08 Mar 2008 12:28:38 | Bob Kelly
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The Dominican Republic is a tin-pot third world banana republic.
There is extreme poverty everywhere and complete government
mismanagement. Things have gotten even worse with the new
president Leonel Fernandez. He has devalued the dollar by 50%
and raised taxes and prices to insure poverty for his people.
There is no money- dollars or pesos in circulation. The only
people who have it worse are the neighboring Haitans!
The dollar exchange rate continues to decline and the prices
continue to rise. There are people striking and hunger and
poverty in the streets. Every day the merchants can be seen
raising their prices out of greed and hoping that no one will
notice. I went shopping and noticed that the Super Polo and La
Sirena stores seem to be particularly guilty of this practice of
raising prices daily. The Denny’s store in Santiago seems to be
the only store that is not gouging consumers.
Their Zona Franca that exports products can barely keep their
doors open from the 50% devaluation of the dollar in the
Dominican Republic. Their tourism has taken a sharp decline. It
seems things were better with the previous president Hippolito
Mejia.
It is still a great place for a Caribbean vacation. I recommend
you compare prices with other Caribbean destinations with the
sharp devaluation of the dollar. An American observer.
About Author :
My name is Bob Kelly. I am a retired insurance agent who enjoys
traveling to exotic and interesting tropical destinations.
