[Jadldqys]

love da DR - Remember, much of what Golo post's is in the local media, it's not a figment of his imagination. We also covered the Pena drug story.

Example:
Let's move forward to 2005

Golo Post: Ex-President Mejia speaking from his newly imported
64" yacht denies having any knowledge in regard to the
"Child Save Products" and the whereabouts of the US$61.6 million.

love da DR: She wants a divorce! Also, why are people
still trying to discredit him and he's no longer President?

I suggest you starting reading the news and becoming informed...

[TheDoctor]

joseito...

most of us are not making any racist remarks twds Gomez. I for example only mentioned the controversy surrounding his birth.


Cris mentioned pretty much that when u involve yourself in politics, you are going to be criticized by the opposition. So they attack him for being "hatian."

I have seen some of ur responses and from what I gather, they are intelligent repsonses to debates so I don't see ubgetting banned.

now if u write a death email to Robert...then that is different story my friend

[DoctoBuntonTen]

What did he end it up with?

[Kissntell]

If there is one thing we know about the US court system, is that jury selection in itself is a game. Lawyers on both sides want what some consider "stupid jurors." So there's one angle. There are many holes to this alleged crime. But, wow, a jury said so. So it must be true. Incredible.
That's like saying, "I read it on the NYT, so it must be true.'

Life is not that simple.

-Joseito
Dead men tell no tales.

[agolutuaddiff]

Isaac, I think you are missing the point. Golo has not singled out JFPG for criticism, I have seen posts by him criticising many politicians of all the main parties (please correct me if I am wrong). What some of the posters here are objecting to is his highlighting of PG's colour/alleged Haitian origin as if that were relevant. I am not commenting on whether he was corrupt or a saint: whichever he was it should not matter whether he was white, black or green with pink spots!

So what if he believed in 'voodoo' - so do many Dominicans. And trying wacky miracle cures is a pretty universal response when you have an incurable disease.

Chiri

[Mmzmptvk]

All I want to know is when thay are going to go after Johnny Ventura!

[NETvoyne]

Unfortunately, with Peña Gomez, his birth was always an issue. I did not create this controversy. Moreover, Peña was always involved in vote registration drives for Haitians and his party has always been suspected of "Cedulando" Haitianos, buying cedulas to have Haitians vote and all that stuff. It is an issue.

Trujillo has never been accused of bringing Haitians in droves to DR, except to cut sugar cane. He never gave them citizenship and even killed over 20,000 in a border clean up.

Peña made a fool of himself by holding vodoo rituals in front of a camera. These tapes were played all over Dominican TV. He consulted his blood brothers on witchcraft and strange rituals. The man went so far as to consult the occult to save his life from cancer. He went to many oriental countries for miracle cures. This was a strange dude. How many people arrive in an airport with a bag full of cash from the USA and not get questioned as to its origins?

Trujillo was no stranger to "brujeria" either. But we are no discussing him right now.

[gusunsuth]

Originally posted by golo
Your correction stands as a typo. If you meant to show your prowess as a spelling bee, you picked on the wrong guy. Find a real "analfabeto" to play your correction game with. Everyone here knows my pedigree.

TW UNLESS you've been typing with your mittens on, your spelling has been less than perfect, and grammar the same.

I gotta keep a close eye on you polo, you make me laugh.

Since when do we grade each others spelling? It's kind of like the lowest common denominator, like mother jokes. A trump card if you will.

Settle down polo, just ignore it.

[Tapupah]

The members of the PRD party,and the idiots who support them,and vote for them could care less what Gomez did,or the current President does! It is not about leadership,or improving the lives of the common Dominican People,It is about stealing as much money as possible!!!! Gomez could have come straight from Hell with the Devil himself to campaign,and he would be elected!!!!You are in power to Live Large,and intimidate and humiliate all those less powerfull than you! They come to where I work in their brand new Jepettas and park in the car port blocking the front door.They are told to move by the security guards and they say that they can park wherever they want!!They call the security guards pigs,assholes,S****eaters and worse!Then I show up and tell them they have to move.They are confused.what is this "Fat Gringo" doing as head of Security?They don't use the "Insult" strategy with me,they use the "I am a friend of:" routine.When they say that they will tell "Hipolito",I say fine,give me your name and I'll ask him if you can block the entrance! They leave!This island was blessed with an incredable variety of Natural Resources,Honest Politicians were not part of that blessing!!CRIS

[NETvoyne]

What has been a rumor for a long time, but has been stated and re-stated time and time again by Vincho Castillo, the former chief of drug enforcement in DR , has now come out in the open in a court of law in the United States. Just read the following news item from the Philadelphia Enquirer. Of course, what is not mentioned here is that the principal character in this is Jose Francisco Peña Gomez,diseased Haitian-Dominican leader of the PRD and failed candidate for the Presidency, who according to the court papers laundered US$500,000 for the party from drug dealers in the U.S:

From Philadelphia Enquirer: Philadelphia & Suburbs Pages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Wed, Feb. 12, 2003

Jury agrees drug officers were illegally transferred

A federal jury in Wilkes-Barre has ruled in favor of two agents from the state Bureau of Narcotics Investigation who claimed that they were illegally transferred in 1996 after they uncovered a drug-trafficking ring that diverted profits to a CIA-backed Dominican group.

The federal jury in northeastern Pennsylvania agreed with John McLaughlin and Charles Micewski, awarding them $1.5 million Friday after a one-week trial. McLaughlin and Micewski had claimed they were transferred because they uncovered a Dominican drug-trafficking ring operating in Philadelphia, New York, and other Eastern cities that funneled profits to the Dominican Revolutionary Party, which they say was backed by the CIA.

The agents said that shortly after they made their allegations, the Philadelphia district attorney and U.S. Attorney's Office began questioning their credibility and stopped prosecuting their drug cases. The agents filed a lawsuit. That lawsuit was dismissed, but the agents filed a second suit - the subject of last week's verdict - claiming then-state Attorney General Tom Corbett and his deputies had retaliated against them for the first lawsuit.

Through a spokesman, state Attorney General Mike Fisher said he would appeal the verdict. Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said her policy of refusing their cases remained in effect. "We are very disappointed," said Cathie Abookire, Abraham's spokeswoman. "The verdict will not in any way cause us to change our policy in declining cases in which these officers have participated." CIA spokesman Tom Crispell last night called the allegation of his agency's involvement with drug traffickers "absurd."

OK back to TW: Vincho Castillo has for years insisted that the PRD party is a drug and money laundering machine with contacts in the U.S. drug and Colombian cartels. His detractors have used dirty campaigns to defuse Castillo, yet he has offered documents and proof of all the transactions in his Sunday TV programs. Yet our legal authorities and courts have never taken action, and even Leonel Fernandez could not push the effort because in my opinion, anybody who tried would have faced the wrath of the cartels and the PRD, who have even taken internal loses of life due to these relationships. From the assassination of Senator Gomez, to all the other assistants to Hippo who have been killed in suspicious ways, one can clearly see the results.

TW

[AdvertisingPo]

You are very welcome Golo. Can you now qualify your description of Pena-Gomez as Haitian? Are you venting some sort of frustration, rebutting the citizenship requirements of Dominican electoral law, communicating some fact-based information about his nationality, or merely engaging in the national sport of being "chismoso?"

This is all in fun, by the way, it's purely for entertainment value. No one should feel the need to adopt a defensive posture.

[MiniBoy]

Back in late '96 the New York Times did an in-depth, 2 part article on the involvement of Pena Gomez in drug-related activities during his visit to New York, obstentiously to campaign. It also highlighted Dominican drug activities both in NY and their connections to the DR. Maybe someone wants to dig this up and post it so all can read this very informative (and damning) article.

[AdvertisingPo]

Originally posted by Criss Colon
Neither of which disqualify you from being elected President in the Dominican Republic!!! Or from occupying any post in the Dominican Government! "People Get The Government They DESERVE"!!!!!!!!!!Ed, Note; Gomez was very black,and very ugly,so he was called "Haitian",and "Feo"etc.,Balaguer never married,so he was called a "Homo" etc.These These "Names" are just easy ways to discredit these politicians.They mean nothing.CRIS <h3>OK, the secret is out: Pena-Gomez was in fact Toussaint L'Ouverture!</p>I'm sorry, I can no longer take any of this seriously because it has gone so far into the realm of the absurd.

[agolutuaddiff]

Criss, the behaviour of the PRD thugs you describe applies to all governments in power here to date. So far no one has had the guts or ability to break the mould of clientilism that results in these sorts of people being given cargos as a reward to their services to the party.

Balaguer was the godfather of this clientilistic, cult of personality culture but all the main parties indulge in those practices - such as entrega de funditas - because with an electorate used to these practices there is no other way to get the mass vote. Changing this would take immense courage and vision not to mention years of education.

Golo - the Haitian issue with Peña is irrelevant. It was used to discredit him because as Criss said in relation to Leonel and Balaguer's alleged sexuality, it is an easy target pandering to people's basest prejudices. In your case, I really think it detracts from your credibility as a commentator and devalues your arguments. I value your contributions, in the same way as I enjoy reading books by people I do not necessarily agree with, like P. J. O'Rourke - I like to see other points of view put across in an engaging, witty and provocative way, and I like to have my own values and assumptions challenged.

Chiri

[mussmicky]

Chiri,

I am only questioning our Golo's true intentions and motivations for brining these allegations to our attention is it to inform us?
to unveil the mask of PRD corruption or is it to defame Pena Gomez? I suppose what I am saying for example how do we know that that JFK was a womanizer were any of us in his bedroom at the time? The point is the man is not here to defend himself. I don't think that it comes as a surprise that their has and always will be some form of corruption in the DR .

Isaac

[TheDoctor]

I have read that Pena Gomez's parenst were killed during Trujillo's era and that a family raised him in small town in DR where he was born. That same time where he was "born" was prtesting before saying that he was not born there. They said they falsified his documents.

Most people hace accepted that he was born in DR. Regardless, his hatian roots were there since his parents were Hatian. Some will never accept that he was Dominican.

I cannot really say what he was, but his papers stated that he was born in DR. Any additional info would be apprecciated.

[Kissntell]

But sooner or later, I have to speak out against racism. This is the same old story: "those damn Haitians, or dark-skinned Dominicans." It's unbelievable that this site condones this hatred towards Haitians.

And before I'm told that I don't have to read that stuff, let me tell you that I am here to dispel the notion that all Dominicans are racist. So you get my point of view, unless I get banned, that is.
And if that happens....well, then you win. YOUR racist views win.

Poor Peña Gómez. Still suffering from racism after his death. And before I'm attacked with what-have-you-done-about-it? stuff, well, it is not about me. YOU are the racist bigot. It's about YOU, and THIS is my what-have-you-done-about-it.

-Joseíto

[Kissntell]

This is not the only time this alleged crime by JFPG has been brought up. And, I might add, it has been disputed by other news sources. In fact, the article talks about the agents and their day in court, and hardly qualifies as news. Life is not that simple.

golo's constant jabs at Haitians and dark-skinned Dominicans are legendary here at DR1. He reminds me of Ted Koppel and the mainstream US media back in 1988 pestering Jesse Jackson about not having held an elected post but still wanting to be president. You did not hear that argument when Ross Perot ran for office. Double standards.

The fact is that both Bosch and Balaguer had one parent from Puerto Rico, but that has never been an issue with golo or the DR media.

-Joseíto

[NETvoyne]

Own thread. Here's more on this from the Philadelphia Daily News Posted on Tue, Feb. 11, 2003

2 ex-narcs, transferred by Pa. after whistle-blowing, awarded $1.5M
By JIM SMITH
smithjm@phillynews.com

Two state narcotics agents who claimed they had been improperly transferred after complaining that the feds had allowed a CIA-backed drug dealer slip away have finally cleared their names.

In a big way.

A civil has awarded the agents, John R. "Sparky" Mc-Laughlin and Charles Micewski - both former Philly cops - a total of $1.5 million in damages.

The verdict, by a U.S. District Court jury in Wilkes-Barre on Friday, was based on claims filed against Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher and other state officials.

The agents, who were assigned to the state narcotics bureau's Philadelphia office, claimed the forced transfers - far from Phialdelphia - came after they complained that federal and state authorities had allowed a political candidate from the Dominican Republic, one the CIA was backing, to leave the United States in 1995 with about $500,000 in alleged drug profits disguised as political contributions.

After they complained of the CIA connection, federal and city authorities stopped prosecuting the agents' drug cases, and began investigating the agents for alleged misconduct.

"These guys weren't allowed to clear their names. Their investigations were scuttled. An investigation totally exonerated them...There was never a scintilla of evidence that they ever did anything wrong," said one of their attorneys, Don Bailey, of Harrisburg.

Fisher and the other defendants "essentially destroyed my clients' careers," in law enforcement, said the agents' trial lawyer, Samuel C. Stretton, of West Chester.

"All I want is my name...My father died not knowing that I got cleared," said McLaughlin, a Philadelphia cop for 17 ½ years who became a state drug-enforcement officer in 1995.

Fisher, along with his first deputy, Gerald J. Pappert, and his chief of investigations, David J. Kwait, a former FBI agent, were found liable for $1 million in "punitive" damages and for $425,000 in "actual" damages.

Another $75,000 in actual damages was assessed against two codefendants, James Caggiano, who heads the Bureau of Narcotics Investigations, and Bruce Sarteschi, BNI's human-resources director.

The defendants will appeal, a state spokesman said.

TW

[mussmicky]

Golo,

What is the point here, is it to discredit Pena Gomez or the PRD or both? The way I see this is that there are a group of ardent individuals who would cling to any claim of corruption made by seemingly anyone so long as it was for the purpose of discrediting
Gomez. I can not comment on the PRD or the other Parties of the Dominican Republic as my knowledge of them is sorely inadequate. I however would encourage Golo to be very truthful about his intentions and motivations for this post. Golo are we really to be star-strucked that corruption exists in the PRD or any of the other parties of the DR? I believe that there are always going to be those that will see Gomez as the past PRD, the present PRD and the future PRD so long as there is a way to discredit this man Gomez. I would rather say that if headlines were to be made perhaps they would best be made by contrasting the actions(well-documented) of Trujillo versus those of Pena-Gomez and then we should see who history feels was (actually-the bigger crook). I suppose that this is now ample under-brush for some to use as a means of trying Pena-Gomez in absentia, oh I should say from the grave. By the way maybe we should ask Fabio if Pena-Gomez is found guilty of these allegations what court would have jurisdiction to impose sentencing on him?

I suppose it is easy to make charges against a person who has not the ability to defend himself.
ROBERT HAS THE STANDARD HERE CHANGED WITH RESPECT TO PERSONAL INSULTS EVEN IF THE SUBJECT IN QUESTION IS DEAD?

I can easily think of some persons here that have diseased thoughts that should well be deceast.


Isaac,