Re: Too much...

[Dolores]

Because either presidential and congressional/municipal elections are held every two years now, the political passions have been diluted considerably. 99% of the time, political campaigning is more like a carnival, but as we reported, there have been incidents, like the two dead on Saturday. Our coverage was conservative as there is a lot of hearsay of what happened. We are waiting for the results of the investigation.

The political activities have not stopped Dominicans from going about normal activities. Last weekend was in Jarabacoa, a popular mountain resort area, with my family, and it was packed with vacationers. We saw only one caravan, and hardly any campaigning going on.

Regarding the strikes, there was a transport strike announced which was averted when the government gave in to union demands, and the organizers knew they had no popular support. Note that most strikes are called by union organizers that seek to individually benefit, not the collective good.

Note the campaign grand finales will take place the weekend of the election and will be centered in Santo Domingo and Santiago, the two largest cities that concentrate 40% of the vote.

The campaign finales take place away from areas normally frequented by visitors. If it weren't for the many signs of Hipólito, Danilo and Balaguer on city roads, tourists staying in resort areas would hardly notice there is a presidential campaign going on.

Thanks for your perspective on this matter, Delores. I should have prefaced my comments with the fact that I do not spend much time, if any, in typical tourist areas. Therefore, my experiences are apparently not typical...at least in this case I hope not. However, would you still not caution tourists to be especially aware of their surroundings during election times, in light of the incident in Moca? ~Sarah

[Dolores]

I don't think the situation is any different for tourists than for Dominicans. As I said, life continues pretty much as normal in the DR. Note that the book fair attracts more than 80,000 persons a day, and that the National Games are taking place in La Romana also attracting large crowds of people.

I myself avoid getting in the midst of a political caravan, more for the traffic jams than anything else, but have been in them and do not feel unsafe, as violence and heated discussions among opposing groups are the exception, not the norm. But I am also a person who prefers to avoid crowds of any sort -- concerts, crowded stores.

As I said above, campaigning in the DR has more of a carnival ambience than a confrontational character. If you decide to participate in a campaign activity, take the same precautions as you would with being in any crowd. Stay alert. If a crowd is about to become aggressive, you usually get the feel before and can avoid being in the middle of things.