Are you serious!!! If you feel so... why visiting that much our country?.... That is an isolated case if it wasn't.... The Dominican Republic wouldn't be known as the most welcoming Caribbean Island and who knows the friendliest in the world


I didn't say that I didn't like the country, but that doesn't change the fact of the corruption on all levels. I have friends, Dominican natives, two are officers in the Military, everytime I come they make sure that I know the latest scam, ripoffs, bad areas, and basically what and where to stay away from. Sometimes I listen to them sometime I don't. But, the fact of the situation is as long as the Country is economically deprived, as long as corruption is standard, nothing will change greatly. And as less gringos travel to the country because of economics, and the DR's economic situation becomes a worst situation for it's people, people will become more desparate!

So true!!!

And that goes for both Country on the Island. The very thing they both have in common is corruption and no matter how greater or less, the poverty and history we both chose to deny.

I wonder if peace will ever prevail on the Island. anyway, I hear it is the end of the world as we know it... Does it really matter now to have peace (lol)?

thank you donny cornelius, you're exactly right. and the manager is quietly sleeping at home as there is no justice in Puerto Plata, at least for the fat cats. We were standing up for ourselves and will continue to do so even if we have to picket the place ourselves. Wrong is wrong and the only thing more wrong is not speaking out against it. Both my wife and i were victims of mental and physical abuse as children and we know how easy it is to deny to oneself the horror of the pain inflicted. Perpetrators of abuse feed on this "victim" mentality. We are not interested in money, we are interested in people being accountable for their actions. We will not stop until this has been achieved. JL

Keep fighting... Justice will be your reward !

ciby was reacting to your implicit and subtle anti Americanism...and good for him

Not in this part of the world.
Of course, it's true when defenders of the DR say "this happens everywhere in the world", but one needs to add, that it's much more probable here.
Of course, not really many of the tourists to this country have such an unpleasant experience, but unfortunately there is a rising number of reports from tourists who were overcharged in hotels or car rental businesses and with the help of local authorities were forced to pay.

Why is it more probable than in many other places?
Well, this so called 'paradise' is also a paradise for certain people - many foreigners included - who need a corrupt environment for their criminal activities.
They love places where you can get away with murder, provided you know the right people.....

So, the DR is a popular retreat, not only for holidaymakers....

m'frog

mountainfrog, you said a mouthful. i made mention of a condition known as " resource complacency " in several of my posts. you know, something like the pretty girl who believes she can get by solely on looks, and does not need to cultivate a personality. there are several celebratory types who believe that because we have mind boggling physical beauty, all is well with the world. but we live in the age of the internet. when one guy gets cheesed off because the hotel robs him, or the cops shake him down, or he has to pay off the guy who hit his parked car, because the fiscal says so, the world finds out. twenty years ago, a disgruntled tourist would go home and tell his family , four friends, and six guys at the job, that he had a rotten vacation. today, he tells the internet. so, every time a tourist gets robbed, and he has to pay the police to give him back his documents they recovered, a few thousand people say " i aint going THERE". by the way, did you see where cabarete is endangered, because the tall buildings that are going up in the area are threatening the wind patterns that make cabarete what it is? do you mean to tell me that it took a private individual to bring it to the attention of the authorities that the wind patterns are caused by rapid cooling of the land, and that too many buildings will retain too much heat, thereby ruining cabarete as a kite surfing paradise?
then again , the powers that be are not appointed for what they know, but by whom they know. you cannot run a railroad like this, fellas!

poor guy has been looking for resources for twenty years to build his 20 unit condo project and some door knob says we think it may affect the prevailing winds you cannot develop your land like everybody else did....turn it into an open air park or go put up tents.

"No importa para mi", says the receptionist, the police officer, the fiscal, the juez, the abogado
The internet does not really change their attitude to rob you TODAY.
Mañana is just one of those words...
No change in sight.

m'frog

exactly, m'frog. it is an issue of vision, and collective aspirations. in the far east, people see society as a collective. they look at their countries and envision what they would like to see in 10 years, in 20, and in 50. we look at what we would like to see tonight. manana can take care of itself. so, the officials could not care less what effects their actions have on the tourist industry. they take the attitude that they are only peeing off a small portion of the tourists, who will soon be going home anyway. heck, tomorrow , more will come! little by little, they will torpedo the industry, at which point they will stand aroung with their thumbs up their noses , wondering what happened!