my family has been here for hundreds of years an I have since 1993. My family says stay off the malecon. I listen. more things have happened then what they read in paper.
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german tourist murdered on the malecon in POP
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my family has been here for hundreds of years an I have since 1993. My family says stay off the malecon. I listen. more things have happened then what they read in paper.
Another horrendous crime.
The disregard for the value of a human life in the DR just boggles my mind.
A tragedy for the families concerned.
I question the safety for cruise passengers and other tourists in the DR.
While on a Holland America cruise in April 2003 Cartagena as a port of call was cancelled because of security concerns (to my disappointment)
I am curious to see how cruise lines and passengers and tourists in general will respond to the grave problems in the DR.
I don't see them being brought under control.
I lived in a couple of countries and every time the people had stories to tel about places they knew a little. when I say that I am here on the malecon the last 3 years, I mean that I am here from 11 am until 1 or 4 am. I'm here 14 or , 17 hours every day. Week in, week out. And in my place nothing happened the last 3 years. And also nothing happened with my clients.
Don't take it personal ,like I said the Malecon has many stories. more **** happens than you think. I live here 24 hours a day
lol. I am glad nothing has happened to you and your clients.
The victim should NOT be blamed.
It is however puzzling why this happened. Street robbers are heartless thugs. BUT they normally do NOT shoot unless the victim try to resist (not that they care about the victim, but they know that once someone is dead the odds they'll get caught and get in deep problem are much higher).
I have no idea if this (resisting) happened in this case.
If it did it is certainly extremely unfortunately that anyone would risk (and lose in this case) his life on this, as opposed to give the robbers whatever they want (usually a phone, camera, etc and perhaps a small amount of cash). Hardly anyone goes around with large sums of cash these days, and credit cards can be easily cancelled after the fact. You add a phone, a camera, maybe a watch, and perhaps a couple of hundred USD or equivalent, and you are still talking about a fairly small amount of money, perhaps a few thousands at worst, but more likely in the hundreds (which potentially could be recovered if one has insurance). Definitely not worth risking one's life on.
If I remember correctly, POP use to be a cruise lineport stop (1990s)
Then due to "issues" they decided not to stop there any more. I'll let others define what the "issues" were.
But as a previous OP pointed out, if a port gets a bad rap, the cruise lines will cut it out of the itinerary.
.... and as money gets tighter at the port city .....
Then due to "issues" they decided not to stop there any more. I'll let others define what the "issues" were.
But as a previous OP pointed out, if a port gets a bad rap, the cruise lines will cut it out of the itinerary.
.... and as money gets tighter at the port city .....
It says in one or more of the articles he resisted while they tried to grab his (gold?) chain. But that's probably an impuls. I just hope the day I get robbed I have the consciousness to hand over my wallet and cellphone instead of risking my life.
For a country though that soon will have the region's best and most popular tourist destination (even more popular than Rome) in Santo Domingo, the police and government should get their act together fast. They want to make SD a tourist destination but can't control crime in a small place like Puerto Plata.
I don t live with statistic but with feelings . To kill someone in day time for fews bucks is Madness. I saw a couple of time people been rob on their own bike by others driving passolats in SFM. Due to inegality growing between rich and poor we are entering the far west era again. Where is the sherrif ??
irate:can you provide link, please?
the issues were related to transport sindicates fighting for passengers. i posted the story in amber cove thread but basically according to acento one of the captains lost an eye and that was the last straw.
some folks have an instinct to immediately give up and some to fight. i think it's not evident until bad things happen to you. the german guy could have been surprised, as in do not fully comprehend what's going on, especially if the criminals said/shouted something and did not show the gun straight away.
I must say that these kind of events just add to the already lingering feeling of unhappiness I have in this country. You can get robbed everywhere, even get killed in a robbery gone wrong anywhere, but here killing during a robbery doesn't seem to be a robbery gone wrong, it's just one of the outcomes of a robbery, maybe you live, maybe you die. Yesterday evening I went out to get a taco bell dinner for my wife, literally four blocks from my house. The evening is fresh, but I am doubting if I should drive with my window open.
The possibility that I die from a gun shot is something that would never cross my mind as a likely or even possible way to go, however, in this country it does cross my mind how it would be to die from a gun shot. Macabre way of thinking I know.
In the end I can probably live with that, but it adds up. With permission of Virgo, Natu and PICHARDO, DR in my opinion is maybe not a completely failed state, but in many aspects a failed society. There are reasons why we came here, but I do realize, and so does my (dominican) wife, that it was probably a mistake. When we moved back here in 2009 we had two small children, now we have 4 and they are getting bigger. Only now we realize that the stability of a developed country is worth a lot when you have growing children. And it's in many things, small and big. Crime I'd call big. Mediocre education I would call big. Probably small I would call the difference in how children grow up here after school. Mine are home, do their homework, play in the project where we live, one goes to soccer, that's it. In the weekend we try to go out with them, but where to bring them, to the zoo? with one chimp and two lions (without teeth)? to Museo Trampolin? There is not much here for children (except for the beach I guess). When I was young, and my brothers' and sisters' children now, we'd play in the street, one, two, three blocks away from my house. We'd come back when it would get dark. There were places to go to in the weekend, museums (well.....not that we would go there), I'd visit the library as a 12 year old twice a week on my bike., I'd go to the pool with my siblings or friends without my parents, When a day off we could go to Amsterdam or any of the big cities and see or do interesting things which formed us, on a sunny day we would go cycling in the province with the whole family. Besides that you can't cycle here for lack of well-paved streets, safe environment to cycle, it's too hot too to do anything outside the house for most of the year.
Conclusion: I do still have one or two reasons why I haven't packed yet, which weigh in heavily, but if I would be back in 2009 right now, knowing what I know now, I'd stay in Europe.
<end of venting>
To be murdered in broad daylight on a busy street in front of his wife is an absolutely disgraceful thing to happen. One can be numbed to reports of foreigners getting killed here after so many years of exposure, but this one is different.
it shows that these criminals have no fear of the authorities, the police and Cestur are ineffective and apathetic. There must be some pressure put on the police to find the perpetrators and the real ones who actually did it, rather than some patsy they might drum up. I really hope that the poor wife gets justice and closure.
Alas I have little to no faith in the Dominican police force.
it shows that these criminals have no fear of the authorities, the police and Cestur are ineffective and apathetic. There must be some pressure put on the police to find the perpetrators and the real ones who actually did it, rather than some patsy they might drum up. I really hope that the poor wife gets justice and closure.
Alas I have little to no faith in the Dominican police force.
just two weeks ago i reported this: http://noticiaspop.com.do/atracan-pareja-de-turistas-ladrones-los-despojan-de-cadena-de-oro/
earlier this year i also posted the story about increased security on cruise days (yesterday there was no cruise, btw) and then low police presence throughout the rest of the the time, according to the residents of the city.
earlier this year i also posted the story about increased security on cruise days (yesterday there was no cruise, btw) and then low police presence throughout the rest of the the time, according to the residents of the city.
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