Bad politics...

she was serving 5 years in her home..... what is that ?

let us hope the guy with his arm around her in the photo will do her time as well ....small consolation to the small investors who lost everything ....Merry Christmas to them

So Clintonian of Lie-onel!

Chauncey and you still support Lie-onel!

what are the alternatives today....do not say your old buddies of the PLD

Another opportunity for Lie-onel to make some Pardon-cash:

http://www.listin.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=85548

Written by: gouletcolonial, 23 Dec 2008 9:18 AM
From: Dominican Republic, Colonial Zone Calle Comercio

"what are the alternatives today....do not say your old buddies of the PLD"

That was not an acceptable defense in Nuremberg either!

A very cute way to take the public's eyes and heat off the recent SCJ (Supreme Court) decision regarding the Sunland ruling, the missing airplane (flying yola) case and the Camara de Cuentas Bonus/Regalia. This is one very smooth operator, LF. The people voted this man in and deserve what the have. A FAILED STATE, in the truest meaning of the word. It is time for the lil' revolution to begin? Never happen, Dominican are not fighters!

These pardons always fall along political lines, lobby pressures and past or future possible financial contributions. Presidential pardoning powers should be rescinded from all practicing countries since they are only used to appease the most undeserved elements of society. If President Bush pardons Jonathan Pollard there will be far more acrimony in the US than President Clinton's pardon of Frank Rich.

josean that is massive Hyperbolic over statement and very insulting to some of the survivors ....The people tried and convicted at Nuremberg were not convicted of paying bribes and fraud

HOLY CRAP!!! and the poor SOB who steals to feed his family, is thrown in the Palacio is lucky if he ever gets out.

CORRUPTION!!! CORRUPTION!!! CORRUPTION!!!

Not unique to the DR, but it behooves me what Presidents think when they pardon Bloody Oligarchs!!!

Flash Breaking News!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lie-onel ready to pardon Bernie "Made-Off with the money," if he buys a condo in in CAP CACA!

Devin there is no pardon imaginable for Frank Rich he is beyond pardon for the rubbish he writes about politics or the theater....Marc Rich was also a sleazeball deal..haha

and I bet he does pardon Jonathan Pollard ....the time is now

Written by: gouletcolonial, 23 Dec 2008 9:31 AM
From: Dominican Republic, Colonial Zone Calle Comercio

"josean that is massive Hyperbolic over statement and very insulting to some of the survivors ....The people tried and convicted at Nuremberg were not convicted of paying bribes and fraud"


Cry baby!

Repeat after me:

There are no rules nor laws for the rich.
There are no rules nor laws for the rich.
There are no rules nor laws for the rich.
There are no rules nor laws for the rich.
There are no rules nor laws for the rich.

Remember it.


Too ill to go to prison. How long till she is seen out and about?

GC,
Thanks GC, I confused the name of the famous New York Times (your favorite periodical) writer with the disgraced financier. I did get Jonathan Pollard's name right though. Thanks for the correction.

you make an interesting point about Jonathan Pollard ...please expound for us your thoughts

this in my humble opinion is the American Dreyfus...let him go and tell the Israelis we were not pleased

GC,

Please, please, please don't tell me you are in favor of a Jonathan Pollard pardon. No refuge for traitors, especially ones that did so for economic gain. There are Jewish-American citizens that still cannot get special clearances in governmental positions because of the actions of Mr. Pollard. The term dual loyalties was borne of his indictment. His treason marks the ugliest chapter in US / Israel relations. Execution is too meritorious for this apostate.

GC,

Mr. Pollard was an American Naval Intelligence Officer, as you well know, but did you know that he was recruited to spy on the US by Israeli spy masters which was especially underhanded by Israel. So underhanded that they disavowed any knowledge of him for many years after his arrest and conviction. He compromised the entire US Radio Signal Intelligence Network. Israel has to this day refused to return all the stolen information, thus not allowing the US the opportunity to examine the complete extent of the breach that was committed by this tyrant. He had no political agenda, he sold out the country of his birth for some jewelry and US$10,000 plus US$1,500 a month to continue his spying.

This guy is beyond shameless. And she was serving her house-arrest term in her villa in Casa De Campo. Damn, this really is a failed state.

anyone from the massess, let me check I DON'T THINK SO, power for the rich

This shit makes me sick.

Those are the once which should have received the pardon .
Put to jail innocent .

http://www.aveccelineetsarah.com/

What a scum bag. How much money do you think he made on these pardons?

devin was it really shiny stuff..... then i can understand his temptation....just kidding .....How long has it been 20 years ? ...I mean we are not talking the Rosenbergs here

Actually Leonel should thank those crooks for the Baninter fraud, if it wasn't for them he would not have been elected in '04. After the bank went down Hippo took the fall and Leonel got elected.

Written by: Username, 23 Dec 2008 12:06 PM
From: Dominican Republic
Actually Leonel should thank those crooks for the Baninter fraud, if it wasn't for them he would not have been elected in '04. After the bank went down Hippo took the fall and Leonel got elected."

Bingo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do you think he is pardoning her!

Vivian Lubrano de Castillo was NOT serving her sentence at home. She was at the most expensive private clinic in the city suffering from "allergic reactionitis to being in Najayo jail" and her pardon is a
sham and an insult to all law abiding Dominicans.
Look in the near future for presidential pardons to Ramoncito Baez and Luis Alvarez Renta.
The others that were pardoned were PRD cronies that were involved in the Renove scam and they
also got off real easy from their monster scam and this is obvioulsy a political move by Leonel.
There is no justice in DR and all they have are "kangaroo courts".
BTW Independent news reporters members of the commission on pardons Huchi Lora and Nuria Piera resigned in disgust for these blatant political pardons.

Does this mean I can rip up my ticket for talking on my cellphone at a stop...while a motoconcho with no lights passed me with the passenger holding 2 sheets of 1/4 plywood over the heads....and Amet not even blinking????

Good for Huchi & Nuria. I hope they do one of their exposes. Jesus the PLD administration is a real disappointment. After such "pure" principles of austerity and service to the public, they've turn into the party of the oligarchs. The PRD and PRSC are no better.

Gente, time to turn to a party that is truly democratic. You can tell from it's internal processes of transparency and accountability. The MIUCA is a party that we should all look into and try to support. With our support, we can help the MIUCA challenge the status quo. IN the last elections the MIUCA had a strong showing, despite limited resources and no celebrity candidate. This strong support shows the frustration and disgust w/ our current leaders.

Fernandez showed his true face w/ this pardon. How can he turn to the people and claim that he is not in the pocket of the rich?

baldoria23
All political parties are corrupt and suffering from the same maladies, cronyism and
internal decay. There is no quick solution or "savior" in the bench.
The only solution is tearing up the playing cards and starting anew. To try to elicit change in this perverted by corruption society is frustrating and pointless.
The system must change from implosion or explosion take your pick.

baldoria, i really do not think it matters to Leonel what anyone thinks. the important thing is that there is precious little you can do about it. as i said before, the DR is not a democracy; it is a monarchy, and the people are inert and apathetic. it takes a real sense of security for a president to pardon a person who was a part of a conspiracy which brought the economy to its knees. did you see any pardons for some guy from the barrio who stole a broom?

I'm a Leonel supporter but I will have to disagree with him on this one. What kind of message is he sending by giving pardons to convicted felons and crooks!

Nothing can be changed. PLD and PRD hold the power and they are not going to give it away to a 3rd party. Look at US and the system there, you have the Democrats and the Republicans, it's your choice. You want a 3rd party, Democrats and Republicans made the laws so complicated that a 3rd candidate can barley get on the ballot, and including a 3rd party candidate in a nationally broadcast TV debate, or in the "equal time" rule? Yeah right!

I disagree. Perhaps I'm over optimistic, but take a moment and compare the internal (un)democratic practices of the three main parties to that of the MIUCA, and then tell me if there are any differences.

Also, if you do a careful qualitative analysis of the campaign slogans and public outreach, which I was able to do this past elections, you can see that the PRD, PLD, and PRSC all overtly used clientelist practices; the MIUCA, instead of giving away $, jobs, and gasoline, came to people w/ democratic ideas. They had a POSITIVE message. Such stark differences is the reason why I'm holding out hope that all Parties are NOT the same, but that the MIUCA represents something different.

Your assessment, however, represents the current crisis among political parties in emerging democracies. There are efforts to help entice political parties to become more "programmatic," but as you can imagine these are resisted by parties & oligarchs that benefit from the status quo.

baldoria23, i think sadly that you are over-optimistic. It is easier to buy a poor person's vote by giving him a chicken and a salami and telling him/her that if you elect me there is more coming, than explaining to him/her how you are going to change the government practices and get rid of corruption. People are so used to hearing it, that they don't even hear it, if you know what i mean.

ah, there are so many theories as to what determines the number of parties in a political system. The two main ones are the Culturalist and the institutionalist approaches. The institutionalist approach argues that electoral rules determine the # of parties. IN countries like the US& UK that have majoritarian rule, tend to have two parties;whereas countries with proportional representation tend to have multiple parties. In the DR we have a Mixed system. The culturalist approach argues that the number of political parties reflect the number of socio-econ-religious-regional-ethnic cleavages that exist within a society.

sorry - I get excited when I get to chat about pol. sci.

MIUCA and their candidate was a refreshing effort to try to change the "business as usual" way that politics is conducted in the DR. But you know as well as I do that they
will "never" in the foreseeable future gain power by a majority vote situation.
Same as with many small parties in he US like the "Libertarian" party or Ralph Nader's movement.
The PLD, and PRD have a strangle hold in Dominican politics and they will dispense to each other the "I forgive you and you forgive me" pardons for them to in reality have a "hereditary impunity" unwritten law that does not prosecute or pursue with vigor the criminals that engage in corrupt practices and are constantly
framing the public. Politicians dispense of the public moneys from one party to the other with the most care free carelessness because they know "all will be forgiven"
when their own party or opposition takes over.
To fight government corruption in the DR is a quest similar to Don Quixote fighting against the windmill.

That is ok people tomorrow I am going to dr and I am going to have a talk with Mr. Presidente

Without a doubt, but if you create an independent electoral body that sanction parties for giving away salamies, then parties will be compelled to compete on ideas and not on internal resources. The major parties will never change themselves, they benefit from the status quo. They'll continue "buying" their wy into power. But institutions are the key to reshape our political culture.

But now you get into a "chicken and an egg" problem. What's the solution, civil society organiations and social movements mobilizing the public against the main parties until democratic institutional reforms take place. ANother source of the change can be foreign donors and multilateral organizations, which is a good option. But it has to be a full court press.

baldoria you know well that's not going to happen
dr people need to wake the F%&K up first

This gets even better!

Source DR1

Pardons for Vivian and Renove

President Leonel Fernandez used his constitutional right to pardon Baninter banker Vivian Lubrano de Castillo, exempting her from serving a five-year jail sentence. She had been found guilty of a part in the RD$55 billion Baninter fraud. Fellow bankers Ramon Baez Figueroa, financier Luis Alvarez Renta and former bank operations executive Marcos Baez Cocco are serving 10-year sentences for their roles in the crime. Lubrano has been hospitalized ever since the sentence was first served on 11 July. She appealed, but the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the sentence.
Likewise, President Leonel Fernandez ended the jail sentences for Casimiro Antonio Marte Familia (Conatra), Pedro Franco Badia, Milciades Amaro Guzman (Terrabus) and Gervasio de la Rosa, of the Plan Renove scandal, which involved the purchase of public transport vehicles with state funds.

Continued:

Franco Badia had been under arrest on the grounds of health problems.
The pardon is contained in Decree 847-08 issued by the President. After the pardon was announced, journalist Huchi Lora and Nuria Piera resigned from the Presidential pardon commission in protest. Lora said that last week they had discussed a list of recommendations for the pardons with the Prosecutor General and neither Lubrano nor the Renove detainees were on the list, as reported in Diario Libre.
The General Controller of the Nation prepared a report on the Renove fraud, and the State Prosecutors stressed that of the 4,415 vehicles imported under the program, only 418 were distributed to the true public transporters leaving taxpayers to pay millions in foreign debt that the government took on to purchase the units. On Monday, President Fernandez appointed another transport kingpin, Alfredo Pulinario Linares (Cambita) as transport advisor to the President. He was also charged in the Plan Renove scandal.

Cont

Linares represents the MOCHOTRAN transport consortium.

it is ok I am going to dr tomorrow and i will have a talk with el presidente.

I think you will be drinking THEM, more that talking to him!

maybe you right

I just feel so helpless, feel for my people that is all

Absolutely incredible, Vivian Lubrano de Castillo nearly bankrupts the Dominican Republic and then she is rewarded with a presidential pardon. Crime pays in the Dominican Republic. What a corrupt banana republic the DR has turned into.

I am telling you the revolution would not be televise

Josean;

How conveniently you forget to mention that Plan Renove was a fraud perpetrated on the Dominican people by your beloved hippo. That crook was the point man for all the PRD scams that took place under his reign. In addition, yes Lionel was elected thanks to the Baninter disaster, but don't forget it was Mejia who caused the run on the bank in his desperate attempt to stop Listin Diario from printing the truth about him and Pepe Goico.

look guys forget about political parties they are all the same can not wait to be on top to take everything they can so parties does not matter they all crooks

juanb,

You will be pardoned also as the number two lackey and apologist for this regime of organized crime called the PLD.

Chauncey is number one but you are close behind!

Bush list of pardons..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28368672

juanb, i would presume that since you know that all these guys pardoned by Leonel were PRD thieves, then Leonel knows it too. the question then becomes "why would he pardon people who stole the country into a state of literal disaster"? the second question, obviously becomes "is this part of some deal"? is there a quid pro quo behind it all?

GC, i can see you waiting with bated breath to see some Caricom head of state pull a stunt like this, so you can remind me that the caricom countries are being "left in the dust".

I guess a couple of BILLION PESOS gone missing is not such a big deal in DR Economic system.

"is there a quid pro quo behind it all?"................ of course there is read the small print.

This type of presidential pardon, should burn down the the capital house.

I voted for Leonel as the lesser of two evils. I was wrong. Between the PLD and the PRD there cannot be found a single honest man or woman. Unlike others, however, I can admit that my preferred party is a bunch of crooks and thieves. And you, Josean?

Dread:

He is just paving the way so that when the other group of thieves (PRD) take over, they will pardon his band of crooks. Commonly known as "one hand washing the other".

Guillermo Moreno and again in 2012!

I know it, I know who he pardoned b4 i had even clicked on the subject, wow!! Leo , your just blatanly corrupt.

Written by: josean, 23 Dec 2008 6:26 PM
From: United States
Guillermo Moreno and again in 2012!


I 2nd that and by then I will be able to Vote in DR

Josean the hippo apologist and paid stooge of the PRD party ...and he does not care who knows it...a nattering nabob who gets paid for it

Speak for yourself and your relationship to the PLD, Chauncey.

To paraphrase Wil Rogers, you never met a right wing or corrupt politician you did not like, eh Cubanito!

Written by: gouletcolonial, 23 Dec 2008 6:30 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Colonial Zone Calle Comercio
Josean the hippo apologist and paid stooge of the PRD party ...and he does not care who knows it...a nattering nabob who gets paid for it


both parties are garbage, GC pay attention he said Guillermo Moreno 2012 thats a a whole other party.

hey, GC, it is not hippo who pardoned these crooks; pay attention! juanb, you are right on point with that statement. they are all crooks, but there is honor among the thieves.

down with the PLD and PRD . they both are too corrupt.

there is no hope for progress of any kind in a country in which there is no good example. every country on earth has a share of crooks in government, but the majority of countries that have gotten ahead are staffed with honorable people. sadly, whenever the word "honorable" comes up, posters always point to the same usual suspect; Miguel Cocco. well, it is pathetic when the citizenry can only identify one honest person in their midst. for people to take this country seriously, and not think of it as a large golf course with a beach, things will have to change. people have to go to jail for selling unfit milk to children. judges will have to stop "voting"themselves 600,000 peso christmas bonuses. courts will have to render sane judgements, in cases such as sun land. otherwise, serious outsiders will see us as the land of chicas and brugal, and we will not be offered a seat at the table of serious international discourse, lest we steal the chairs!

dread
Don't be too sure about the "one honest person in their midst", you can even be disappointed on that one if you knew what I know.
Like Sodom and Gomorrah there is no honest person in the whole island that has not been corrupted.
Now understand this, corruptors are both the persons that offer the bribe as the ones who taketh them.
And accomplises are just as guilty and they are the ones that witness acts of corruption and tolerate them or don't do anything about them and turn their heads the other way.

generoso, i could not agree with you more. we allow them to get away with it, then vote them in over and over, to abuse us. the public is equally at fault, and gets what it deserves.

Any potential foreign investor will look twice before placing funds in the DR, due to the overtly corrupt state it has become. Corruption has and will continue to affect the the quality of investments in the DR. It is becoming impossible to do business ethically in the DR, as everyone has their hand in the till (the mi comision factor), all the way up to the Supreme Court. LF has spoken in a loud voice with his recent actions to advise the entire world, he is corrupt and is for sale. What a little man LF has become falling from grace in the eyes of most of his Citizens. But he really does not care what people think. He has lost my respect (as though that is important) along with many Dominicans at home and around the world. But nothing will change, as the Dominican society is conforming (adapting and accepting their crappy state without a fight).

Juango, the "wrong" things that you mention will affect quality of investments in the DR are exactly the "right" things for some "investors"; corrupt government, every official for sale, the vulnerable banking system, weak laws... thrust me, for some "investors" this truly is paradise, and one huge sink where a lot of dirty money can be washed. The Benitez brothers were able to "invest" a lot of their money here, from buying luxury condos to hotels to helicopters, and if the US wasn't after them hard, the Dominican authorities would have never arrested them. And there are a lot more "investors" out there just like them.

I think the right of president and government officials to pardon needs to come out into debate. Does anyone think it is really necissary? Why do these elected people suddenly have authority to decide who is worthy of a pardon? Are they gifted with divine insight to see what a jury was unable to see? I think we could do away with it and justice would be better served.

yumnuk, as usual a very sagacious remark. it is as if the executive has overridden the decisions of the judiciary, and trampled upon the will of the masses, who clearly would like to see these vermin serve their time. juango is right on point; the DR has become such a banana republic, when it should be trying to come into conformity with the modern world, only dirty money is going to end up here. these guys are playing with fire; they are just not smart enough to realise it.

Dead, The leaders of The country are still living in the 15th century.

yumnuk, i say this all the time. the leadership of this country needs a calendar as a christmas present. the guys who run this country think this is 1608, not 2008. they believe time has stood still, and that their behavior is appropriate. there is no rule of law, nor even general common sense. it is like a lawless wild west town, with a few bosses who did what they wanted to, and answered to no-one. i feel so sad for the people who are stuck for life in a mess like this. the sad part is that the world is watching, and, in these globalised times, we stand to lose because of the folly of the leadership. who can blame a prospective investor or entrepreneur who elects to take his venture elsewhere? the cheerleaders, who claim that investors love the climate in the DR, have no idea of what is happening. the real investments are going elsewhere; we are getting call centers only.

Dread:

I constantly find myself in agreement with you. From now on if you post automatically assume that I agree.

Disgusting.

Dread, Truer words have never been spoken!

juanb, as much as i am flattered by your kind remarks, i hope it never gets to that point, as i am wrong more often than not. have a happy holiday, and the same to all our posters.

I agree with dread except for the date. I would date them at 1492. They think they are the great colonizers who will aquire great riches and take them to a far away land.

However the joke is on them... as most of them will be forced to remain in the DR

Photo Caption ....." Dont worry Vivian they are never going to find out "

VIEJA LADRONA...!!! Tan inocente que se ve en esa foto...

Dominicans with dignity!

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=182748

Challenging the law is a privilege of the rich and powerful.... They will never go to prison!"

Here's a lot of info on pardons by many US Presidents.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pardons.htm

Transparent, corrupt CLOWNS !!!!

If I were Dominican I would be embarrassed.

What do you think is going to happen to the people that killed those drug dealers in Bano?

NOTHING.

You don't have to be Dominican to be embarrassed, this miscarriage of justice is an embarrassment to anyone who believes in the tenets of judicial propriety.

An injustIce anywhere, is an injustice EVERYWHERE.
-MLK

devin just getting home from working with Santa ?

No sir, Mr. GC, I'm off this whole week but I can't help getting up early to read the news. I always feel like I'll miss something if I don't.

Josean there is no absolution or pardon in this world for your sins

Maybe there is some hope yet. President Bush just revoked the pardon of convicted housing scammer, Isaac Toussie just 48 hours after the padon was issued. Perhaps President Fernandez will be inspired to do the same after the indignation expressed in these pages and I'm sure, the nation. Holding my breath.

the revoking of the pardon in the US is probably causing a little consternation in the household of Vivian Lubrano de Castillo,who thought she was home free .....and she probably is ..but this will serve to keep the controversy alive

There apperas to be a josean stalker!

I wonder who could it be.

I am flattered that my writtings are so powerful and of such consequence that it would motivate this lonely individual to create a new identity, by adding an extra n to my name "joseann!" What an effort to refute my postings, on xmas day no less!

devin, therein lies the rub. Bush invoked the wrath of society with his pardon of a housing scammer, especially since it is such a touchy subject in the USA at this time in history. but the USA is a democratic state, and politicians have to respond to stimuli, or pay the consequences. the DR is a monarchy. Leonel has been appointed king, and his rule is at his pleasure. so, if he wants to, he will give you the Metro, and you will like it. and he will pardon undesirable criminal types, and you will learn to live with it. and if he wants to embroil himself in questionable deals such as Sun Land, he will do so, because the public does not count for anything. they can muse all they want to at the dining table, but the only people who count are his judicial court jesters, who will absolve him and his knights of the round table from any consequences. can you say 1492?

dred,

You will be accused of stalking Lie-onel by El Cubanito, for accurately depicting his despotic rule!

dread you are right but the revocation of the American presidential pardon hopefully has caused the local political class to hesitate and hopefully has ruined the ambiance around the Christmas tree for Vivian Lubrano de Castillo and her associates

yes josean you are extremely important....the CIA is stalking you Leonel is stalking you now go have a nappy if we see mr joseann we will tell him to cease and desist from stealing your intellectual property{not known as Grand Theft} and stalking you

josean I am beginning to hear the theme from twilight zone dododododo

El Cubanito is really agressive today he must realize the days of the embargo are numbered!

josean you are beginning to act like Fred C Dobbs in "Treasure of Sierra Madre " get a grip

Fidel, Seguro!! A Los Yankess y a Chauncey dale Duro!

extended use of methamphetamine sometimes makes people act that way

Is that what happened to Jorge Mas Canosa?

GC, i beg to differ. the local political classes never have second thoughts about any action. that is why there is a new scandal in the news every livelong day. nobody gives a crap; it is an exercise in impunity. it is a country run by a legion of feudal lords, who defy you to contain their actions. if you do not like it, lump it. we do just whatever we like. you are peasants, so go eat some tostones and shut up.

yes dread you would think so...it is very crass

And how about to release those poor Haitians who have stolen one Salami "Induveca" from Colmado, and have several years in Victoria, nobody calls them for a trial?
How about to give a food, at least a water to people in Victoria prison?