Is Dominican Republic the next Venezuela?

businessdr said:

Has anyone noticed the increase of the military all over the city?

They say it is for "delequencia" but the military is in front of Bravo,

Sirena, Acrropolis, Blue and everywhere else...

How will this affect foreign residents?

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Argentina is the next venezuela.

A lot of what you think are Military are police. I thought the same until it was explained to me by my wife's cousin.

Why? Did somebody found oil here?

An increase in 100 peso handshakes...

businessdr said:

Has anyone noticed the increase of the military all over the city?

They say it is for "delequencia" but the military is in front of Bravo,

Sirena, Acrropolis, Blue and everywhere else...

How will this affect foreign residents?

Click to expand...

With the recent sharp uptick in crime, President Medina has ordered a more visual police and military presence.

While the visual may do much to assuage the fears of residents and tourists.....it is mere window dressing.

As your title mentions Venezuela, and presumably its military presence everywhere, that military has done little to curb crime. Caracas is one of the most violent/dangerous cities in the world. In fact, a majority of the most violent/dangerous cities in the world are in Latin America. Thankfully, none are in the DR.....and hopefully it stays that way.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

i would rather say that it reminds me of central bogota where armed police is on every corner. they are only missing beautiful dogs in small chalecos here.

personally i do not pay attention. anyone who follows news coverage knows it's about crime and not preparation for civil war or some shady internal conflict.

Venezuela is a unique country with a unique set of problems. I don't think there will be anything like another Venezuela.

Xavier_Onassis said:

Venezuela is a unique country with a unique set of problems. I don't think there will be anything like another Venezuela.

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While I am not sure of the context of your statement as to Venezuela being "a unique country with a unique set of problems," I concur with Rafael in post #2, and add that while Argentina is becoming the new/next Venezuela, Brazil is starting to become the new/next Argentina.....and so it goes for lots of Latin America today.

The DR would do well to learn from the other countries crime problems.....and how to solve them. A strong judicial system is far more important than all the police/military on all those streets/corners.

For a real taste of danger....San Pedro Sula, Honduras.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

Unlike DR, in Venezuela's police officers are not military, they are if you will civilians, and they are not under any military institution. They report to the respective local authority (alcalde or gobernador). The only military force allowed regularly in the streets is the national guard.

The militarization of Venezuela actually happens at higher levels: ministers, governors, congressmen and vice presidents

I doubt RD will become another Venezuela however it could easily slip to become more like a Guatemala.

Medina is smart. He needs to turn around the true perception by foreigners and locals a like that this is a dangerous country. There has been a definite increase in robberies and drug related violence. This will have a major impact on tourism and foreigners doing business in the DR. Medina needs to stop this in it's tracks. Now if police and military do something, that is a whole different story.

LTSteve

I think you mean MOPA, or whatever they're called. It was announced last year that military would be assigned to the police as "auxiliaries" (God forbid they mean "attachees").

Danilo announced at the time that it was a temporary measure to stiffen the fight against street crime. It wasn't long after the girl in SG got murdered for her celphone by a couple of guys on a pasola.

IMO then and now, it is an attempt by the administration to assist the purge of the PN by putting some foxes in their henhouse. Retiring a lot of senior PN officials doesn't get the job done when the street cops have already absorbed their culture. Will it work? Who knows? The cure may be worse than the malady.

[video=youtube_share;f6eTd5kaFak]http://youtu.be/f6eTd5kaFak[/video]

There are a lot of places in the world that have almost no serious violent crimes, but Dominican Republic and Venezuela are not one of them. Crime is very prevalent in these two places, and in 2014 very little can be done to slow end down. The moment you give crime a lot of momentum it will snow ball on you 100% of the time.

When I am putting on a presentation about Costa Rica to potential renters who want to vacation is CR I always tell them that Costa Rica has NO military whatsoever. The biggest problem people have with visiting many Latin American countries is many believe they are not safe.

You would think as a whole the Dominican Republic and Venezuela should be far more safe the Costa Rica because both have a military that is very visible, but it is the complete opposite. The DR and Venezuela are considered dangerous place, because Dominicans and Venezuelans commit dangerous crimes on whoever.

Many people become victims of crimes because they all view criminals as STUPID people when they are smarter then any cop or military. The police and military are TRAINED to follow orders, but criminals" LEARN" not TRAINED to adapt depending on the situation. A criminal can blend in to his surrounding more often then a guy trained by a military. If the police and military are hanging out in and around El Conde guess what criminals will move on to an area where there are no police.

Giving a Dominican a uniform and say "here take this big a$$ gun" will not stop crime. The only thing you will accomplish is the "SCARECROW" affect. You know how farmers try to keep the crows away same thing with crime. This is what people call cops hanging out at a particular place to stop crime" scarecrows" and like in the "Wizard OZ" the scarecrows famous line "If I only had a _______"

Dominicans and expats in DR allowed for criminals to have the mindset they have now. A Dominican criminal have no problem removing anyone from this earth, and once a criminal have the "nothing to lose" mental. The only advice I can give is be somewhere else where they are not. Criminals are so POWERFUL in DR is because people gave them this power. Example:

many of you can't where something nice or expensive in FEAR let me say it again in FEAR!!! a criminal will kill you for it and if this is not power I do not know what is.

The police and military cannot fight the war on crime for any nation, it has to be done by the people.

NYC government fought and stopped crime in the city. It can be done, not with raw power, but with intelligence, courage and honesty.

bob saunders said:

A lot of what you think are Military are police. I thought the same until it was explained to me by my wife's cousin.

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I would not be a TOURIST and see people with ak47 and feel confortable! No matter what the reasons are, it is a big problem! The funny thing is some of these same guys patrolling the streets, have dirty hands!
I think Dr has a huge problem here
If it is not VENEZUELA, it is getting close! I am sure if either AROD or DAVID ORTIZ ended up in the same situation as what has just happened to MISS VENEZUELA, they would probably in the situation, unfortunately!

playacaribe2 said:

...while Argentina is becoming the new/next Venezuela, Brazil is starting to become the new/next Argentina...

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I would have to agree with this, although I don't know if the Dominican, like the Venezuelan, have that ability to trivialise every single horrible situation they go through. Problem after problem, joke after joke and as my husband says "nos lo metieron hasta las de carne".

Political apathy is what somehow led to all that's happened.

Frank the Tank said:

I doubt RD will become another Venezuela however it could easily slip to become more like a Guatemala.

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Guate Mala or Guate Peor ?

Never been to Venezuela, been I've never been robbed in DR. I know many who have been. I think my turn hasn't come yet. I've been in stores, at ATM spots, down dark unlit streets. I always think about it afterwards about how unsafe that area actually was. Then, I have a mini freak out, I was at an ATM machine once and a guy came and was standing behind me. I started freaking out. I let my mind run away with me, so as soon as I got the cash I ran away!!!
The guy behind me yells, "Senor se le olvido la tarjeta"....
I stopped, turned around and almost lost a chancleta. I smiled at the guy, then laughed at how foolish I was saying, Ah era k andaba rapido".........
Gracias commando.

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