El Caribe newspaper focuses on the upsurge of the so-called “bandas blancas”, or paramilitary gangs, that according to Capotillo slum barrio community leaders are financed by well-known drug dealers operating within the barrio and other hotspots across the country. Capotillo community leader Abel Rojas attributed much of the violence that shook the district during the Wednesday-Thursday strike to such gang members who entered the barrio several times in possession of weapons, anti-bullet jackets and PPH (pro reelection of President Mejia) caps. Rojas blamed these thugs for imposing fear on the population and demanded that the government clarify these occurrences and that justice be done. Ivan Rodriguez, another community leader, said that barrio-dweller Joselito Vasquez was murdered by the paramilitary gang. Police spokesman Colonel Ramon Francisco Rodriguez confirmed to El Caribe: “We have the information on the death of Joselito Vasquez. We know that it was Luis Quitatenis and Neno, two known drug dealers operating in Capotillo.” He said the investigation is being carried out by the National Police’s homicide department. Neighborhood leaders say that the “white gangs” operate in Los Mina, San Luis, Santiago, Navarrete and Nagua, places where there deaths and injuries occurred during the two-day protest. Colonel Rodriguez confirmed that nine people had died in strike-related clashes.