SANTO DOMINGO. - The Presidency’s adviser on drugs warned that the State must review the salaries of the military and police because it cannot request the “sanctity” of thousands of its members who make RD$5,000 per month, and cannot undertake any type of valid effort against drug trafficking without their prior and extensive cleanup.
Marino Vinicio Castillo, describing the magnitude and gravity of drug trafficking in the country, said it has an impact on even the most isolated community, where its effects include conspicuous consumption and such overwhelming riches that “the boys lose interest in work, even when they’re good drivers, bricklayers, electricians. If the authorities don’t respond to the levels of drug trafficking it would be totally condemned to failure.”
The military and police sometimes receive from drug trafficking minimum temptations of RD$30,000, he said, not to cooperate with drug trafficking, but simply so they don’t observe or to look away. “Then, the State has to be thinking that to improve the quality of the people responsible with the national, public, family and individual security it’s necessary to pay them better, to stimulate them.”
The U.S. role
He said as the interdiction against drug trafficking in Mexico and Colombia has improved, the dealers were displaced to the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
He said the United States was effective in the logistic cooperation until 2000, when presidents Bill Clinton and Leonel Fernandez held regular conversations.
Castillo added however, that after the United States began the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the region has been so defenseless “that it’s scary.”
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
cut the military ...and raise police salary.......arrest josean for spewing PRD propaganda
Written by: josean, 17 Nov 2008 7:55 AM
From: United States
Fire Vincho!
From: United States, Lawrence, massachusetts
yes they can, their under oath!
From: United States
absolutely correct. if you cannot live on the salary, do not take the job. it is a slippery slope. you cannot have guys who are legally permitted to carry firearms , claiming they cannot live on their salaries.
From: United States, Reality Check
First, there is more than enough FAT in the RD Gov with bureaucrats getting salaries of RD$ 350,000 per month. Secondarily, the military is too large. All in all, there could be enough efficiency & productivity gains made that all the police could get their salaries doubled!
As it stands, the RD is a poor nation and even the current police salary is greater than the average wages of a Dominican worker. If you want results then cut RD Gov fat and give pay raises BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY ESTABLISH A PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE SYSTEM for both Police & DNCD. Also, give back the power the anti-corruption dept of the RD Gov had before the Presidents castrated them and sent the wrong message to corrupt officials.
This challenge is NOT that complicated like the worldwide financial crisis. There is alot of low hangin' fruit and easy fixes. The problem is that no one genuinely wanted to fix the broken model becuz it was very financially beneficial to keep it broken!
From: Canada
Lets analyze the scope of the problem. As we already know, men who join the forces in DR are of scarce education. Most of them come from the countryside and see no other way-out but to sell vegetable on the streets, work construction or in this case join the forces. $5000 pesos a month is nothing, that is true, but if I see through their eyes and see, free housing, free food whether is through the forces or through private businesses plus uniform, boots and an a big machine gun, hey, I’d go for the latter. On the other hand, the DR government needs to implement safety measure and start being a bit more selective at the time of selecting employees for the forces. How? Well, lets not only pay them more but also lets give their jobs a bit of dignify, is not funny to ask for food of for a ride all along your carrer.
http://nicolasdelvalle.wordpress.com/From: United States, Richmond, Texas
If they got rid of the extra (how many was it) 40 ministers and split up their salaries it would give the police a nice increase.
From: United States
texasshoe, with all the wasteful government positions, a little trimming of the fat would allow for a reservoir of money from which to pay police officers a living wage. it is not rocket science. too many useless drones , who serve absolutely no worthwhile purpose, are bleeding the country dry, and allow for this debacle.
From: United States, Somewhere in the World
ndelvalle are you from planet mars it has nothin to do with the hiring process, because in order for anyone to get hired, and almost anywhere in the DR you have to present an original paid for police report, also a paid for original with foto of your up-to-date cedula. Its not here where they get corrupt, after finding out a year later or so that they can't support their families with $5000.00 pesos a month, that they start doing the coruption thing, ofcourse their going to see easy money, their thinking about their kids, food, necesities, and it's not like they can get a second job because where are they going to fit that into, so yes I do say lionelsito needs to find a way to better pay these people that were hired to uphold the law, it's obvious that his staff is more important than the state of the country.
From: United States
gatita, i do not think it takes them a year to discover that they cannot feed their families on 5000 pesos per month. they know that before they take the job. they are aware of the "perks" that come with the job. hey, if the colonels and majors are cleaning up, maybe this is a good gig, they say. so, you get "traffic control" cops who pretend they are doing speed checks by radar, meanwhile they are really holding a hair dryer or a bullhorn .they pull you over, and shake you down for a hundred peso for "excessive speed". if they can do this 10 times per day, they can live on the 5000 the government gives them, plus these "enhancements".
From: Dominican Republic, Santiago
texasshoe"If they got rid of the extra (how many was it) 40 ministers"
You are soooooooooo right on, and in the process there would be less coruption to investigate!!
From: United States
Texasshoe forgot to apply the exponential; for each of the 40 ministers, there are 12 deputy ministers.
From: Canada
Gatitapequena
You made a great point, but I don’t see your point in reference to mine. I am not from another planet, and although not as deep as you understand it probably, I do know a bit about the corruption in DR. And if you did not noticed I am on the same side as you are. I am not supporting the government or saying that police are well paid, in fact I said the contrary. I guess my point got confusing when I said that anyone would rather take the machine gun, well, that is in reference to what you just said. These guys coming from the countryside rather have power and use corruption to feed their families instead of working construction for 400 pesos a day, when they can make that in an hour standing on a street. I am a firm believer that police should be one of the best well paid department in the government. But at the same time that if they are well paid, they be held responsible for their actions, but now with 5000 pesos a month there’s not much to ask.
From: United States, Somewhere in the World
hhhhhhmmmmmmmm, well thats true, even though they get thru the hiring state, they already have a plan as to how they're going to make easy money, well in that case, were just doommed because unfortunatly everyones corrupted already in the DR, they'd have to hire police officers from somewhere else but they've already tried that, and they didn't stay, anyways this is something thats never gonna get fixed
From: United States
gatita, are you saying that they tried hiring officers from other countries? when was this? what happened to the program, can you say?
Written by: jacirez 
, 17 Nov 2008 1:31 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
Can someone tell me: What is the extent of drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic? I know that after the collapse of the Medellin & Cali Carters in the early 1990s, the DR began to be used as a transshipment point. I remember seeing a rather increased opulence in Sosua when I returned in 1996. How are things now?
From: Canada
Jacirez
The situation is worst, last May I was in DR, past through Sosua and although this is a speculation, you might get the point. (I saw more Hummers than here in Toronto) I asked myself how can that be possible? How can people afford this kinds of vehicle here in DR. Everyone has a gun on their waist and believe me they are willing to use it. I asked the people around, and the only answer I got was that drug dealing was growing every day.
Written by: jacirez , 17 Nov 2008 2:14 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
ndelvalle,
That is funny. I remember commenting to my wife that the only vehicle we did not see in Punta Cana was the Hummer!
Now, would it be an exaggeration to assume the Dominicans I saw at the resorts are linked to this business (even if tangently so)?
From: Canada
Jacirez,
Well I have a cousin that works in the Hotel industry as an activist or Sankipanky (popula name) and he tells me that must of the drugs sold in the hotels are sold by employees. And that bring the next question: how can a hotel employee aford a hummer? how are they living in places like Luis Ginebra, Bayardo (expensive places in puerto Plata)? it just does not have any sense at all. Security guards who work inside are drug dealers and I saw one with my eyes living in an infinity jeep and no one says anything about that.
Written by: jacirez , 17 Nov 2008 2:26 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
ndelvalle,
WOW!!!
I have not returned to Sosua/Puerto Plata since 1996. Evertytime we go to the DR we stay in the Punta Cana/La Romana area...
I had not idea things were that bad.
Now I know this is not an ethical question to ask; but do the "prosperity" trickles down to everyone in the area or it only reserved for people working at the hotels?
From: Canada
Well, look at it this way. Hotels I speculate, employ 60% of the population in that city, the rest are goverment jobs and you could say that 10% are really strugling for their lives. Police which is the main point here make a lot of money, durg traffiking in puerto plata and Sosua. On the other hand, my cousing who lives in the city is a part time teacher (public) and he lives some what bad, he is a part time clown too, funny combination you might say, but hey: is survival. Now prosperity rains in every house, no, but the city is very well-off. And whether is drug or tourism, people have money in that city.
Written by: jacirez , 17 Nov 2008 2:45 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
Written by: Edward, 17 Nov 2008 3:25 PM
From: United States, Faux News: Unfair Imbalance
5,000 pesos a month? that's just insane!!!
Written by: jacirez , 17 Nov 2008 3:28 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
The real problem is that the "Cuerpos Castrances" are overstaffed. Most of its members are "botellas", names on the payroll with no law enforcement experience whatsoever. They should trim the employee rolls, properly train and pay the rest...Problem solved...
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Excuse me, but I have made this same statement on a forum I made a couple of days ago.
Yours truly Chillaxin
(Written by: eradicatecorruption, 17 Nov 2008 9:55 AM
From: United States, Lawrence, massachusetts
yes they can, their under oath!)
Those words are hollow in the face of starvation, and kids that need clothing. When you see your political leaders “living it up” stealing, with what morals can most of these leaders stand up and say “hey! You must be straight as an arrow”
When LF steals, he doesn’t just steal from one or to 2 people he steals from the whole country and even Dominicans that live in exile.
Stupid Comment By GC fallows
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
yes chill you are in exile....and dont come back to the DR anymore ...we will be fine here without your bad attitude
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
$161.29RD we expect them to live with $161.29 pesos a day! What can you buy with that in DR today with $161.29 pesos daily? “$5000.00RD divided by 31 days equals $161.29RD
How can we have the audacity to ask someone “or their family” to starve?
Is not the Dominican Republic a Capitalist State?
And if we are, then that means Capital “money” is the means in which we survive. From my understanding capital is what drives a lot of people to work, invest and or steal. It drives us, it is what people are expected to do. You are expected to go to work and make material wealth.
If We all want material wealth how can we chastise some one for wanting the same thing we all want.
From: United States, Somewhere in the World
Unfortunately thats how it is, no one cares, if you get a job they expect you have money to get to work and eat and live out of your own pockets, while your bettering their business and when they see you have left or stopped coming to work they find another worker. What I want to know is how in the freakin h....ll do we have choices. For a while i kind of sided with all those people who disliked or treated bad men who just didn't work to provide for their families or their homes, but i found out that, its not their fault they can't get a job, because in order to get a job here you have to buy a police report which costs about 800 pesos, then you have to buy a copy of your cedula with your picture on it, but then how am i supposed to get a job if i don't have money?
Continued down there
From: United States, Somewhere in the World
and so their hopeless, this is wrong making people go and buy these things when a police report should be obtained by the employer and copy machines in the offices should be used to make copies of cedulas and employers should call the jce and verify its valdidity, their should be no money wasted at all in trying to get a job, unless you have to get their in more than 30 minutes then you have to use your car. All i see is laziness on the part of the employer, sheer laziness, This is an endless vicous cycle.
From: United States
i am not in agreement that police good conduct certificates should be the responsibility of the employer. if you go for a job, you need to bring your bona fides with you. what is disgraceful is the fact that you should pay 800 pesos for it. it should be free, and, by rule, it probably is. but, as is everything else in the DR, the rules are made by the first guy who wakes up in the morning. so, some guys charge 800 pesos, some 1000; it depends on what the traffic will bear. i was charged 1200 pesos for a simple form to report a lost motor vehicle matricula. when i protested that it is supposed to be free, the colonel in charge informed me that he "had to take care of the capitan". take care of him for what, is the mystery for the ages. if there was not this population of thieves in the bureaucracy, more people could participate in the benefits of the country. in 200 years, you probably might be able to get a passport without paying off 21 buscones!!
From: United States
further, my buddy got a traffic summons, which he had to resolve at the palacio de justicia. it took him all day to pay a 25 peso fine!! imagine losing a day of production to pay that pittance. yet, i found out subsequently that there are "expediters" in the lobby, all well known, who will walk you through the process in 15 minutes, as long as you are willing to part with a few hundred pesos. government and bureaucracy here is organised crime, preying upon the poor. you surely do not believe that Messrs Brugal and Leon Jiminez get fleeced by some neanderthal every time they have to get a passport application!
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
these are ingrained systems left over from the Spaniards of another era....the Spanish in Spain have even outgrown this beuacracy system where everybody got a little bribe or here it is known as " Mi Commision " and permeates every facet of Dominican society not just the government and amounts to something for nothing and feeds the overall Corruption
From: United States, Somewhere in the World
dreadlocks you might not agree, but let me tell you, in the USA when you find work you sign a legal paper in the human services department giving the employer permission to pry into your record and ofcourse they have that power, and all they really look for is to see if you don't have a criminal background and if you do they want to know what you did, which sometime has nothing to do with the job you applied for.
From: United States
Gatita, i worked in corporate america, in the most dog-eat -dog industries, for 30 years. i know how they operate. but they have to reserve the right to protect themselves from applicants with a background of pedophilia, drug abuse and merchandising, white collar crime, violent crime arrests, DWI, etc. employees are agents of a company, and expose companies to liability litigation. so, companies rightfully have the right to check your background. they also need the right to see if you really have a PhD degree, or, in reality, you dropped out of community college.
From: United States, Somewhere in the World
yes i agree with you, but what i am saying is that they shouldn't be charging for those papers, thats something the employer is supposed to obtain themselves, not the future employees.
From: United States
gatita, i do not think that it is the employers who charge for the documents. it is the crooks who are in charge of preparing them. in the USA, the research into someone's background is not free, either. companies have to pay the cost of shipping and handling, or electronic transmission. but these costs are diminimus.
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Written by: gouletcolonial, 19 Nov 2008 8:49 AM
From: United States Virgin Islands, St Thomas Mahogany Run
these are ingrained systems left over from the Spaniards of another era....
To date the stupidest thing I have seen you post
From: United States
actually, chill, i must side with GC on this. corruption and malfeasance are traits of all ex-spanish colonies. there is corruption in every society on earth, but the spanish colonies raise it to an art!
Written by: jacirez , 19 Nov 2008 8:04 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
chillaxin201,
gouletcolonial is right--however, to varying degrees the same can be said for may third world countries and even developing countries. In places like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the Royal Family (the lower end princes) gets a commission from all major projects and influence peddling is a way of life...
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Chill you answered your own question ....the original settlers and conquistadores were all from the part of Spain that was Moorish or Arabic for centuries.... this is a mindset that combined with Christianity makes for very interesting personality
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Andalusia, Is that one of the provinces your talking about. All I know is my family that comes from the Canary Islands.
Talking about that I have a family member that did the DNA ancestry thing.
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As it stands, the RD is a poor nation and even the current police salary is greater than the average wages of a Dominican worker. If you want results then cut RD Gov fat and give pay raises BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY ESTABLISH A PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE SYSTEM for both Police & DNCD. Also, give back the power the anti-corruption dept of the RD Gov had before the Presidents castrated them and sent the wrong message to corrupt officials.
This challenge is NOT that complicated like the worldwide financial crisis. There is alot of low hangin' fruit and easy fixes. The problem is that no one genuinely wanted to fix the broken model becuz it was very financially beneficial to keep it broken!
You are soooooooooo right on, and in the process there would be less coruption to investigate!!
You made a great point, but I don’t see your point in reference to mine. I am not from another planet, and although not as deep as you understand it probably, I do know a bit about the corruption in DR. And if you did not noticed I am on the same side as you are. I am not supporting the government or saying that police are well paid, in fact I said the contrary. I guess my point got confusing when I said that anyone would rather take the machine gun, well, that is in reference to what you just said. These guys coming from the countryside rather have power and use corruption to feed their families instead of working construction for 400 pesos a day, when they can make that in an hour standing on a street. I am a firm believer that police should be one of the best well paid department in the government. But at the same time that if they are well paid, they be held responsible for their actions, but now with 5000 pesos a month there’s not much to ask.
The situation is worst, last May I was in DR, past through Sosua and although this is a speculation, you might get the point. (I saw more Hummers than here in Toronto) I asked myself how can that be possible? How can people afford this kinds of vehicle here in DR. Everyone has a gun on their waist and believe me they are willing to use it. I asked the people around, and the only answer I got was that drug dealing was growing every day.
That is funny. I remember commenting to my wife that the only vehicle we did not see in Punta Cana was the Hummer!
Now, would it be an exaggeration to assume the Dominicans I saw at the resorts are linked to this business (even if tangently so)?
Well I have a cousin that works in the Hotel industry as an activist or Sankipanky (popula name) and he tells me that must of the drugs sold in the hotels are sold by employees. And that bring the next question: how can a hotel employee aford a hummer? how are they living in places like Luis Ginebra, Bayardo (expensive places in puerto Plata)? it just does not have any sense at all. Security guards who work inside are drug dealers and I saw one with my eyes living in an infinity jeep and no one says anything about that.
WOW!!!
I have not returned to Sosua/Puerto Plata since 1996. Evertytime we go to the DR we stay in the Punta Cana/La Romana area...
I had not idea things were that bad.
Now I know this is not an ethical question to ask; but do the "prosperity" trickles down to everyone in the area or it only reserved for people working at the hotels?
We are having a good back and forth on another story(http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/....cans-feared-sunken-in-Mona-Pass). Can you re-post your last comments there. I think you make a great point...
Yours truly Chillaxin
(Written by: eradicatecorruption, 17 Nov 2008 9:55 AM
From: United States, Lawrence, massachusetts
yes they can, their under oath!)
Those words are hollow in the face of starvation, and kids that need clothing. When you see your political leaders “living it up” stealing, with what morals can most of these leaders stand up and say “hey! You must be straight as an arrow”
When LF steals, he doesn’t just steal from one or to 2 people he steals from the whole country and even Dominicans that live in exile.
Stupid Comment By GC fallows
How can we have the audacity to ask someone “or their family” to starve?
Is not the Dominican Republic a Capitalist State?
And if we are, then that means Capital “money” is the means in which we survive. From my understanding capital is what drives a lot of people to work, invest and or steal. It drives us, it is what people are expected to do. You are expected to go to work and make material wealth.
If We all want material wealth how can we chastise some one for wanting the same thing we all want.
Continued down there
From: United States Virgin Islands, St Thomas Mahogany Run
these are ingrained systems left over from the Spaniards of another era....
To date the stupidest thing I have seen you post
gouletcolonial is right--however, to varying degrees the same can be said for may third world countries and even developing countries. In places like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the Royal Family (the lower end princes) gets a commission from all major projects and influence peddling is a way of life...
Talking about that I have a family member that did the DNA ancestry thing.