-
-
Dominican drug czar slams Washington’s “persistent obstruction” in narcotics war
Dominican Republic’s equivalent to drugs czar yesterday slammed Washington for its “persistent obstruction” that limits his country’s initiatives and efforts “to resist and defeat” drug trafficking’s aggression by sea and air.
Marino Vinicio Castillo (Vincho), Cabinet minister and the Presidency’s narcotics adviser, said the United States authorities know the number of flights with drugs that occur every week in the Dominican Republic.
He said the current problem destroys the collective calm, affecting entire families and noted that since his previous term in office president Leonel Fernandez has fought against drugs with determination.
Castillo spoke in the launching of the National Strategic Drug Plan, where its objectives and measures stressing the damages narcotics cause were detailed, and the integration of Government agencies and private institutions with that purpose.
The official also criticized the alleged permissibility of ex president Hipólito Mejía’s administration (2000-2004) with drug trafficking and Washington’s supposed indifference against that behavior, for the presence of Dominican troops in Iraq. He said that participation “produced more deaths for us from the addiction of our youth than the U.S. casualties in the war.
He warned that the amount of drugs now entering can lead the country to the condition of a Failed State, since it’s not in “mere transit,” as much of it is consumed in this nation. Dominican Republic’s equivalent to drugs czar yesterday slammed Washington for its “persistent obstruction” that limits his country’s ... more -
Photo exhibit delves into child poverty in Dominican Republic
Chip Hoffman had never seen such staggering poverty in his life: Poor Dominican kids wandering the garbage heaps, barefoot, digging for metal scraps to sell. Their hands wrinkled and scarred from who knows what chemicals in the trash.
"Seeing this, you begin to realize how privileged you are," the North Fort Myers photographer says. "You stand there in absolute shock.
"Tears start running down your face."
Once the tears dried, Hoffman set to work photographing those 8- and 10-year-old kids called Divers. As in diving in the trash heaps.
The result - along with other photos he shot in Santiago, Dominican Republic - will be shown for the next two weeks at Arts for Act Gallery. The show benefits FGCU Spanish/German professor Ingrid Martinez-Rico, who was injured in a February car crash.
Martinez-Rico and her husband, Craig Heller, started the yearly trips to the Dominican Republic as a way for Spanish students to immerse themselves in the language - and also to gain an appreciation for how many people live.
"Most of those students have never been out of the United States, let alone gone to the Third World," Heller says.
Heller and Martinez-Rico have organized the spring break trips for eight years. They work with Accion Callejera, a Dominican nonprofit group that helps children living and working in the streets.
In March 2007, their friend Hoffman came along and brought his Nikon digital camera. He taught the street kids how to take photos, and later documented the poverty he saw there. Shoe shine boys working the streets. A river polluted with feces and chemicals. Families living atop a landfill in "La Mosca" - loosely translated, "The City of Flies."
"There's a smell there I can't even begin to describe," Hoffman says. "You can't get it out of your clothes."
Hoffman hopes those photos help Heller and Martinez-Rico. They're being sold for $500 each, and $200 of that goes to their medical bills. Mixed-media artist Yunia Pavon will also sell her art and donate part of it to Martinez-Rico.
People can also donate directly to the cause.
It costs $700 a day for Martinez-Rico's treatment at The Florida Institute of Neurological Rehabilitation in Wauchula, Heller says. And insurance won't cover any of it.
Until a month ago, his wife didn't even recognize the people around her hospital bed. Now she knows them and talks a little bit, but she still gets confused sometimes, Heller says.
She'll be at the Institute at least another three months, Heller says.
"It's a long road," he says. "She's improving, though. She's making progress."
Hoffman hopes the photos help his friends, but also that they open people's eyes about the world beyond our borders.
"I think what Ingrid and Craig do is really amazing," he says. "I know I'm forever changed, in some ways. It's life-shifting." Chip Hoffman had never seen such staggering poverty in his life: Poor Dominican kids wandering the garbage heaps, barefoot, digging fo... more -
Sex Workers Confront HIV
The HIV rates among sex workers in the Dominican Republic run three to 10 times higher than in the general population. Now some women in the region are uniting to take a stand against the virus. Reporter Antigone Barton and videographer Stephen Sapienza explore how sex workers are striving to educate others in the business on the dangers of the virus and the importance of using protection.
This video was produced by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in association with Azimuth Media.
To learn more about this issue, visit www.pulitzercenter.org. The HIV rates among sex workers in the Dominican Republic run three to 10 times higher than in the general population. Now some women ... more -
Human Rights Defenders - Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, politics and discrimination has left an underclass living in poverty and being denied proper access to healthcare. This is the story about Marisol's work to help keep her community together. In the Dominican Republic, politics and discrimination has left an underclass living in poverty and being denied proper access to heal... more
-
Laughter as 2nd Language
Carlos left the Dominican Republic to learn English and do stand up comedy in Los Angeles.
-
Life in the Bateyes - A Bittersweet Existence
It is estimated that about 500,000 to 1.000,000 Haitian emigrants are currently living and working in the Dominican Republic. Most toil in sugarcane fields and live in communities called Bateyes, in conditions that have changed little since slavery was legal…
This short documentary sheds light on the life and living conditions endured by those who live at the margin of society. It is estimated that about 500,000 to 1.000,000 Haitian emigrants are currently living and working in the Dominican Republic. Most toi... more -
Say it ain't so Pedro... Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal caught at cock fighting ...
Someone posted a video of future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal (He's the greatest pitcher in San Francisco Giants history if you didn't know that) and Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez (the greatest pitcher in Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox history, if you didn't know that) together having a ball at a cockfight in the Dominican.
Though now YouTube has taken the videos of our heroes at this event offline... Someone posted a video of future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal (He's the greatest pitcher in San Francisco Giants history if you didn't ... more -
A Global Trek to Poor Nations, From Poorer Ones
JUAN GÓMEZ, Dominican Republic ? The scrap-wood shanties on a muddy hillside are a poor man?s promised land.
They have leaky roofs and dirt floors, with no lights or running water. But hundreds of Haitian migrants have risked their lives to come here and work the surrounding fields, and they are part of a global trend: migrants who move to poor countries from even poorer ones.
Audio slide show:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/world/20071227_MIG... JUAN GÓMEZ, Dominican Republic ? The scrap-wood shanties on a muddy hillside are a poor man?s promised land. ... more -
Captain Kidd's Pirate Ship Discovered
The sunken remains of infamous pirate Captain Kidd was recently discovered off of Catalina Island near the Dominican Republic
-
Caribbean Floods
Tropical storm Noel has wreaked havoc on several Caribbean islands killing as many as 59 people and causing countless others to evacuate. Rescue efforts have been thwarted by the flooded conditions, which have caused severe damage to homes, bridges and other properties. Tropical storm Noel has wreaked havoc on several Caribbean islands killing as many as 59 people and causing countless others to evacua... more
-
Republic of Baseball
Kaj Larsen visits the Yankees baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, the birthplace of nearly 30 percent of all athletes playing in Major League Baseball in the United States. Kaj Larsen visits the Yankees baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, the birthplace of nearly 30 percent of all athletes playing... more
-
Deadliest Caribbean storm on record
The death toll for Hurricane Felix has risen above 100 and there are currently 64,000 people displaced from their homes. This is truly devastating to small island countries like Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The death toll for Hurricane Felix has risen above 100 and there are currently 64,000 people displaced from their homes. This is truly... more
-
Caribbean storm kills 13 people
At least 13 people have been killed in flooding in the Dominican Republic following torrential rains dumped by Tropical Storm Noel.
At least 13 people have been killed in flooding in the Dominican Republic following torrential rains dumped by Tropical Storm Noel. ... more
-
related topics
Dominican Republic
Contributors (59)
Dominican Republic
