstance? have you spoken with poor people, or foreigners who live in gated communities? have you asked them about the relative cost of the domestic food basket, what with the price of a platano being 15 pesos in certain places? heck, look at the dramatic increase in the price of a main staple such as chicken.not to mention bread. forget gasoline!! no ,sir; you should ask the poor how they feel, then decide if they are better off.

When the governed no longer believe in the legitimacy of those governing them they have the right, no rather, the obligation to protest.

I sort of remember another period in history where a people oppressed by an overbearing government shouted "Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny."

Lie-onel Fernandez and the PLD thieves have over taxed the Dominican economy to the point that the majority of Dominicans are struggling for the basic needs to survive. They have taken that money and given it to the party loyalist, via NGOs, illegal payrolls, Sun-land deals, and a white elephant called the METRO.

There is no meaningful education, consistent electricity, adequate medical care, affordable housing, reliable water supply, safety from crime and the list goes on.

The suprise is not that people are protesting, but that they have taken so long and have accepted this criminal treatment for all this time.

continued:

Like the American patriots of the 1700s Dominicans also have the God giving right to protest this Tyranny!

Josean, i must concede that i could not have said it better than you if i tried!

just in the past three years i have seen major changes in POP i have a house in POP in yes a gated community but i spend much of my time working to help the schools in the country side
we have power 24 hours a day now the roads are getting fixed the town is looking better all the time

Francoisatl, when you say "we have power 24 hours a day now, who is this WE? do you mean people who live in your neck of the woods, or people who live in lesser circumstances?

to dreadlocks; Last time I checked the government doesn't control the price of foods and other household products. Also compared to many Latin American countries, the DR doesn't pay as much Taxes as they do. No real estate taxes, no local taxes, But yet everyone wants roads, highways, airports (metros). The money has to come from somewhere. Most people are better off today then a few years ago. I have many family there, and many of them don't make nearly as much as i do. But somehow they have computer, Tvs, cell phones, and no they don't
rely on support from aboard. We all forget that it's a 3rd world country and you can't compare living standard with the developed countries.
I just believe they're too many strikes for a country that enjoys decent living standards. Maybe people should stop and think about the image that a strike brings to a nation that lives off service sector and tourism. And when tourist are afraid to come to the country will they protest that as well?

at no point in my post did i allude to any comparison between a country such as the DR and a country in what you call THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. my point is singular, and i never made any attempt to go into reasons. let me state again, for purpose of emphasis, that i disagree that living standards have improved for the majority of people. it is simplistic to state that you see people with computers and cell phones. we are fully aware that every adolescent in this country has an obscenely and unnecessarily expensive cellphone. true it is that better choices will lead to better life outcomes. but that does not mean that the prices of items have not spiralled out of control faster than the rate of salary increases. a young woman waiting tables in a decent restaurant, who was earning 2500 pesos per quincennal in 2005 still makes 2500 pesos today.
3 years ago, a platano cost 3 pesos, today 15. do you understand my point?

15 Pesos? I bought some last week for my wife, she was having a few other Dominicans around and wanted some home cooking.
I bought five and it cost me almost £2.50, well $5 dollars to you.

15 Pesos? Those things don't grow on trees you know!

dred I dont think you will be happy until the people rise up and make you president

Goulet, one day, when i have your e-mail address, i will divulge you, and only you, some inner secrets. you will understand why i will never aspire to be a politician!

besides, Goulet, i want the people to make themselves president! i want them to understand that if they are given the opportunity to achieve something, they are at fault if they do not try. they may fail, but try they must. it is time you dispense with the idea that i want handouts.i understand that misery is a part of the human condition, but sometimes i get real sad when i see the plight of some folks here. let me give you a short anecdote: one day i was driving along a village road and three young girls with schoolbooks were walking ahead of me. suddenly, without warning, the knees of the one in the middle buckled , and she fell in a heap upon a pile of gravel. i stopped to ask what was the problem, and offer whatever assistance i could. we all soon realised that she had collapsed from sheer hunger, not having eaten from the day before!! not only her, but nobody in her household. i was moved to tears, to see a lovely young girl, on her way to school, dying of hunger

in the year 2007. i was in tears for the rest of the afternoon. maybe i am too sensitive, and i can hear everybody saying" so what, it happens every day in Sierra Leone, or some other place. yes,maybe, but it shouldn't!

this is a day to day struggle for survival ,and when it involves children it is truly heart breaking because they are innocent.....the elderly poor are also spirit crushing....there but for the grace of God walks my mother or soon myself

Goulet, is that anything like " Never laugh at a passing hearse"? or, There, but for the grace of God, go i?

dreadlocks, the platano may be 15 pesos as you said, but have you forgot that we had two tropical storms end of last year that flatted the plantain plantantions around the island . if you walk out and buy it in the street of the tricycle guys it cost 7 pesos so please before saying that check your facts. i bought eggs for 2.50c each last week from a guy on one of those street stand. but if go to the supermarket or colmado they charge you at to 5 pesos for each eggs. so who is it to blame leonel or an act of god. by the way food prices are also going up in the usa. last i check a carton of is 1.00 dollar from one year back.

Make sure you test those eggs that you are buying off the street for freshness. If they float to the top in a bowl of water, they are too old to eat. Remember that there is an embargo on with Haiti which used to buy over half the eggs from here. That is why they are so cheap on the streets and so expensive in the stores.

again, bernies, let me repeat for emphasis that i am not here to analyse price increases, so no need to give me a scolding about checking facts. i can go into convoluted economic discussions and explanations regarding price spikes ,to the eternal boredom of all but a few, but that is not the point! the point is, regardless of the genesis of the problems, the living conditions of the poor are more dire today. whether it be supply shortfalls, gas price increases, transportstion costs, competition from cafta nations, to name a few, the situation for the poor is not lovely!!!

sorry dred the eternal boredom of all......

sorry to disappoint you, Goulet, but some readers actually enjoy a little discussion on economic theory and how it relates to our daily lives. it is, i concede, tedious and plodding, but we all need economists, so derision is not a good point of departure. i know that cibaeno and Frankthe Tank do not find economic explanations boring, or i should hope not. otherwise, they are just plain masochistic!

cheap shot....sorry could not resist

i understand you by now Goulet. quite frankly, economic explanations are boring. i was the one who posted that, remember?

The statement that we don't pay real estate taxes is completely untrue.

You don't pay yearly but when you go to sell your property the "the tax man cometh"

I guess the trick is to never sell...

Written by: Jander, 4 Apr 2008 2:17 PM
From: United States
The statement that we don't pay real estate taxes is completely untrue.

You don't pay yearly but when you go to sell your property the "the tax man cometh"

I guess the trick is to never sell...
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Also when you buy you need to pay taxes to transfer the title to your name.

I recently bought a property in santiago for $25,000 converted to US and it cost me about $800 converted US


not to mention the HiGH cost OF Gasoline to go from Cabrete to Santiago.

time2rize, did that transfer tax in question go to the government or to a buscon? you know they have to get their taxes ,too!