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Huelga!! Puerto Plata. Aug. 6 - Wed.

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TiberiusMineola

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There is a large, well organized Huelga taking place in POP; I believe it started on Wed, Aug. 6 in the AM or mid-day. Many major streets are blocked with burning trees, tires, broken glass, etc. Gun hosts can be heard. There is a large police presence, many with rifles & shotguns. The Circumvalion Sud - the maor, perhaps sole east-west artery - is blocked. The main, perhaps only, road to Costambar is blocked & burning. I personally have never seen a huelga in Costambar. If you live in the greater POP area & don't have to leave your home, I strongly suggest you stay home. Also, no electricity for @ 25 - 30 hours! Something is up??
 

XanaduRanch

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GirlieGirl, you're in Costambar. Having problems there? Alba has to take a guagua to Esperanza and Santiago in a day or two and if that's going on I won't let her go. I'll drive her to Santiago via Moca instead. Anybody else? BushBaby? What's going on in POP?

Tom (aka XR)
 

Barry

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Protests grow in North and the Cibao
According to El Caribe, there have been protests over the past four days in Puerto Plata, resulting in two people wounded and dozens more jailed, after homemade bombs went off in the barrios and near the hospital. In San Francisco de Macor?s, three days of protests over blackouts and the rising cost of living yielded two dead of gunshot wounds. Villa Altagracia experienced its 15th day of manifestations of dissent over the prolonged blackouts, some lasting 24 hours. In Nagua, homemade bombs injured two individuals.
 

ltsnyder

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Exactly what is a "Huelga" . . . .

Please tell me as much as you know of what is happening in Pueto Plata, I plan on flying down there in a week or so, and will be driving all over Pueto Plata for business. Is a Huelga some sort of orginaized or unorganizd protest? Or is a "Huelga" some kind of acts of protest like the bombing etc. And are the police behaving diffrently, and if so how? If the Circumvalion Sud is bloacked, is this done by the police to isolate Puerto Plata protest from the area east of the city along the coast? I guess I also want a better understanding of the nature of the protest.

-Lee
 
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norman

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Re: Exactly what is a "Huelga" . . . .

ltsnyder said:
Please tell me as much as you know of what is happening in Pueto Plata, I plan on flying down there in a week or so, and will be driving all over Pueto Plata for business. Is a Huelga some sort of orginaized or unorganizd protest? Or is a "Huelga" some kind of acts of protest like the bombing etc. And are the police behaving diffrently, and if so how? If the Circumvalion Sud is bloacked, is this done by the police to isolate Puerto Plata protest from the area east of the city along the coast? I guess I also want a better understanding of the nature of the protest.

-Lee
I was wondering who or what the bombs are directed at?Whats happening today? ANy news?
 

Ken

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A huelga is a strike by the general population. It is the favored form of public protest. They are common when times are tough, as they are now. Sometimes there are national strikes, other times they are local over some local issue, like failure of the government to honor its promise to pave the streets of a small town. Currently the strikes are over the miserable power situation in many locations and the very real financial crunch that a great many Dominicans find themselves in. Usually a strike lasts from one to 3 days. Between now and the election in 2004, you can anticipate an increasing number of strikes.

Some locations are more prone to strikes than others. Nagua and San Francisco de Macoris, for example, are always ready to strike. The barrios of Santo Domingo and Santiago are also fertile strike territory, as is Gaspar Hernandez east of Cabarete.

When there are strikes, buses between Santo Domingo and outlying areas may not run because the protestors are blocking the highways. Likewise, guaguas and publicos may not operate because they can't get where they want to go with out defying the blockade and risking a rock through the windshield.

There is no reason to panic if you are here during a strike. They are not targeting foreigners and they do not go on resort property. On the other hand, if there is a strike and the possibility that highways are blocked in some locations, you are well advised not to travel on the highways if it means going through the strike area as you are almost certain to have your vehicle damaged.

I've lived in the DR for 17 years and have seen a lot of strikes. Expect to see a lot more. They are not something to be afraid of, but you do need to take precautions to be sure you don't get mixed up on something that has nothing to do with you.
 

ltsnyder

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Ok, but . . .

Is the Circumvalion Sud blocked by the Huelga or is this a point of police presence? Is the Huegla at the Hospital at the top of the hill, now that would be the place to really shut down Pueto Plata.

-Lee
 

Ken

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Itsnyder, you won't be here for another week or so. You are getting yourself all worked up for no reason. If you are going to live or spend a lot of time here, you just have to get used to the fact that when times are tough there will be strikes.

On this board there have been threads wondring why the Dominican people put up with all of the abuse they get from their government, police and other public officials. Well, from time to time they do stand up and make their extreme displeasure known. The strike is the way they do it. The hell of it is that these strikes are usually ended by an agreement between the government and strike organizers that benefits the organizers but does nothing for the people who are bearing most of the burden.

By the time you get here, this strike will be a distant memory. Maybe there will be another one during your visit, but it won't be this one.

PS: This strike seems to be pretty localized in nature. There is no strike in Sosua, and the guaguas and publicos have been running between Sosua and Puerto Plata all week. Tuesday I traveled from Santo Domingo to Sosua on Caribe Tour, passing through Santiago and Puerto Plata. No sign of a strike or extra police anywhere.

Frankly, this is not much of a strike, except in a few barrios.
 
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Hillbilly

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Yesterday's DR1 News pointed out some

of the localities where the strikes were going on. Here in Santiago the "Hot" barrios are just that--HOT! Everyone is pi$$ed off like heck for the huge blackouts. The worst in 10 or 11 years. Businesses are having serious porblems and peopl at home are seeing their food go bad.

At yesterday's conference at the Central Bank, everyone ran away from the debate on what to do with the power companies: "It would take days or weeks to work that out" , was one comment.

As a visitor, I would not be very worried. Your people here will take good care of you. And, unless your business is in very unsavoury neighborhoods, you will never see much of the goings on...

HB
 

BushBaby

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Sorry to have been so long in putting my few cents into this thread - been a bit busy & power outages caused a few problems with internet link up (the fax causes a 'dirty-line' I now gather!!).

YES, the was a protest in Puerto Plata yesterday & YES shots were fired (1 dead & several injured I gather). BUT, this is NOT happening all over Puerto Plata. I am lead to believe this was an isolated incident which - due to the stupid remarks of his Holiness Hippo to shoot first & ask questions later - turned ugly due to HEAVY police activity. It is not sure whether the fatal shot came from the police or a passing car, but my leanings are towards over zealous police brought about by very poor training (IF ANY)!!!

I went through town yesterday morning & even into the area of the port - NOTHING to indicate any problems brewing. I was out yesterday afternoon too - no problems seen around town. "She that must be Obeyed" went t Banco Mercantil this morning to check a few things (& to test the banking system/credibility at the moment) & got absolutely NO PROBLEMS on either score!!

There IS unrest here true. There is growing anger at the President & his need to be 'Mafia Boss' over the great unwashed, but basically the town just wants to demonstrate peacefully. The POLICE are the ones who appear to be counterproductive to this peace & causing confrontational situations!! The power outages are the main reason for the protests - not the IMF, PanAm games, or even the rising inflation!!! If they were given some hope of a solution to the power problems the whole country is suffering from re blackouts & overcharging of electricity, I am confident thins would cool down greatly - in EVERY sense of the word COOL!!!

Stay safe everyone - I'll (reliably & un-emotionally) update as I hear more from my informed sources &/or personal experiences!! - Grahame.
 

ltsnyder

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The people who take care of me are in the barrio.

I guess I'll find out in a little, I'm not worried, but I am sure every one is going to be very pissed if the power outages that last 12 hours or more continue. As Hillbilly stated, and I would also be totally pissed off, if the power outage caused me to loose everything in my refridgorator.

I'm next to barrio Isabel Torres (which while poor, I don't consider dirt poor). Barrio Reyes is relatively well off Dominicans, I'm not worried there.

-Lee
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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We drove through Puerto Plata at around 10pm last night and even stopped off for a burger at Burger King. All was very quiet on the main drag - very dark as well.

The amazing thing is that my daughter was on the Cabarete beach yesterday talking to Dominican friends - who had no idea of what was going on - they wanted to know which games? and which unrest?

I think I like Cabarete more and more ;)
 

XanaduRanch

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She Must have been at LAX

Chris, the only way for you not to know what's going on like those kids at that bar is to smoke the same stuff they do. Honestly I don't think any of them notice that the sun is up so I am not surprised they don't know about the games or the unrest!
 

Chris

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smoking?

Let me now educate a young, innocent and clean American kid like you XR - those kids don't smoke it, they snort it... and it is not green ;)

Oops! what was this thread about again?
 

XanaduRanch

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Chris, I know. I just didn't want to post anything detrimental to the DR in general or Cabarete in particular. I don't need the men with the dark suits and sunglasses here at Xanadu.

And by the way, there are no protests taking place either. They were peacfully demonstrating in favor of 4 more years for Hippo and against Leonel.