Why is this guy selling his country piece by piece to the world......He's starting to remind me of Pedro Santana.

Keep in mind that when you allow others to invest in your properties you also lose part ownership of that property. In other words every investor has a piece of DR. Now this is where it gets tricky ahhhhh Forget it you people might think that what I'm saying is because I'm jealous. of DR's progress so forget it. Good Luck.

Pedro exactly= more to steal-- Drug business is down

I hope the guy in the pajamas gives Leonel a suitcase full of money to pay the electric bill

That is a great move for DR. Not every provision of investments have devil ulterior motives in them. Qatar is big in tourism and next to rich Kuwait and UAE (Dubi) in the Middle East. At least as a President, as much as it may look like he is going around allowing every Country to invest in DR, but it shows that he has some of the Country's interest at heart in terms of progression. If mot of the Caribbean nations would take it upon themselves to deal with other Countries that America seem to have hard time controlling perhaps the USA would have more to worry about when it comes to screwing small nations in the butt. I think dealing with more middle Eastern Country would be a threat to the US and that is what will make them start acting right toward small poor Countries in terms of hypocritical foreign policies. I say go DR, go DR, go!!!

Cap Cana circling the drain....http://www.marketwatch.com/news/s....ses-Debt-Service/story.aspx?guid={61F36140-D83B-4315-A172-7B70C865EDD7}

Rome burns and LF plays with his fiddle.

Is that a pizza Lionel is being given?

GC, what is with that new address? have you left us in the darkness? i thought you had electricity 24/7

Mr. Presidente form this day foward you will be known as Lie-A-loti Ali-Mangu Metro-ani!

Inchallah your excellency the Emir:
Let me present this gift to you of ambar necklace set in Dominican gold that will always protect your highness and ward off evil crusader spirits.
Shukram for the committee, as you remember your mighty highness a committee was responsible
when Allah instructed a team of economists to design the horse, then the blessed camel was created!
Along with our utmost gratitude and good will for the betterment of relations between Qatar and the DR, we will strive to improve the flock of many Dominican women that are "working" in your kingdom
and contributing to a less stressful society as well as part time belly dancers at night. For that goal we are providing instructions to renew the flock of Dominican escorts with new recently imported ones specially instructed in the Arab languages, culture and eating habits.
With these new "working girls" we will send josean "metro man" as the official emissary to escort in their long voyage and work with them.

can i go too, Generoso? i will manage the belly dancers, pro bono.

You are most welcome my friend, is that pro bono or pro bone?

i guess the bone will be pro bono. gotta have some fringe benefits, or it isn't worth it.

dreadlocks: Anything for you my friend, we are carrying the banner!

can you persuade the Emir to keep Leo as a pet? you seem to have a degree of fluency in communicating with those guys from the Emirates.

LOL I am still laughing and crying, that's so funny!
He will probably love it being a prima donna in the harem and having daily disertations to the other
500 virgins there.
BTW I can parlee 5 main languages as well as some Chinese, Japanese, Arabic but very limited vocabulary.
Tiljastizzee.

hey, that is better than most americans, who cannot even speak english. just kidding; you can all put away the tar and feathers. but you are so right; Leo would be personna non grata within a week. he would give his incessant meaningless speeches and bore even the camels to death.they would send him home in a major hurry.

This deal sounds good however I am very skeptical . Because It has been reported that officials of Russia, Iran and Qatar, all leading producers of natural gas, are discussing formation of a cartel similar to OPEC.so don't jump for joy just yet.

yumnuk, the natural gas thing is very uncertain. it appears that the primary intent is to use it for vehicular propulsion. one major problem is the cost of retrofitting vehicles to use it. otto cycle cars and heavy vehicles are better suited for fitment, because they have spark plugs. but it is nothing like propane. it is stored at 3400 psi, and the tanks alone cost 1000 us dollars for a seven gallon tank. they are specially made to withstand the pressure. propane tanks only need to withstand 200 psi. then there are all types of regulators and mixers to consider. a good conversion will cost 2000 dollars, minimum. you cannot even buy too many used parts, because it is illegal in the USA and other countries to sell a used tank. it is not like propane, where there is a tecnico on every corner who can do it. for diesel vehicles, it will cost 10,000 to retrofit. so, only dedicated vehicles are worth considering. short haul, city cars, are not worth conversion. long distance public

transportation is a costly venture, necessitating multiple tanks. it is a good idea in theory, but somebody better start crunching numbers. and, the installation process is intricate and technical. if it is not optimised, the losses will exceed any gains it could realise over petroleum

Thanks dread. Thoughtful post great insight on your part!

I'm excited about this prospective deal... But we should apply the same rules that apply to foreingners that invest in Qatar. They make the investment, but the Dominicans own at least 51% of the business.

thanks for your kind words, yumnuk. i have researched this issue, and spoken at length with people in this business, from California to India. i am not an expert on the subject, but i have a few small insights.

I want to congratulate LF for his initiatives to promote the DR. It is not only a smart move but also wise to partner with Qatar as supplier of natural gas and DR to become a potential distribution center to the region. You never want to put all your eggs into one basket but rather to partner with a well diversified investor pool, that in case one funding source drys up, you still have other sources pouring in the money. If everything works out, we would no longer have to rely exclusively on Venezuela or US oil companies for our energy needs, that really use oil and its derivatives as a strategic tool to promote political interests. If LF continues to bring in money from as many different countries as possible, it will definitely dilute the influence and control from any one particular country. Nevertheless, eventhough the DR wants and need foreign investment, we still must not allow them to screw us or sell the DR for $24 worth of glass beads. Everyone must must come out as winners.

guillermone:
All of our presidents go on holiday abroad and bring back a lot of promises. This is done to justify the time away from their palace desk. Maybe the trees this time will bear fruits, but I really doubt it.
I believe that it was the island of Manhattan that was sold for $24 worth of glass beads.
In our case the Spaniards didn't offer us any cash or beads, they just told us:
"bring us the GD gold or we will cut your foot off!"
And you know what..soon enough the whole island was inhabited by one legged indians.
That's why they brought in the slaves from Africa, because the indians that were used to the easy life and eating a lambi and then getting high on 'datua" (flowers) and fermented pineapple juice
didn't want to work that hard.
dreadlocks:
I was waiting to install natural gas in my gasoline jeepeta, do you mean that just BS?

Yes, Generoso, it was the island of Manhattan that the Indians sold for $24 and I just hope we don't do the same thing with the DR as a consequence of our quest for foreign capital. Nevertheless, I just hope that in the end something positive comes out of all of this. The trip LF made is a sequence of events that followed as a result of the work, effort and dedication of Andrés Van Der Horst. He is very active in that region of the world, but in particular as Dominican embassador to India in an attempt to bring Indian technology and Arab oil money to the DR. I doubt very much that LF just decided to get up one one day and say lets jump on a plane and go to Qatar to eat quipe. However, It is true that many of our presidents do take superfluous trips and come back with stories of accomplishments and how productive were their travels. I remember Hippolito after a long trip stated that the Russians were going to open up an auto factory in DR and a bunch of other of promises.

generoso, if you travel long distances, you will recoup the initial investment in a few years. but it is high, and, on a jeepeta, will run you around 3500 dollars with a 7 gallon tank( which does not go far). it delivers 30% less energy than gasoline, so, for each gallon of petroleum you will need 1.3 gallons of natural gas. it is safe, and the chance of explosion is low, because it is lighter than air, so it disperses rapidly. but the most critical factor is that it has to be PROFESSIONALLY INSTALLED. in the USA, only certified technicians are allowed to even buy the kits. if improperly done, the results will be disastrous. you will waste so much gas, the economic results will be devastating. it is delicate stuff, not for amateurs and shade tree mechanics. heck, they do not even permit natural gas cars to park in underground parking in some states. they all have to use the upper level of the George Washington Bridge; go on the lower level, you get a summons.

guillermone:
thanks for your reply.
I believe that the current Dominican Ambassador to India is Hans Dannenberg.
Vand der Horst father and son are based in the DR and have some other government posts.
No big deal. Just to clarify things.
Hipoloco was a total and inept windbag, at least Leonel is more presidential and can be a statesman and can sure bushu well. The mark of a good politician.

So it doesn't matter if you are a thieve as long as you are articulate!

Now my peasant mind understands g.

What would we do here at DT without your brilliant intellect to enlighten us!

Generoso, thanks for the clarification. my error. I gave credit to the wrong guy. I always confuse the two. Though not really similar, they both have non-spanish, dutch-german last names. But yes, Hans Dannenberg is doing a great job and what is happening between the region and the DR is a direct result of his work as well as the appointed ambassador to Qatar with an Italian-Lebanese type name, Hugo Guiliani Cury.

josean
I will speak to you in levity and in few arabic words that I know to stay in the subject matter:
Tiljastizzee
You know what it means?
Kiss my rosy b......