Bienvenido Alvarez Vega, writing for Hoy newspaper, examines the growing impoverishment of the Dominican people. “Poverty is not a new phenomenon, we have always been poor,” he says, in reference to the ever-growing struggle for many to get by, in some cases resulting in pauperization. The writer observes that the most basic services are increasingly absent and the devaluation of the currency means that many more goods are unaffordable. Salaries for employees of large companies have lost 37% of their value in the last year, declining from the equivalent of a minimum wage of US$200 per month to US$126, according to statistics. In free trade zones the situation is even worse; minimum wages there are now worth a paltry US$79 per month, compared to twice that amount one year ago. Meanwhile, prices are up 40%, meaning that all areas of the economy are affected. Companies – large, medium and small – are seeing their capital dissolve “like salt in water.” He ends on an even gloomier note, saying, “The currency devaluation and the resulting inflation is crushing the purchasing power and quality of life of Dominicans, but the situation is even more dramatic for those without employment. More about that, later.” The writer can be contacted on bavegado@yahoo.com