info on Las Minas,S.D.

[lana]

If anyone has any info on this part of the D.R., I'd appreciate it. Thanks

 

[Tom F.]

From my understanding, it is Los Mina. Historically this area was developed as a suger cane area and up until the 1970's it was probably stilled considered a campo. It is now a barrio of the Capital and it located by going straight North on Maximo Gomez. I have close friends you live a little closer to the center of the capital down Maximo Gomez and Los Mina has a bad reputation for crime and all the other problems associated with extreme poverty. What I have learned is that many of the resisdents of this area are decendents of former Haitian immigrants (most 100+ years ago) who cut sugar cane. In 96, I saw Los Congos de Los Mina play and dance to traditional Pri Pri music. It was fantasic and purely African. Most of the dancers and musicians were elderly people with a few younger participants. Tom

 

[rick]

i have three friends who live in los mina. i spent quite a bit of time in that part of the city when i was there... the area does have a bad reputation, and even the people who i know there made sure that i was in a safe taxi at the end of each night...the people i know who didn't live there always thought that i was crazy for going there at night...the area looks very poor and they often don't have lights (more often than most other areas that i visited.) but the people i know there and who i met there who were friends with mine were all very nice and firendly...i wouldn't want to be there at night without knowing some people who live there though...e-mail me if you want any more specifics

rick

 

[arcoiris]

My experience in las mina is similar to Rick's. There are a couple of sections of Las Mina, North and South, divided by I think it is called the San Vicente main street. The area I visit is lower middle class - which is lower than our lower middle class - poor working people. I had no problem during the day, but was accompanied after dark by neighborhood people. There were a lot of stray dogs around. It is mainly a residential area and not a tourist area.