NewsWhore
10-03-2007, 01:50 PM
Diario Libre editor Adriano Miguel Tejada takes a hard look at the strike in today's A.M. column on page two of the newspaper. According to the editor, all strikes in the Dominican Republic are based on the premise of the threat of violence. Years ago it was burning tires and vehicles that characterized events. Since that method went out of favor and led to harsh criticisms of the strikes, a new method has come into play: that of "trailers" of violence, like the ones seen on the UASD campus on Monday. Since maybe half of the cars that are out early are parents taking their children to school, the strike-callers have this working to their advantage since there are few cars on the street at the start of the day. All this works in favor of the strike. By 9am workers who have not found transportation to their jobs no longer have a reason to get to work, and when people note that nothing has happened they start to get out their domino sets and all the other Dominican leisure accessories. The torrential rains at midday tended to wash out the strike and anything planned for the afternoon was "rained off." Something few thought about was the plight of the "chiriperos", the street traders who offer everything from fast food snacks to cellphone accessories at stoplights and crossroads. They lost their day's earnings, and today they woke up only with the hope of eating. "How many cooking fires wait to be lit in our barrios?" asks Tejada.
If the strike organizers were hoping to shake up the government with the work stoppage, they got the opposite effect. The government showed that it was in control of the situation; the people demonstrated their disregard for violence and went out on the street and were able to witness the poor drawing power of the organizers for themselves.
Tejada ends by suggesting that the Dominican political parties need to define their strategies: either play within the system or opt for the more violent route. A party that is betting on elections can never flirt with violent force.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
If the strike organizers were hoping to shake up the government with the work stoppage, they got the opposite effect. The government showed that it was in control of the situation; the people demonstrated their disregard for violence and went out on the street and were able to witness the poor drawing power of the organizers for themselves.
Tejada ends by suggesting that the Dominican political parties need to define their strategies: either play within the system or opt for the more violent route. A party that is betting on elections can never flirt with violent force.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)