I remember when I just started working for Metro that I read something about his case against Metro. When I asked the brass about it I was told not to worry and that it would be dealt with accordingly. Apparently it has.
- Thread starter NALs
- Start date
Nuria Takes On "Dominican Watchdog"
PICHARDO are you done taking your ball home? Dude, do yourself a favor, STOP!
Instead of going all out trying to discredit the messenger, spend your time addressing the message.
Let's get back to the facts and why the website actually exists.
PICHARDO, pretty much everything JV has published about DR corruption, fraud, security risks etc on his site are true, YES or NO?
I guess we all know the answer to that, YES.
So now can you move on to actually address the issues, rather than using deflection, blame etc to avoid addressing the ACTUAL issues?
Instead of going all out trying to discredit the messenger, spend your time addressing the message.
Let's get back to the facts and why the website actually exists.
PICHARDO, pretty much everything JV has published about DR corruption, fraud, security risks etc on his site are true, YES or NO?
I guess we all know the answer to that, YES.
So now can you move on to actually address the issues, rather than using deflection, blame etc to avoid addressing the ACTUAL issues?
I don't care about that Robert, for I'm not defending nor excusing corruption or criminal enterprise!
The message? That the DR is a country where everything is corrupt, foreigners are robbed, murdered, raped and killed as soon as they step off the plane. That the DR's professionals are all corrupted and liers? That we're the drug runners of the world. The most corrupted country in the world, etc...????
Please!!!
Wasn't that evidently clear from my first post and Nuria's own words? It's the packaging he's using to brand the country and people rather than the focus of those facts....
So if one thing is true then rest is also as he puts it in this packaged deal?
Please Robert!
The issues he brings are all 100% legit, the modus operandi of attacking the country and people for a minority is not only wrong, but for my part and all of the other Dominicans (including Nuria) he can go suck on a light bulb for all we care!
If you want to debate and bring about light to the corruption, crimes, etc... In the DR, you're more than welcome to do so and will find no little support from every side of the DR and people to assist you. But to come out and attack the country and people as such, those that want to can make a bee line to the airport for all we care...
Don't slap us in the face and expect to find the other cheek waiting. We're a majority of Catholics but not fools...
So you're saying we would find little support? That wouldn't surprise me in the least.
First we have the British Ambassador, then the Barcelo Group, now JV's website.
I'm starting to see a pattern here.... It only appears to be foreigners denouncing corruption and trying to make people aware of what can happen the DR?
Personally, I would like to see some of those "Apathetic Dominicans" actual stand up and do something, instead of sitting back, blaming someone else, deflecting the real issues etc.
You'll find NO little support, means you'll find a lot Robert... Or so me thinks the wording was correct!
The apathetic Dominicans are the majority in voicing and claiming against corruption and all other ills that afflict our country Robert, foreigners are maybe 0.0000001 % of that equation...
I have always credited the expat community and even DR1 for their role in assisting to that as well Robert!
Even a well positioned Ant in the trunk, can move an Elephant with ease!
So why do I only primarily see the foreigners in the news denouncing corruption?
I see VERY LITTLE being done against corruption here, I see even less when it comes to those apathetic Dominicans actually doing something. Like protesting in the streets, in the news, law suits etc. After all, it is your country!
Actions speak louder than the rhetoric at the colmado...
With all due respect, but do you think it would be easy what with the politicians running around here utterly convinced of the justification and even support of the pueblo to take what they can? Talk about delusional. Pichardo has done us the real favor of showing the insight of how politicians justify doing what they do. This and there constant show of wealth all but disarms most normal Dominicans into a mode of constant apathy. Still, there will be a reckoning one day, that's for sure but I expect it will be in the next life. Like I said they better enjoy it now especially if they invoke God's name to deceive the people.
No, no, no Robert! Visit any of most Dominican forums and you'll see that Dominicans are very vocal about all these issues. If anything 99.99% of corruption and denounces are from Dominicans alone. A Day of the week does not go by without a group of Dominicans letting it out to the public and in the media.
The problem lies with the same factor that ills the way most of the perceive corruption is handled. Most is just assumed with little to support it in a court or a matter of legal action.
Take this guy and his crusade against the DR and Dominican people. Just because he repeats in a packaged deal what others say was their victim's side of the history in the DR, what good or change will it create? NONE to very little!
Why is it that every time we read and hear of all these great corruption and fraud cases, they become dismantled as actual facts run their cause?
It's not saying that a lot are not without base, but a ridiculous amount is just based on hearsay and echoes from the wind...
It's common for people and private interests to attack government and other private parts in the media with little to nothing to show for evidence in support. We see many cases where parts try to use the press to secure deals and ease of regulations to carry out their dealings for a profit here in the DR.
How many at times have posters here even in DR1 attacked legit biz people like Corripio, CCN and others of funding large investments in new Malls, stores, etc... As money laundering, drug or criminal backed activities with zero to provide for support other than their excellent knowledge of the DR and Dominicans?
If I sell a Ferrary Scuderia F430 to a person that later is found to be a drug dealer (like Figueroa), does that make me an equal drug dealer? Like it happen to Gamal Hache?
How many times do you think so called Dominican journalists sell their articles to be used by private interests or baseless attacks on others?
Is the DR supposed to be the great super-power in fighting the cartels, where the US and their zillions have done nothing more than to create new routes and market for the same?
We see a never ending row after row of accusations of Dominican banks laundering drug money, yet little proof to show this, least to make a bit of space to see how Banks like Wells Fargo or Bank Of America actually assisted the Mexican cartels do the same thing in the bazillions with plenty of evidence to boot?
Why is it that the DR must be held to a different standard than any other country in the face of the earth?
The President is corrupt and made himself a millionaire from public money? Where's the evidence?
All major Dominican business are from laundered money? Where's the evidence?
All Dominican lawyers are crooks? Where's the evidence?
All cops in the DR are crooks, killers and criminals? Where's the evidence?
We have to hear all these crap Day in Day out, yet for all the talk little evidence comes about to support most of it.
That there's illicit enrichment in public office? By God! Where not in the world?!?!?
That police will always have bad apples within their ranks? By God! Where not in the Universe???
You don't change a country from the outside, but from the inside out. Attacks like the one carried out by Dominicanwatchever, will create even more positives for the DR than he thinks he's causing loses for...
I have been to many countries in the world, lived in many of them and to this Day will never, ever take to air to condemn any of them for all their faults or shortcomings. Least the people of each of those.
Respect the Dominican Republic and the Dominican people, and you'll have plenty of ears to listen to you and hands to assist in your path.
People in other nations say all the time how much they love their country. In the DR we don't say it, we mean it and live it everyday in or out of that small island nation...
Like I said, what a lot of the articles he links to on cases of the DR say are true, some exaggerated, biased or complete fabrications. But the way he wants to portrait the country as he packaged the stuff, is not only false but uncalled for.
Things have a funny way of working around in the real world...
I do not live in the the DR now nor have I been to the island lately, but I do remain in contact with friends that live in the DR and sometimes when I hear the comments here of the DR about the culture and especially the system, " I wonder are they talking about the same DR that I know or new" when I lived there. I know that the country has improved dramatically since I lived there in the 90,s and it has advanced in many ways, however I know the culture and the system and how it works and how dominicans think and act sometimes and this is still also confirmed to me by my friends that still live in the DR which remind me constantly that things are still the same here "nothing has really changed".
I remember back in the 90s where there were property issues involving both dominicans and foreign investors and many problems of bigger people stepping on the smaller ones and they were always afraid of bad international publicity back then and this helped counter the abuse. I think that the dominican watch dog site is a good thing and even though I do not knows his exact agenda and circumstances surrounding his case this might just be a good idea and message that if you mess around with foriegn investment or investors you better have a good reason and that a foreigner should be respected and protected.
I would be very weary to say the least to invest large amounts of money in a foriegn land the I could be deported in a heart beat out of the country as in this case and not be able to return to protect upfront my investments or retreat my personal belongings unless I was a citizen or at least maybe a resident and with friends in very high places. I think that dominican watch dog site is doing it in the only way he can remotely and where it hurts the most in the dominicans pockets (financially) because a small poor 3rd world country which probablys main source of income is tourism and foreign investment that also helps should be concerned that any bad publicity will eventually hurt the DR down the road or already has done some damage.
I remember back in the 90s where there were property issues involving both dominicans and foreign investors and many problems of bigger people stepping on the smaller ones and they were always afraid of bad international publicity back then and this helped counter the abuse. I think that the dominican watch dog site is a good thing and even though I do not knows his exact agenda and circumstances surrounding his case this might just be a good idea and message that if you mess around with foriegn investment or investors you better have a good reason and that a foreigner should be respected and protected.
I would be very weary to say the least to invest large amounts of money in a foriegn land the I could be deported in a heart beat out of the country as in this case and not be able to return to protect upfront my investments or retreat my personal belongings unless I was a citizen or at least maybe a resident and with friends in very high places. I think that dominican watch dog site is doing it in the only way he can remotely and where it hurts the most in the dominicans pockets (financially) because a small poor 3rd world country which probablys main source of income is tourism and foreign investment that also helps should be concerned that any bad publicity will eventually hurt the DR down the road or already has done some damage.
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And why is that?
I disagree with you. Good or bad, he's created some movement, talking points etc. Just because you think he has a vendetta, that still doesn't discount the fact that 95% what he is posting is true.
That's true. But plenty are true and some even boast about it. Inflated contract pricing on Government works etc.
Kicks backs on contracts. Additional 10% for being the invisible person in the middle.
DR1 is no newbie here and not immune to corruption. I have witnessed first hand how some people, government and private individuels conduct business here. I understand it's the price of doing business in the DR, but it most developed countries it would be 100% illegal.
Yap, yap, yap!! Start dealing with the dirt and rubbish in your own backyard before looking over the fence and complaining about your neighbors.
It's not, that's why we are having this discussion.
That's the funniest thing I've read all day. All we ask is that the DR is held to the SAME standard as any other country.
That's because we have become accustomed to hearing so much about these things, that like the saying goes in the DR "El Rio suena, porque agua lleva"... We always accept that there's somehow some truth to it, even when it's not. The politics as usual of attacking with mud each other has a lot to do with this. Case in point, the recent cases of Margarita, Medina, etc...
I too disagree with you on this.! He created a bigger hole for him to ever return to the DR if that was his wish (as he said himself when he noted he wanted to come see his two Dominican daughters in person)...
95% of what he's posting is truth, within the context of where, how and why it was published in the first place. Not the way he's carrying out his revenge by creating this monster country and people we won't meet but in his dreams...
In most developed countries, that's a ring one must select to understand that the DR is a developing country. Just because you find it mimics the developed world in some instances, does that precludes that it should be operating like one! That's the thing many here like to use like a switch! When it serves them right to attack the DR for something they don't appreciate or like, the DR is delegated as a third of fourth world country. When they find that the rule of Law affects them, most like RE and police/gov, the DR is this developed about first world country that lacks all these stuff... Go figure!
But we do Robert! Nobody is harsher when dealing with our own problems than Dominicans are! We can go from zero to nasty in less than 2 seconds when we find a subject or issue we don't accept or want action upon. Yap, yap, yap, is the exact description of what people say and have little to support in many instances here and elsewhere the DR topics are debated! Many from their "first hand super experience" of all Dominican...
So why must we as a developing nation be measured to that of the developed world when its serves the detractors? Case in point...
my past disagreements with PICHARDO are legion, but i come down on his side, in this issue. apart from being on the wrong side of the law, and hanging out with the wrong crowd, some of these guys just flat out oppressed, victimized, and exploited the weakest of the weak. they did them wrong, and some folks do not have the sophisticated powers of self control which will deter them from resorting to extreme measures of revenge. millionaires who pay their household help a pittance, without an increase in salary for over a decade, are setting themselves up for dire repercussions. they could not attempt such tomfoolery in their home countries, but seek to do it here, because they know that there is an oversupply of manual labor, and people will fight for scraps. well, there is this little matter called Karma.
You more than anyone are always pushing how developed and how progressive the DR is.
Gold banking standard, advanced transport, telecoms etc etc etc....
Yet when the boot is on the other foot, you want a different set of rules?
Dear Pichardo,
Good morning!
To be honest, I still don't understand what this guy has done to get extradited from this country? Your post wasn't very clear. Can you perhaps distill it down to one sentence? What was his crime?
You claim that it's between him and interpol, but you know that interpol isn't a prosecuting body? It's just a 'dragnet' that's used in inter-country crimes.
So I'm trying to understand what he did to get kicked out of the country? What was the crime?
Let me tell you why I'm asking PICHARDO. The reason I'm asking is because the way you've described it, he hasn't actually been convicted of a crime, or even been charged anywhere. He's simply *ACCUSED* of a crime (fraud you said).
The reason this doesn't sit well with us on this board is because it's pretty easy in this country to ACCUSE anyone of anything. It's pretty easy to pay a colonel, or any rank in the government and/or police and/or PN to ACCUSE anyone else of anything.
If you do your research, this is PRECISELY the problem that the BARCELO group is having right?
So if someone is being annoying, it's pretty easy to 'get rid of them', simply by ACCUSING them of a crime.
Then the media, PICHARDO, and dominicans in general can play judge, jury, and executioner.
THis isn't a practice being used exclusively on GRINGO's, look no further than the presidential election. "J'Accuse! que the president's wife has 73 million euros".
Do people believe it? Well so long as half do, it's done it's 'trick'.
So...once again, what specific crime did he commit? did he perpetrate to get expelled? Or, is it that simply he's been accused of a certain crime, and that's that...?
You can understand why we're not comfortable with the above right?
Have a good day.
Good morning!
To be honest, I still don't understand what this guy has done to get extradited from this country? Your post wasn't very clear. Can you perhaps distill it down to one sentence? What was his crime?
You claim that it's between him and interpol, but you know that interpol isn't a prosecuting body? It's just a 'dragnet' that's used in inter-country crimes.
So I'm trying to understand what he did to get kicked out of the country? What was the crime?
Let me tell you why I'm asking PICHARDO. The reason I'm asking is because the way you've described it, he hasn't actually been convicted of a crime, or even been charged anywhere. He's simply *ACCUSED* of a crime (fraud you said).
The reason this doesn't sit well with us on this board is because it's pretty easy in this country to ACCUSE anyone of anything. It's pretty easy to pay a colonel, or any rank in the government and/or police and/or PN to ACCUSE anyone else of anything.
If you do your research, this is PRECISELY the problem that the BARCELO group is having right?
So if someone is being annoying, it's pretty easy to 'get rid of them', simply by ACCUSING them of a crime.
Then the media, PICHARDO, and dominicans in general can play judge, jury, and executioner.
THis isn't a practice being used exclusively on GRINGO's, look no further than the presidential election. "J'Accuse! que the president's wife has 73 million euros".
Do people believe it? Well so long as half do, it's done it's 'trick'.
So...once again, what specific crime did he commit? did he perpetrate to get expelled? Or, is it that simply he's been accused of a certain crime, and that's that...?
You can understand why we're not comfortable with the above right?
Have a good day.
DEVELOPING! Not DEVELOPED!
I always post about how the DR is ADVANCING, not how ADVANCED it is!
When it serves your and others side, the DR is this first world xerox to demand the same order and instances where the bills fits. When it also serves your side and to others, the DR is this 4th world hell hole on earth and etc...
But you know what? Like the song says:
Tu muere' aqui!
The DR! You either love it or hate to love it!
Good morning to you too!
According to an INTERPOL arrest warrant served, he was wanted in connection to RE/business fraud in another country. The local authorities were made aware of this, as INTERPOL got hold of this man's presence and dealings in the DR from the press coverage for an ongoing dispute with other parties in the country.
The local PN investigated what was the gist of his dealings in the country and more so in the ongoing dispute he was already involved in. It was found that the same documents that were being questioned by a criminal case for which INTERPOL had an arrest warrant pending, were used by him to initially get a hold of some RE and business interests in the DR. This meant that according to legal criteria, he was committing fraud by having employed such questionable legal documents in the DR.
The DR has no extradition treaty or agreement with that said country he faced prosecution for the above mentioned, nor was there a formal extradition request filed by such country to our Relaciones Exteriores. The executive moved to order his arrest under the moral character faculties of such power held by that branch of the gov. He was arrested and driven to the airport, handed over to INTERPOL agents and from there what happened was INTERPOL exclusive action.
He faced no criminal action in the DR due to the lack of legal support from his open case in that country of interest. For there to be a criminal case in the DR, it was needed to establish that the used documents in the country were in fact fraud.
INTERPOL was the one that made the DR aware of his person and warrant background, they were the ones to finalized his removal from the DR soil.
His fault lies with the failure to clear his name and documents he employed in the DR dealings with that said country's legal entity. To the Law the use of such legal documents that are evidence in a criminal case become accessories to commit fraud with intent.
At the time of his removal from the DR, he had an outstanding arrest warrant with INTERPOL. It's a matter of him and that country's legal system to detail what he was being charge with, why and if there was enough evidence to prosecute and convict him. That's not the responsibility of the DR! Before INTERPOL actions, the DR authorities were not even aware of the man or his dealings in the DR other as common citizens that had been able to see one or two articles in the press about the ongoing disputes in the RE business he and others were involved into.
Quite plausible in the DR, but in the case of his removal INTERPOL was the other party. Hard to say it was carried out by corrupt Dominican officials. Unless somebody had the resources to carry out a legal proceeding in that country to have him arrested, knowingly he was living in the DR at the time... All is possible!
The Barcelo group is not a newcomer to Dominican corruption, we all know how well they also made use of it to avail contracts, land and other perks related to beach access, working contracts, etc...
They know well how to play the media spin to their profit and support, they're big boys...
In the DR it depends how big and how little the parts involved are, who they know and don't, etc...
It's not that easy, nor impossible to see and happen!
In the court of public opinion? Yes! In the factual legal world? No!
100% true, no reason why not to doubt some or most if not all of it. But again, when things are clear there's no such thing that can be swept under the rug. His listing the human rights court, means that in the legal courts he has little to nothing to prove his side of the story until now...