golo said:
The recent protests have been the worst since the 1984 riots that left 185 dead. ..........I have seen people in the barrios collecting used tires, mattresses, plastic 5 gallon cans and styrofoam for the next go-around. The elctricity thing is not the only problem. If electric bills go up along with the prices of basic goods, watch for the fireworks.
Those 1984 riots have been very much on my mind lately. The surprising thing to me isn't that serious trouble is brewing, but that it hasn't erupted before this.
The Dominicans have been exceptionally tolerant of abuse. Sure, the publicity given to civil unrest, if it comes, will hurt the country internationally and likely mean many that many who might otherwise have come here this coming winter will go elsewhere, but it is important that at least those who frequent this board keep in mind that there would have been some sort of citizen backlash before this in most, of not all, the countries represented.
Based on my admitedly limited experience, for the info of occasional visitors to the DR, should there be "fireworks", it is unlikely that the intensity would be the same in all parts of the country. (The fact that many of us living in the country had no idea anything was going on during the past few days is evidence of that.) Some comunities, like Nagua, Gaspar Hernandez, San Francisco de Macoris, the barrios of Santo Domingo, etc., will be hotbeds while other areas, like Samana and Sosua will be quiet. I was living in Samana during the 1984 unrest and there was no evidence of anything abnormal going on, except there was no bus service to other areas and the supply trucks couldn't get to Samana. Those experiencing the most difficulty were the tourists in the hotels who had flights booked for days when there were huelgas (strikes). On those days public transportation doesn't move, and even if the drivers wanted to they couldn't get through because of the road blocks put up by aroused citizens in some of the communities along the highway between Samana and the airport.
I would think this would be about the same in other tourist communities.
I very much hope there will be no trouble of any magnitude. Adverse international press is the last thing the country needs as it tries to recover from the severe tourist slump in the past 2 years. But I do worry as I see the government borrow and spend, the value of the peso fall against the dollar, the hours of electrical service decrease while the price increases, the unemployment rate rises, etc., etc. Life is hard and getting harder for Dominicans.
