Santa de la Cruz, who has since died of severe burns sustained when thugs hurled a firebomb into a bus during a strike headed by Juan Hubieres.
Santo Domingo.- The head of the bus owners grouped in Fenatrano, known for staging violent strikes, called a general transport strike for next Thursday, starting at 6 a.m.
Juan Hubieres said if the middle-class vehicle owners, moto-taxis, truck drivers and society in general heed the call, they’ll desist from raising the bus fares. “Fenatrano calls on them to walkout for 12 hours across the country in a civic, peaceful and ordinate manner and we commit ourselves to desist from the increase as of today because with the action is the start of a process to mobilize in the streets so that the Government complies.”
Interviewed on Telesistema Channel 11, Hubieres said the amount of the fare increases would range from RD$5 to RD$15, but affirmed that it doesn’t compensate for the cost to drivers.
The transport business leader accused the Government of swindling the general population, since in his view the country pays for the “the world’s most expensive fuel” since premium gasoline costs RD$72 per gallon in the United States and RD$133 in Nicaragua. “What the Government is doing is part of the robbery and abuse against the drivers and an additional swindle with a 70 peso tax on one gallon of gasoline, on propane gas and 32 pesos for diesel.”
Hubieres added that in July, 2008, when a barrel of oil cost 147 pesos, diesel cost 193 pesos, so it should cost 94 pesos at present.
From: Dominican Republic, No Spin Zone
A public flogging for this guy .....he is a detriment to progress in the DR
Written by: anthonyC, 5 Jan 2010 10:02 AM
From: United States
ship him to Club Gitmo.
From: United States
These sindicate thugs should be burned in boiling hot oil in hell.
From: United States, FREEPORT, Long Island.... (Look, beyond the words)
I'll say it again " Charge him with TREASON" and " Create a government FUNDED transportation system that will create jobs for certified drivers and mechanics, properly trained transit officers and administrative personnel with a bachelors degree and not a 5th grade education. Also, an incentives to keep the MACHINE well oiled for longevity and to maintain a timely operation. And, I bet this will never happen again. If DR can spend 160Mil USD on walkways, then 40 mil wouldn't be a problem to get this started. In the long run it will pay for its self.
From: United States, Washington
here in lies the problem w/ editorial journalism! This story is framed in such a way that it hides the very important message that FENATRANO is trying convey. I don't like FENATRANO and disapprove of its history, but at the same time, WHY oh WHY have such an inciary headlines that ofuscates the true message of this story:
1. Government indirectly Over-taxing citizens
2. Government unwilling/unable to engage in direct communication w/ the citizenry or CSOs
3. Need for social mobilization in order to compel the Goverment to pay attention to public
These indirect taxes are significant, and the people want to know WHAT DOES THE G DO W/ ALL THE $$ IT TAKES FROM THE PEOPLE???
The message should be-- "Public and CSOs demand better public service from the Government, or reduced taxes!" or "National transportation strike called for to protest high G taxes and bad public services"
From: United States, FREEPORT, Long Island.... (Look, beyond the words)
"FOK DA UNIONZ" Unions are for the lazy and the wrong doers. If you do your work there is no need to worry about your position.
From: Dominican Republic, No Spin Zone
Give em the rubber bullets the gas and the dogs .....then send them to Cuba with El Wanko
Written by: PATCHUKO, 5 Jan 2010 11:37 AM
From: Canada
My hope is some of you do not represent the Dominican society as a whole, violence for violence does not fix anything. In fact violence will deter tourism which is the main bread and basket of DR. My hope is since all of you who posted so far are from the US should remain there and join the marines where you will no doubt find alot of work where you can carry out the burning, shooting, killing ect. my 2 pesos.
Written by: Escott, 5 Jan 2010 12:34 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Cabrera and Sosua a 2 days a month for payday
While I dispise this creep of a person I feel what Baldoria said is correct. They are having a strike to protest high prices of fuel.
It is about time Dominicans spoke up to this failure of a government but it is too bad it is being led by this creep.
Wish there was someone else in the front of this protest to lend it more credibility. Headlines are correct, he is a disgusting human being and shoujld have been jailed a long time ago but don't kill the messenger and listen to the message.
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
Fuel here is cheap compared to most of the world ,,fares are cheap compared to most of the world and labour is cheap compared to most of the world , The right to strike has always been an important right for any employee or any union but it would be far better if the cause was a little better .
All these people seem to forget that the government was elected and there are always new elections in which to take out the vengeance. I wonder if this union leader was also elected by a popular vote .
Written by: BASTA, 5 Jan 2010 1:14 PM
From: Dominican Republic, =Ghetto/Legalize Drugs
Strike and throw the bums out ligonelly first
some election very open buying of votes what with a chicken or a monthly check = pld only. At least we did not see this in Iran
Written by: riosm, 5 Jan 2010 1:15 PM
From: United States
True one has the right to organize and create labor unions and picket. One does not have the right to riot, burn, assault and in some cases even Murder.
BRING THOSE RESPONSIBLE TO JUSTICE.
Kind of reminds me of the May-Day rally / protest all over the U.S last year fueled and lead by a bunch of radical Socialist Marxist illegal criminals aliens who instead of gaining support threw peaceful march only distanced them selves even farther from popular support threw a riot like atmosphere, thus showing their true colors.....RADICAL RED, kinda reminded me of the Bloods Street gang of South Central Los Angeles.
Maybe OOOH'Blama will lead this years support / rally ? heck he might even bring one of his White House Christmas decorations along, the one with the picture of MAO on it.
Written by: BASTA, 5 Jan 2010 1:18 PM
From: Dominican Republic, =Ghetto/Legalize Drugs
Mao was a shit never took a bath and once to the dentist and never brushed his teeth
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
BASTA ,,all over the world politicians try to buy votes ...it is called pork bareling in some countries and is much more sophisticated than here but never the less is simply trying to buy votes ..but the vote is far better than the bullet no matter how much we may want a person dead ,
in most developed countries the secondary strikes can be stopped by a court but a primary strike is difficult to stop in a court unless it is contrary to national security .
From: United States, Washington
"All these people seem to forget that the government was elected and there are always new elections in which to take out the vengeance."
*******
Elections are terribly important to ensure accountability, represenation, & effectiveness of G, EXCEPT, as BASTA so aptly alludes to, in places where political clientelism is excessive. For more information on this, please google the following article & Dissertation:
1. "Political Parties and Policy Development: The Conditions which lead political parties to adopt progressive policies",
http://www.idea.int/resources/ana....lopment.cfm?renderforprint=1&2. "The power of political parties: Political participation, clientelism, and remittances in the Dominican Republic",
http://gradworks.umi.com/33/55/3355141.htmlThe gist of these EXTREMELY amazing pieces are that clientelism erodes the democratic accountability, transparency, and effectiveness...
From: United States, Washington
Another point," VOTING is the weakest form of political participation, as it does not commicate much to our leaders, specially if those votes are the results of vote buying!
But your point about "voting" allows people to express their views, as flawed as it is in the Dominican context, also embodies the nature of Delegative Democracy, which essentially states that our elected leaders can do whatever they think best w/o consulting the public, just b/c they were rich enough, I mean fortunate enough to win the majority of votes. This is, in my opinion, a weak, albeit realistic, form of democracy. A more robust, and idealized, view is Deliberative Democracy in which the public is actively included or at least consulted in decision making processes. This take on Dem brings together the people's local knowledge and the tech knowledge of representatives and experts, to identify the needs of the people and to design adecuate projects. A good example of this is community-based planning.
Written by: juanb, 5 Jan 2010 2:24 PM
From: Dominican Republic
Treat Ricardolito as you would any other government official making self serving pronouncements. We pay more here for gasoline than any nonEuropean country in the world. Like any other government worker he will tell you whatever sounds good. Unfortunately here in the DR, good news and the truth are mutually exclusive (One has nothing to do with the other).
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
Regrettably ,juanb has a difficult time in his life as he believes nothing can be good in the DR because he does not like the government ..I suppose it is also why when the tables show that our petrol prices are lower than many european countries ,he prefers to believe it is not true .
It is also probably the same after we have very vigorous debates before every election in the country that he thinks that the vote will not count and there is no choice.
So I learn today that voting is flawed and that the elected politicians are only elected so they can consult with the voters before doing what they are elected to do .....well I have no answer for that novel approach except that nothing would ever happen.
From: United States, Washington
But when Deliberative Democracy is applied, the development efforts and overall public policies are much more effective. THis is the model that is currently being advocated for in community-based planning by USAID, the WB, and other major donors.
So the gist of things are, do many things badly, w/ little transparency, accountability, or representation; or take the time to consult the public and include their voice in the planning processes?
A good example of where this is taking place is our own La Vega, which has adopted a participatory budetting methodology... It's far from perfect, but at least there are some mechanisms that allow the public to communite their interests. La Vega is one of our most beautiful cities, and has prioritized investment in public spaces and public services... Again, far from prefect, but at least they're making an effort and the results speak for themselves!
From: United States
I don't care if the reason for this story is the protest of the high cost of milk. Those sindicate warlords are just that warlords. They create more harm than good. Just ask the relatives of hundreds of victims that throughout the years have been mamed, burned and or killed by their so called "strikes" and "protests". I say castrate them and feed them to the sharks.
From: Dominican Republic
Are there any terrorist laws in the RD?
At all!!!.... how can this happen and not have all law enforcement and goverment agencies tracking these firebombers, these F@#$ criminal, these terrorist?
You don't have to be a muslim and wear a rag on your head to be one, this is terrorism pure and simple.
What would happen if you took a firebomb and threw it to a public transportation bus in the US or Canada?
I kinda know the answer, but I just wanna make sure, since in the DR ALL kinds of VAGABUNDERIA seem to go UN-PUNISHED and there would be some who would even justify the firebomb and killing of this young women for political agendas. I would like to know if this activity is permited only in the DR. I said 'permited' because in the end... no one will face the justice for this atrocity, I don't care if you hate Leonel or not, this kind of terrorist attack can't not be tolerated.
Written by: pelaut, 6 Jan 2010 8:44 AM
From: United States
Awful guy. Bad Actor. But he's right!
Written by: riosm, 6 Jan 2010 1:36 PM
From: United States
I say all those found guilty hang them from the highest mango tree.
Most protest / rally's / marches start as good idea to draw attention and support to there plight, Sad how some / few will use this cause to stir up crap and in the end benefit NOTHING !
After all rally's are to rally support, protest are to protest a wrong and marches are to show support in there cause threw numbers.
From: United States, Brooklyn
Dam it! Do i hear terrorist????? Oh Yes indeed, what the hell is the use of firebombs on buses? Not in DR. Carajo, ese buen delinquente throw his a** in jail!! LOL
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1. Government indirectly Over-taxing citizens
2. Government unwilling/unable to engage in direct communication w/ the citizenry or CSOs
3. Need for social mobilization in order to compel the Goverment to pay attention to public
These indirect taxes are significant, and the people want to know WHAT DOES THE G DO W/ ALL THE $$ IT TAKES FROM THE PEOPLE???
The message should be-- "Public and CSOs demand better public service from the Government, or reduced taxes!" or "National transportation strike called for to protest high G taxes and bad public services"
It is about time Dominicans spoke up to this failure of a government but it is too bad it is being led by this creep.
Wish there was someone else in the front of this protest to lend it more credibility. Headlines are correct, he is a disgusting human being and shoujld have been jailed a long time ago but don't kill the messenger and listen to the message.
All these people seem to forget that the government was elected and there are always new elections in which to take out the vengeance. I wonder if this union leader was also elected by a popular vote .
some election very open buying of votes what with a chicken or a monthly check = pld only. At least we did not see this in Iran
BRING THOSE RESPONSIBLE TO JUSTICE.
Kind of reminds me of the May-Day rally / protest all over the U.S last year fueled and lead by a bunch of radical Socialist Marxist illegal criminals aliens who instead of gaining support threw peaceful march only distanced them selves even farther from popular support threw a riot like atmosphere, thus showing their true colors.....RADICAL RED, kinda reminded me of the Bloods Street gang of South Central Los Angeles.
Maybe OOOH'Blama will lead this years support / rally ? heck he might even bring one of his White House Christmas decorations along, the one with the picture of MAO on it.
in most developed countries the secondary strikes can be stopped by a court but a primary strike is difficult to stop in a court unless it is contrary to national security .
*******
Elections are terribly important to ensure accountability, represenation, & effectiveness of G, EXCEPT, as BASTA so aptly alludes to, in places where political clientelism is excessive. For more information on this, please google the following article & Dissertation:
1. "Political Parties and Policy Development: The Conditions which lead political parties to adopt progressive policies", http://www.idea.int/resources/ana....lopment.cfm?renderforprint=1&
2. "The power of political parties: Political participation, clientelism, and remittances in the Dominican Republic", http://gradworks.umi.com/33/55/3355141.html
The gist of these EXTREMELY amazing pieces are that clientelism erodes the democratic accountability, transparency, and effectiveness...
But your point about "voting" allows people to express their views, as flawed as it is in the Dominican context, also embodies the nature of Delegative Democracy, which essentially states that our elected leaders can do whatever they think best w/o consulting the public, just b/c they were rich enough, I mean fortunate enough to win the majority of votes. This is, in my opinion, a weak, albeit realistic, form of democracy. A more robust, and idealized, view is Deliberative Democracy in which the public is actively included or at least consulted in decision making processes. This take on Dem brings together the people's local knowledge and the tech knowledge of representatives and experts, to identify the needs of the people and to design adecuate projects. A good example of this is community-based planning.
It is also probably the same after we have very vigorous debates before every election in the country that he thinks that the vote will not count and there is no choice.
So I learn today that voting is flawed and that the elected politicians are only elected so they can consult with the voters before doing what they are elected to do .....well I have no answer for that novel approach except that nothing would ever happen.
So the gist of things are, do many things badly, w/ little transparency, accountability, or representation; or take the time to consult the public and include their voice in the planning processes?
A good example of where this is taking place is our own La Vega, which has adopted a participatory budetting methodology... It's far from perfect, but at least there are some mechanisms that allow the public to communite their interests. La Vega is one of our most beautiful cities, and has prioritized investment in public spaces and public services... Again, far from prefect, but at least they're making an effort and the results speak for themselves!
At all!!!.... how can this happen and not have all law enforcement and goverment agencies tracking these firebombers, these F@#$ criminal, these terrorist?
You don't have to be a muslim and wear a rag on your head to be one, this is terrorism pure and simple.
What would happen if you took a firebomb and threw it to a public transportation bus in the US or Canada?
I kinda know the answer, but I just wanna make sure, since in the DR ALL kinds of VAGABUNDERIA seem to go UN-PUNISHED and there would be some who would even justify the firebomb and killing of this young women for political agendas. I would like to know if this activity is permited only in the DR. I said 'permited' because in the end... no one will face the justice for this atrocity, I don't care if you hate Leonel or not, this kind of terrorist attack can't not be tolerated.
Most protest / rally's / marches start as good idea to draw attention and support to there plight, Sad how some / few will use this cause to stir up crap and in the end benefit NOTHING !
After all rally's are to rally support, protest are to protest a wrong and marches are to show support in there cause threw numbers.