The best political party in the history of the Dominican Republic is being absorbed by the P.L.D. what a shame!

With Balaguer gone there is no point to the PRSC(Not that there was one before).

Actually it is better for the DR in the long run. With only 2 main parties you will now have less of a chance of electing someone who the majority voted against or wasn't their 1st choice. Plus less of a chance of costly run-offs.

These people following the philosophy of Balaguer was stupid to beginwith. Balaguer was nothing more than the continuation of Trujillo's legacy of unelected dictatorship, from what I have read in thehistory books andreported locally by Dominicans.
That was theman who said he wanted an uneducated society and did everything he could toward that end to make it happen.
The history of the Balaguer Administrations speaks for themselves in the negatives.
That oughta raise some hackles.
TB

Well TexasBill dont believe all the negatives written about the late great Joaquin Balaguer most of it come's from the frustration of oppossing parties, that have not contributed anything positive to dominican society.

over 500k home were givin to poor people duirng his ruling and what have the other parties given to the people, tell ya what hunger and misery. i cannot deny the fact that during balaguer time some people lost their life. what has happenin the past 12 years it is worst think about the amount of people that die by muggers and burglers and do the math. balaguer built a lot rodes and housing programs and the poor were able to eat a meal and affort more things.

And there was money in the streets!

"These people following the philosophy of Balaguer was stupid to beginwith. Balaguer was nothing more than the continuation of Trujillo's legacy of unelected dictatorship, from what I have read in thehistory books andreported locally by Dominicans.
That was theman who said he wanted an uneducated society and did everything he could toward that end to make it happen.
The history of the Balaguer Administrations speaks for themselves in the negatives.
That oughta raise some hackles.
TB"

Thank you TB. And may I add good riddance to bad garbage. First his political party and then his reputation will be relegated to the trash heap of history. I've said it before and I'll say it again: When the smoke clears history will not be kind to El Boricuita aka Balaguer.

Everyone has their own opinion! Balaguer was a great statesman. Laugh all you want el partido rojo will always have the last laugh!!!!!

" Laugh all you want el partido rojo will always have the last laugh!!!!!"

I don't think that's a laugh we're hearing. Sounds more like a whimper.

The greatness of Balaguer was his ability to adapt to changing time. From Protoge of a Dictator to defender of Democracy.

The single greatest event in Dominican history since the assasination of Trujillo was when he accepted the will of the people in 1978 and relenquished power. It marked the first time in the Dominican Republic's history that an incumbent president peacefully surrendered power to an elected member of the opposition thus instatutionalizing the peaceful transfer of power.

Yes he did some bad things but the Dominican People should be thankful for the one thing he did do right.

What great things have the P.L.D or the P.R.D have done! but put the country in debt. Time after time. Juan Bosch A.K.A. "la matica"?????

"From Protoge of a Dictator to defender of Democracy."

I stopped reading your post right there. You don't know ANYTHING about Dominican history if you beleive Balaguer was a "defender of Democracy". LOL. Your posts are becoming something of a joke Mr. C.

Balaguer, um, let me see, um...nope, it's best that his so-called party join him in that great corrupt national palace in the sky....

"Balaguer, um, let me see, um...nope, it's best that his so-called party join him in that great corrupt national palace in the sky...."

If there indeed is a heaven I doubt very much that Balaguer would've made it in. You're giving him to much credit to assume as much.

Written by: cibaeño75, 22 Aug 2008 2:13 PM
From: United States
"From Protoge of a Dictator to defender of Democracy."

I stopped reading your post right there. You don't know ANYTHING about Dominican history if you beleive Balaguer was a "defender of Democracy". LOL. Your posts are becoming something of a joke Mr. C.

Like most non-Dominicans who have lived in the D.R. I know more about Dominican History than most Dominicans.

Balaguer did more for the poor then all these presidents combined! more in education more for the infrastructure of the country. I just dont understand the critics, of the golden age in dominican democracy!

"Like most non-Dominicans who have lived in the D.R. I know more about Dominican History than most Dominicans."

Perhaps but I'm not one of those Dominicans. And if you really believe that Balaguer and democracy are synonymous then I can tell you with absolute certainty that your knowledge of Dominican history is sorely lacking.

Knowledge of history has nothing to do with political views, to mix both is truly an oxymoron. Balaguer was an honest man that died poor. Compare him to the thiefs like Hipolito Mejia of the P.R.D today a multi millionaire or the late-president Jorge Blanco or as i call him "Ladron de cuello Blanco." Tell me one president in the 20th century or today in the 21st century that has done more good then Balaguer none!!!!!

"Balaguer was an honest man that died poor. "

Balaguer is a crook with blood on his hands. The human rights violations under Balaguer are well documented as are dissapearances under his pathetic regime. Democracy was not Balaguer's freind. I guess some of you were too young to remember or just don't know how in 78 the military actually stopped the counting of ballots live on Dominican TV! Fortunately pressure from the Carter administration was sufficient for Balaguer to step down and follow the will of the people by handing power over to his democratically elected successor who Balaguer tried to prevent from coming into power illegally. All of you have computers with internet access. Everything I'm stating can be corraborated by doing a simple google search. Balaguer was a murderer (you don't have to be the triggerman to be complicit in murder) and a petty dictator for his first twelve years and not much better afterwards.

Joaquin Balaguer was not tied implicitly in such crimes! fool someone else.

Remember Balaguer was the head of the party, others under his administration were corrupt which happens in all political parties in power so dont try to blame the head for the sins of others and that's the problem in politics, unless you are certain of the actions taken by someone then you can blame the individual of such a crime, if not! Then your back to square one. You can tie Hipolito with the BANINTER scandal, you can also tie Jorge Blanco from the stealing of funds allocated for the developement of the country also drug trafficking. But you can't do the same with Balaguer, hes not been implicitly tied to any crime. Again he died and lived like an average lower middle class man, never had the fancy cars with the mansion and all the trappings. If your barometer of truth is Noam Chomsky? then i suggest reading fiction, go ahead enjoy X-MEN or enjoy the movies i love them.

the end of an era in dominican history

arkatype;
Throughout ALL of History,the HEADS OF GOVERNMENTS have ALWAYS born the RESPONSIBILITIES for the actions of perpetrated by those governments. That iscalles the "CHAIN OF COMMAND", without which NO ONE government can function.
To further enlighten you in the realm of POLITICAL functioning within the Dominican Government, there has NEVER been a single incident having taken place but the President didn't have knowledge of it. That's the "modus operandi" of the System you live under and no amount of rationalization on your part will ever make it different.
The habit of giving support to one's political party, regardless of that party's faults and mismanagements seem to be endimic in the DR. Until that habit isdiscarded, you will continueto have mediocre, mismanaged, and corruption running rampant in the political arena.
You, and others like you, would be wise to OPEN YOUR EYES to what your government is doing to your posterity.

TB

yes, Texas Bill. this proclivity to blind allegiance to parties and leaders, and refusal to see their faults, is one of the most salient symptoms of clientelistic states. the leaders have managed to convince the public that they are , in reality, great and benevolent men, and not the thugs that they appear to be. as a consequence, you have posters lauding Balaguer for his initiatives in education. if he did try to raise the level of education in the country, then his efforts have come to naught. i prefer to believe those who contend that he deliberately maintained the people in a state of ignorance, making it easier to control them.

"i prefer to believe those who contend that he deliberately maintained the people in a state of ignorance, making it easier to control them."

I believe it whole-heartedly. Peron once suggested to Trujillo to increase social spending, particularly in education. Trujillo's answer to Peron, and I'm paraphrasing Peron, is that his people were mostly of African descent unlike the Argentines and as such it would be a waste to allocate extravagant sums on social spending that would help better there lot because they were doomed biologically from the beginning. I sincerely believe that Balaguer, the great-grandson of a Haitian, was of this frame of mind. The proof is in the pudding.