Want to know what "LIFE" is really like in the Dominican Republic?

[Jon S.]

Tony mentioned something about the upper crust is the engine that runs the economy and funding the arts and fine culture. Well, that is true but at the same time the arts they are funding frequently come from the same people who are not a part of the upper crust. It's a cycle that has been going on for thousands of years and won't stop any time soon.The Egyptians did it, the Romans did it and other cultures did it too. The people who are victims of opression and whatnot live in dangerous environments, yet they are environments that fosters creativity. Who woulda thought 60 or 70 years ago that the stuff created by Robert Johnson and poor black folks outta the Deep(racist) South would turn out to be something that put a man by the name of Sir Paul MacCartney in the group of richest and most influential people and a part of the upper echelons of British society and we know how upper-crusty those pricks are (Don't shoot me Robert). That's just one example of the cycle. It reciprocates itself in other areas too. Just some random rambling on my part.........

 

[Texas Bill]

To All;
We can sit in front of our computers complaining about DR social, political and economic ills/shortcomings(in our eyes) from now until hell freezes over. But, can we, as the expat community, really do anything about it? Even if we are legal members of this crippled society, no one would listen, but, rather, would effectively tell us to mind our own business or get out of the country, if we don't like it. It's the way things are! We can try to make a difference, but it will be a small drop in the bucket.
Many Dominicans complain that the USA makes it almost impossible to obtain a visa/green card in order to get into "the land of the BIG PX", and probably they are right! I don't know what the numbers are, but a large percentage of Dominicans are deported each year for felonious activities, not reporting their whereabouts, not complying with the various INS rules, et.,etc. They try a myriad of excuses to justify that they are being treated/deported unjustly to no avail. To make lame excuses/justification for non-compliance seems to be a national characteristic. I know of 10-12 cases right here in Manzanillo who have come to me for help(?) in trying to re-enter the USA after being deported. In each case, after reviewing the paperwork, I found that their original story simply didn't hold water and that they deserved deportation based on the evidence presented and documented.
I have also found that Dominican are a very loyal group of people. I'm sure there are those of you who will refute my observation with case histories, but in relation to the rest of the society those will be found to be few and far between. I think we have to understand that most of the people in DR are so deep in the alligators, they don't have the time/inclination to think about draining the swamp.
All in all, it's a really tranquil country and I enjoy it here. I try not to bitch too much, but rather, try to find a solution to the problem(s) and be about my business. I maintain no jealousies toward others, simply because I'm sure they have some jealousy toward me as a "Americano Rico".
I'll leave it at that.
Texas Bill

 

[Golo100]

Fortune 500

Porfirio:

The Atallahs are Dominican-Arabs, just like the Haches, the Najris, the Antuns and many other upper class Dominican foreign ethnic groups. Leonel is a "chopo" Dominican with excellent education and background, who has cracked society thru his political achievements. He does not and will never meet the criteria for the upper class, but is a tributary of this class, because he serves their purpose.

As to escalation to the fortune 500, you contradict yourself. You say that as Dominican Republic industrializes a growing upper class will result, therefore others will be able to mix in with the high society.

But then you say that Dominicans will never be able to crack Fortune 500. What is it?

Let me tell you that there a few families in DR who are extremely rich, both in property ownership and liquidity, and are not far off any of the top U.S. families.

Dominican brewery families are only growing bigger and bigger and have major international influence in their fields. For instance, Cerveza Presidente, the Brugals, the Barcelos are way up there with international products with increasing sales worldwide. As Dominicans continue their super birth rate in foreign countries(Dominicans have been found in Iceland and there is even a growing Alaskan community) Dominicans who sell abroad will become as rich as anybody.

Our hotel entrepeneurs are now expanding abroad and becoming chain owners. There is even a chance that a Dominican baseball player could crack Fortune 500 with a long term contract.

For instance, Forbes top 400 Americans star at 550 million dollars. We have Dominicans who are pretty close to that now. Some of them own real estate that can come close to $100 million now alone. Frank Pimentel hotelier already owns a helicopter and air plane and owns several Bavaro Hotels. I have a friend who just sold Hotel Coral Costa Caribe to the BHD Group, owns two Porches Turbos, and many luxury cars, owns another hotel and has a construction company, sold his bank(Banco de Desarollo Agropecuario) and is only 39 years old.

Even in our entertaining field we have potential Fortunites, like Corporan De Los Santos, who just sold his TV-Radio network for quite a bit, has an international TV show that runs almost all day on saturdays, has government contracts, and quantious real estate holdings here and abroad. Juan Luis Guerra grows richer and richer from copyrights to his music and is now under contract with the Estefans, producing music for their best artists.

By the time Sammy Sosa retires and with the possibility of beating Hank Aarons's 755hr record, his intake including commercials and endorsements will place him right there with the biggies. Remember, this guy is taking close to $25 million a year and has that money producing high interests, with relatively low expenses. House in Santo Domingo is worth US$3,200,000. In DR he has two Ferraris, Mercedes S500's for his bodyguards and several other exotic cars, jeepetas, Hummers and a fleet of additional vehicles. He owns a penthouse at Chicago's One Magnificent Mile with Oprah as his neighbor and has property in Miami, Fla. When he won the MVP he got a purple collectors Plymouth Prowler. He is the king of endorsements in DR and pretty much in Chicago too.

The Asencio family owns E. Leon Jimenez, the top tobacco company in DR, they own a bank(Banco Profesional)and offered to buy Bancredito. They will eventually buy up one of our big banks when the right opportunity arrives. This is the biggest taxpayer in the DR, so much so, that if this company falls apart the Dominican economy may go into a budgetary crash.

TW

 

[Criss Colon]

They are all BIG fish,in a LITTLE pond!

The DR is a nice little underdeveloped 3rd World island in the Carribean sea,Nothing more!Nobody in the world knows who,where,or what we are! Don't start getting a big head!CCCCCC

 

[mondongo]

ILD, excellent description. "Elite" is a word bandied about, but rarely applies. You have the correct description: "old money" vs "new money".

Lets remember that back when Trujillo was dictator, DR assets belonged to a small collection of people. Those assets and their investments still largely belong to them. There is nothing "elite" or honorable to claim that your wealth was derived from the plunders of a dictator.

Who is elite in this forum? what makes you so?

 

[arturo]

Cris, thank you for invoking reality

The pixie dust was starting to get a little thick. My opinion is that to suggest that there is a vanguard of legitimately wealthy Dominicans about to crack the Fortune list of 400 wealthiest is quite a stretch. With all due respect, I think it has to be some combination of being disingenuous and confused.

In other words, yes, they are big fish in a very small pond, unless George Soros relocated to Jarabacoa without anyone noticing.

 

[Jon S.]

Fantasies........

Damn, Dominicans in Alaska! Who woulda thunk it!
Man, there's been a "growing Dominican community" up there for the past 10 years! They make a shitload of money when they go fishing for tuna or whatever it is that they catch (about $250k dollars worth per boat) and don't wanna go back to DR, only "para coger un calorcito"!!!! Those were the exact words from a lady traveling to DR with her family back in 93' when I would go down there for summer vacation. I was looking at the Fortune and Forbes lists and right now, the DR is far away from making the list. The US alone has 243 billionaries. The purchasing power parity for DR last year was $50 billion dollars but with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined, they might just buy the island and rename it "Warrgateslandia"..........

This makes me think of a thread someone started and it ended up as usual, going back to the "elite" and the chopos and so on and so forth. Someone mentioned that the wealthiest Dominicans are just as, if not, wealthier than the wealthiest Americans. I just had to laugh at that one. I know some of those people mentioned in the above posts that belong to the "elite" and indeed they are rich, matter of fact I've had the opportunity (several times) to travel with some of them in their private jets. But whatever, thats not relevant. Even if they start making money like they were part of Trujillo's inner circle again and become billionaries like their families were back in those days(when the dollar and peso were the same value) they still wouldn't get close to cracking the Fortune 500, well maybe. Not even the biggest drug dealers could do it. Fortune and Forbes stopped publishing the net worths of those pricks after Pablo Escobar was "killed". I gotta say though, businesspeople in DR are making big bucks. E. Leon Jimenez is the company that makes all the Malboro cigarretes that are sold in Russia. Thats alotta money right there. Mercasid exports to all the other islands in the Caribbean and some European nations. The Rainieris are making so much money right now that its not even funny, specially with Cap Cana getting such a good reception.

I also remember when I used to work for a home theater installation company in DR, the first house I went to was Frank Pimentel's house. He seems to be doing better than ever, by Golo's accounts. But having a plane and a helicopter still doesn't amount to shit being that DR is a little fish in a big pond. Maybe the Rainieris are doing something and I know that the Bonettis and Asencios are wiping their asses with $100 bills but they still ain't up there.

 

[mondongo]

The only success that impresses me is that earned through hard work and industry.

Who gives a rats behind who you know and how much money is your trust fund. Those are not the people who will lead the DR into economic prosperity. Those people wish to maintain the status quo.

Its those Dominicans who have made it out of the barrio and care about the little guys being exploited. Once this group aquires the will and the wealth....then they will effect change.

 

[Criss Colon]

You mean "NEVER",Right?

I never met a dominican who cared very much about anyone but himself,and his own family(to some extent)!I hold no hope for a brighter future here.No one wants to work,only take advantage of someone else,and that goes double for the Govrnment! CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

[jojocho]

I want to clear up a couple of things ....

E. Leon Jimenes is owned by the Leon Family (Asencio is their mother's last name) AND Phillip Morris.

E. Leon Jimenes does not sell Marlboro to Rusia (the contract with Phillip Morris forbids them from selling Marlboro outside of the DR)

E. Leon Jimenes is one of the largest (if not the largest) funder of non-profit organizations (specially art related stuff) on top of being one of the main contributors to our national budget.

The Rainieris have nothing to do with Cap Cana. The Leons, however, have invested plenty on the project.

Oh, and do keep in mind that around here rich people marry rich people. That's why you end up with family names that have swiss account written all over them, such as Brugal Leon.

And on the issue of whether any dominicans will ever break the Fortune list ..... who cares!!!!!!

Edited to add ....

Criss, I guess you just haven't looked close enough. I know a ton of dominicans (upper crust, middle class, rift raft, you name it!!) who do care about others and who are doing something to make things better for the less fortunate ones. Heck, I even know expats doing something about it!!! And I'll be more than willing to hook up any of you expats wishing to do something with these folks.

 

[Pib]

I have a friend who's read so many Hola Magazines (the Spanish version of Hello) that she's become an expert on European Royalty. She can work it into any conversation. "Danish butter cookies?, by the way Queen Margrette..." It gets boring after a few minutes.

Is this the masculine version of Revista Hola?

I don't give a flying f... about them. They don't care about me. Sounds fair.

 

[Jon S.]

I don't give a flying f... about them. They don't care about me. Sounds fair.

About time someone else came in and said something.............

 

[Robert]

I want to clear up a couple of things ....

The Rainieris have nothing to do with Cap Cana. The Leons, however, have invested plenty on the project.

The Leons, ummmm.... Exactly what have they invested in Cap Cana?

 

[Jon S.]

My bad jojocho you were right about the Cap Cana investors not being the Rainieris............but it isn't the Leons either. It's the Hazoury family. I just saw a article in the Miami Herald(actually kinda old while looking for resort prices in Punta Cana) about Cap Cana and their name came across as the main investors along with Jack Nicklaus..........

 

[getonwithit]

Who woulda thought 60 or 70 years ago that the stuff created by Robert Johnson and poor black folks outta the Deep(racist) South would turn out to be something that put a man by the name of Sir Paul MacCartney in the group of richest and most influential people and a part of the upper echelons of British society and we know how upper-crusty those pricks are (Don't shoot me Robert).

...Robert Johnson was definitely one of many influences, but hardly the reason that McCartney became part of the group of richest and most influential people...Eric Clapton, perhaps.

...although there is no doubt that (Sir) Paul McCartney is rich and influential, and the "pricks" are upper crust.... I?m sure McCartney would be upset to be described as a part of the upper echelons of British society (which he isn?t).

....as someone else put it... who gives a flying f---, anyway!

 

[Jon S.]

What I meant by that about the relation between what Robert Johnson created has grown into such a monster of a music genre and has made so much money that it helped Paul MacCartney become Britain's richest entertainer. Of course Michael Jackson buying their music didn't hurt either.

Who gives a flying f---! My new motto.........

 

[jojocho]

I said the Leons, not E. Leon Jimenes

They probably aren't the biggest investors in the project, but as far as I'm concerend many of the family members are investing in it. Yeah, the Hazourys have a lot of money invested here, but my understading is that the main investors ar not even dominicans.

 

[Robert]

Re: I said the Leons, not E. Leon Jimenes

They probably aren't the biggest investors in the project, but as far as I'm concerend many of the family members are investing in it. Yeah, the Hazourys have a lot of money invested here, but my understading is that the main investors ar not even dominicans.

The main investors are the Hazourys.

 

[JHT]

I read this thread about "What life is really like in the Dominican Republic" and after reading it I am convinced that you all live in a tropical paradise and LIFE must be a real bitch because all I saw in this whole thread was a War on Words (spanish ones at that) and a battle on rascism. I read this whole thread and I still do not know what Life is like in the DR. What a waste of time.