Why hasn't SD's municipal gov. never bothered to eliminate these? I would think there would be some interest in wiping-out past symbols of american occupation? Why were the americans allowed to name some of the steets after american presidents?? Or maybe in typical, american fashion, they just took it upon themselfs to do this! :disappoin
- Thread starter Jackson
- Start date
American Steet Names In Santo Domingo?
Why do you assume the Americans named them? I know streets throughout Latin America named after Kennedy and Lincoln. The US did not occupy every country. You jump to conclusions easily.Jackson said:
Kennedy was well liked in much of Latin America because of the Alliance for Progress. [Ever see a Dominican provincial clinic --usually the only one for miles -- with a plaque on it saying that it was constructed thanks to the Alliance for Progress? I have!] In Lincoln's case, it seems to be out of respect for freeing the slaves.Jackson said:
BTW, why would the DR name one of their most important streets after a British Prime Minister? (Churchill) I find that odder. Certainly not because the British occupied the DR...
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P.S. I have seen streets & plazas in Latin America named after Ghandi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, Louis Pasteur (this one in the DR), De Gaulle, Galileo, George Washington, Darwin, Copernicus, Guttenberg, Benjamin Franklin, Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt, Trotsky, Marx, Archimedes, Moliere, Victor Hugo, Alexander the Great, ancient Greek authors (Homer, Sophocles, etc.), and various English language authors (Tennyson, Emerson, Edgar Allan Poe, etc.).
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Jackson said:
I did not know Tiradentes was American or Maximo Gomez or Winston Churchill or Lope de Vega or Romulo Betancour or Charles De Gaulle, etc etc. I think you get the idea. These streets were named after World leaders, poets, Heroes. Lincoln, Kennedy and Washington seem to fit this list very well.
Most of the American named streets were ordered by President Trujillo himself.
He could have done it to curry favor with foreign leaders like Winston Churchill,deGaulle,etc. I believe sometimes he did it out of sincerity, as when he named one avenue after the United States Marine Corps, a group that trained Trujillo as an officer-cadet and helped to put him into the position of power he would later attain.
After the devasting 1930 hurricane which destroyed virtually ever bulding in Santo Domingo except for the stone built colonial zone, Trujillo had a unique oppurtunity to rebuild the city, with a lot of foreign funds, the way he wanted too.
I don't believe any of the streets were named by occupying American forces.
Blame Trujillo.
He could have done it to curry favor with foreign leaders like Winston Churchill,deGaulle,etc. I believe sometimes he did it out of sincerity, as when he named one avenue after the United States Marine Corps, a group that trained Trujillo as an officer-cadet and helped to put him into the position of power he would later attain.
After the devasting 1930 hurricane which destroyed virtually ever bulding in Santo Domingo except for the stone built colonial zone, Trujillo had a unique oppurtunity to rebuild the city, with a lot of foreign funds, the way he wanted too.
I don't believe any of the streets were named by occupying American forces.
Blame Trujillo.
I don't know if all the streets named after Americans were Trujillo's doing (doubt Kennedy was!), but I do know that many of the ones named after famous poets and authors of all languages were so named because of Balaguer. He evidently had a thing for this...
Of course, Kennedy would not be Trujillo's doing, but avenue George Washington, etc were.
The Aveune George Washington might be changed to Avenue Mirabal Sisters in the near future.
The Aveune George Washington might be changed to Avenue Mirabal Sisters in the near future.
Jackson said:
Jackson,
It is the Dominican government that names the streets for whatever reason they wish, not the Americans. The government also has the option to rename the streets. Communicate your interest to them.
Jackson, do you realize your handle, name, is the same as the surname of American General and President, Andrew Jackson. Would you consider changing your name?
Regards,
PJT
It does make sense for the capital city to have its main avenues named after leaders of the world, including the leaders of the DR.
After all, a capital city is suppose to be the flagship urban center in a given country, though that is not always the case.
Look at the US, New York City got its tempo going once trade was established and once it became the capital of the US. Eversince it was stripped of its capital status, NYC has remained the flagship city of anything American, except for politics which is based in Washington, DC. Everything else in terms of economic, cultural, and other forms of importance is based in NYC.
The same thing happens in other countries like Italy (Rome is political capital, Milano is the capital of everything else!) and other places.
Then there are places like Bolivia where they have two capitals!
I would like to know the history behind that one!
In short, let's leave these avenues just how they are, as long that Sir Frances Drake doesn't get a strip on his honor.
He is a man that Santo Domingo has nothing to thank for...
After all, a capital city is suppose to be the flagship urban center in a given country, though that is not always the case.
Look at the US, New York City got its tempo going once trade was established and once it became the capital of the US. Eversince it was stripped of its capital status, NYC has remained the flagship city of anything American, except for politics which is based in Washington, DC. Everything else in terms of economic, cultural, and other forms of importance is based in NYC.
The same thing happens in other countries like Italy (Rome is political capital, Milano is the capital of everything else!) and other places.
Then there are places like Bolivia where they have two capitals!
I would like to know the history behind that one!
In short, let's leave these avenues just how they are, as long that Sir Frances Drake doesn't get a strip on his honor.
He is a man that Santo Domingo has nothing to thank for...
PJT said:
Point made PJT. However, I don't think these two gentleman have the exclusive rights to the name? Thank-you all for you're answers. I made the conclusion about the Americans creating the street names, based on a disscussion I'd had with an a American in Juan Dolio a year ago (an American) who has spent a great deal of time in the DR. Who made the statement that it dated back to the days of US occupation. I now however, feel more apt to believe Joel Pacheco's statement, that it was all Trujillo's doing. As for communicating my interests - I believe I have the FREEDOM to communicate any interest I have about the DR. on this message board. I do wish to eat some crow and apologize for the comment on "tipical US behavior". That was out of line.
Wow!...a DR1 First!...
Did someone just apologize for a rash comment? Man...I thought I was on the wrong board for a second. You're a good man, Jackson.
Just don't go doing it too often...people might lose interest in this site.
RHM
www.randallhmiller.com
Did someone just apologize for a rash comment? Man...I thought I was on the wrong board for a second. You're a good man, Jackson.
Just don't go doing it too often...people might lose interest in this site.
RHM
www.randallhmiller.com
Don Juan said:
Not of Dominican interest but,---
Kemal Mustafa Ataturk is the Father of Modern day Turkey. He drove all the Italian, French and Greeks into the sea at Izmir at the end of his revolution against the Ottaman Empire, abolished the wearing of the Fez and implimented many legal reforms in government and civil society. He was a Do'er of the first water. It doesn't surprise me at all that a street in "Democratic" DR has been named after him.
Texas Bill
Too add just a little...
Ataturk was called the "Father of the Modern Age" by Indian Prime Minister Nehru. Meaning, the founder of the Secular(seperation Church/State). In his life time he transformed, really turned Turkey inside out. His radical program of Modernization/secularization won him many admirers, including the Shah Reza Pahvalvi of Iran, another man who tried to enforce secular rule, it finally failed his son in 1979.
It seems perhaps logical that Trujillo,a man who modernized and reshaped the DR would admire someone like Ataturk. Ataturk and Trujillo were in power for awhile at the same time period. Just a theory.
As far as the other names, it is not unusual for nations to name streets after famous foreign leaders, artists, scientists, etc.
In Tirana,Albania there is a main Boulevard named after American President Woodrow Wilson, and another named after Ataurk.
Ataturk was called the "Father of the Modern Age" by Indian Prime Minister Nehru. Meaning, the founder of the Secular(seperation Church/State). In his life time he transformed, really turned Turkey inside out. His radical program of Modernization/secularization won him many admirers, including the Shah Reza Pahvalvi of Iran, another man who tried to enforce secular rule, it finally failed his son in 1979.
It seems perhaps logical that Trujillo,a man who modernized and reshaped the DR would admire someone like Ataturk. Ataturk and Trujillo were in power for awhile at the same time period. Just a theory.
As far as the other names, it is not unusual for nations to name streets after famous foreign leaders, artists, scientists, etc.
In Tirana,Albania there is a main Boulevard named after American President Woodrow Wilson, and another named after Ataurk.
I was going to mention Ataturk, but it's hardly a main thoroughfare. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is a minor residential street in Naco, near the intersection between 27 and Tiradentes.
As well as the US and Dominican heroes and historical figures, the great and the good from other parts of the world are dotted around the city.
San Martin - Argentinian national hero - main thoroughfare.
Tiradentes - Brazilian national hero and dentist - main thoroughfare.
David Ben Gurion - first Israeli PM - residential street in Piantini.
There must be more...
As well as the US and Dominican heroes and historical figures, the great and the good from other parts of the world are dotted around the city.
San Martin - Argentinian national hero - main thoroughfare.
Tiradentes - Brazilian national hero and dentist - main thoroughfare.
David Ben Gurion - first Israeli PM - residential street in Piantini.
There must be more...