These are the types of characters that collude with the shady international drug smugglers. Guys that will do anything for a buck. No principles, no ethics. Their only raisson d'etre is to acquire more money, to flaunt their wealth and sell (Sell-Out) themselves out like prostitutes. Sell the whole country for a bowl of porridge.
But, like the universal 'unwritten' principle goes; The more money you have, the more justice you get! EX-Minister Victor Cabral, gets plenty of just-ice; Just a slap on the wrist, for getting caught with his hand in the conconete jar. Yet, if "un hijo de ma-chepa" steals a bike so he doesn't have to walk, they might give him 5 years. It's the same the world over. Some are more equal. Money talks. That's the motivating factor for all the crooks in the world. But, you can't take it with you!

Is this guy (Victor Cabral) related to the Vicini Group in the DR?

sadly , Arsenio, the principle of justice you just outlined is so perverse. persons like this, who have no need to steal, but steal compulsively, are more pernicious to society than a needy woman who steals a broom. yet, the rich get away with murder, while the poor do the jail time for them. as you say, it is the world over. these are just pathetic, unprincipled souls. i have always said that these guys better hope that there is no judgement day, because i do not have any idea what they are going to say to The Maker.

enter senor crack pipe.

many more of these types are going away than under the Hippo anyway....maybe it is just window dressing

no GC, you don't get it. a lot of the PRD guys are going off to the pokey because the PLD welched on the sacred promise, which says "do not arrest me, and i wont arrest you". when the PRD wins the next election, which it surely will, you will understand the definition of the word "payback". they are going to build a jail on every city block and send thousands of PLD hacks straight to jail. do not pass go, do not collect $200....get the picture?

what your hero the hippo will be brought up from the basement like "the gimp" to run again.....I dont think so

hippo does not need to run. i guarantee you that if they hold an election tomorrow, the PRD can run a broomstick and win. you do not see it, because you are living nice in the salubrious embrace of the colonial district. guys who live from day to day, from hand to mouth, are feeling pangs of hunger. go talk to the common man, GC. not everybody owns golf clubs.

remember these guys are sometimes used as escape goats ..... Cap Cana Groups can buy a lot of Loyalty , from the likes of Leo as well

dread this practice you mention is been going on since Balaguer die we call it borron y cuenta nueva.
but i agree with you the gloves are off . if the PRD wins the next elecciones is going to be a long purple march into la victoria and najayo.

exactly, trinitario, the old practice of "forgive and forget" has been violated by leonel and his boys. they have been accused of so much corruption, that they have to put some guys in jail to appear tough on crime. only thing is, all the guys going to jail are from the PRD. when the tables turn, there will be guys going to jail from the PLD by the busload. caribe tours and metro will be doing brisk business on the Victoria prison run.

the PRD win the next election ? are you high

GC, just in case you were otherwise occupied when i posted my opinion on the subject, let me reiterate. if an election was held today, the PRD would run a beach dog and win. the public might be inert, but they are not asleep. besides. they are hungry, and, as Bob Marley used to say,"a hungry man is an angry man".

Ummmm Dread... we jsut had an election a few months ago and seems to me the PRD didn't do so well...and I hardly think the public opinion has changed since then...

yes Dread I remember how much better it was under your friend the Hippo

aha, Gringo, as my uncle would say :therein lies the rub". things have gone downhill precipitously in the last few months, especially for joe blow in the poorer classes. miniscule downturns mean big things to people who earn 200 pesos per day. and with the rash of exposure of criminal activity, corruption, and drug dealing complicity, i think the feeling is 180 degrees different today than 6 months ago.

Dread...so your argument is that things are much worse now than 6 months ago and all this news about PRD cronies getting hauled off to jail for various crimes and wrong doings, basically being blamed for the current state of affairs, is going to incite people to vote for the PRD? Now that's what I call PRETZEL LOGIC!

Dread I know you have a bunch of tires you are getting ready to burn at the first opportunity sindicato manifestation....PRD meeting...whatever ...but let me know when it gets even anywhere near as negative as it was with the hippo your leader....and I am surprised you did not get the domino in when you were talking of the winter of your discontent

what dread mean to say is that there is no more excuses from the PLD as to why the economic situation is deteriorating, why so much corruption, why is drug trafficking with high government and military officials involvement is eating away at our society. There is no blaming hipolito this time his leadership is been in place for a full 4 yrs term. I have no political affiliation in D.R I stop believing in dominican politicians long time ago; just so you guys know. nevertheless i'm really pissed off that i can wear my bling bling around town anymore like the good old days.

gringo indr, i think i understand the caribbean and third world mentality a little better than you, being a caribbean spirit myself. it may sound like pretzel logic to you, because you are applying gringo logic to the caribbean. there are governments which have come to power and fallen into disfavor in a few short months. a lot of bad publicity has hit the airwaves in the last few months. the school scandal, the sun land debacle, and, not the least of things, the drug problems. people who are struggling to eat have little patience for a government that they hold responsible for their existence. this is a society which regards politicians as benefactors; that is why aspirants travel around giving away pigs and rice and money before elections. John McCain and Barack Obama do not travel through the countryside distributing virginia ham. so when locals cannot pay the light bill, they want to change their jockeys. do you see what i am saying?

Spanish Antilles a little different than those Caricom sandbars which I am also quite familiar with Dread if you had lived in your motherland the UK as I have lived in Spain you would understand Dread The Spanish Antilles fought revolutions against their mother country...the Caricom sandbars were given independence and Commonwealth Status when the yacht Brittannia sailed by...Remember how you used to get those comemrative coins issued for thing like the coronation etc

what does that have to do with anything, GC? what does it have to do with the relationship between the populace and the political directorate? do you think Spanish hunger is different from British hunger? focus, GC, focus. stay on topic, for God's sake!

Just trying to give your chain a little yank ......I apologize

...back to the topic of this article...what's the likelyhood Cabral will do any time?

it depends on what you consider time. he will be allowed his weekend furloughs to go and drink beers and play dominoes whenever he has the urge. money and connections work wonders in these climes, gringoindr.

Well, it's ok to steal from the gov, but not from the rich. That's why Victor and Ramoncito and Castillo are all going to prison. Has nothing to do with the PLD or the PRD. IMHO.

Gringoindr, you ask if Cabral will do any time. if you want some sort of hint, check the article in DR1 dealing with defunct government departments. there are 47 government departments which have been declared defunct, and superseded by other orgainisations. yet, they still retain a staff of 23,000 people, and an annual payroll of 300 million. does that give you a hint?