ARUBA AND THEIR USUAL LAME EXCUSES

Aruba stays afloat through Natalee Holloway’s investigation

"Ignorance is Bliss..."--New Motto for Aruba

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (eTurboNews) -- Serious sunshiny days and sun-kissed smiles are about to greet the Caribbean island of Aruba sometime soon. Tourism has been shattered by the case of a single incident of an Alabama girl missing since spring break of last year. Closure on the case of Natalee Holloway's disappearance seems imminent. The timeline drawn is about six to seven months from yesterday's announcement.

This, according to SMDG Consulting Team chairman Stephen Cohen, adviser to the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association (AHATA) and the Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force who spoke at the Caribbean Marketplace being held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Cohen's team is tasked with bringing out the facts in the case and establishing a more orderly approach in dealing with the media in a crisis situation. A seasoned television news expert from CBS, Cohen has been part of the SMDG team since the beginning of the investigations.

If current findings are true, Cohen said they are going to accelerate their efforts. Extensive search for forensic evidence continues. Yesterday, 50 members of the Aruban police department searched extensively through the dune by the lighthouse in search for clues.

"Anything DNA that is identified to be of Natalee's will allow us to bring a strong case forward against the three boys. We are also getting to finally talk to some of the Alabama teens who left on that plane and did not wait around for interrogation," said Cohen. (So what? You are free to interrogate them at home. Why is it that so much blame gets passed around to others...and never the suspects.)

Aruba believes it is most important to get a hold of her mental state and most importantly, Natalee's physical state at the time of disappearance. "Two of the boys said they had consensual sex with her. Whether consensual or not, depends on her ability to be conscious and make a choice," said Cohen.

The SMDG is in the process of reviewing all the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations reports. The FBI has been involved in the Holloway case in the first 72 hours of the initial complaint and remained on the island for several months, serving as observers and advisors to the local police. They have also conducted interviews in the US and processed evidentiary materials.

Six FBI agents from the Miami office flew in after the first night. The family hired their own private investigators who've worked with the FBI. "In the final interrogation, there were people on the island who had pieces of the timeline they saw. Like the boys on the beach when they said they were; what fishermen were down on the area that night. Because of the influx of outside media on the island, people were fearful of coming forward," said Cohen. (Maybe because those witnesses were threatened by murder or serious harm to their family? That's the usual protocol on Aruba.)

It is just recently when local authorities were able to create a climate they can trust the investigators where foreign media is not present in that intensity. All these people of Aruba, on the periphery of the case are all significant to solving it.

From the time Natalee disappeared Aruba has been focused on finding her. From the outset, the island has continuously waged a highly professional (I beg to differ.) extensive and intensive effort to find the teen. It sought and utilized help from the world's experts on missing persons. (But then Aruba turned them away later on. Why?)

The people have continued to cooperate and collaborate with private search and investigative efforts by the families and credible groups, according to the tourism association. (Isn't this the same association that hasn't reported their tourism statistics?)

Natalee's mom Beth, together with the Governor of Alabama, have jointly called for a boycott against the people of Aruba. (This was a VOLUNTARY boycott to the American people, which has been misconstrued as a boycott of Aruba for the entire United States.) This had been elevated to a diplomatic level with which the representative of the Dutch Kingdom in the USA, also the Ambassador of the Dutch Kingdom in Washington, got involved. (And he should have gotten involved a LONG time ago! The Netherlands owns this island...they need to take care of their business and have FAILED miserably.)

Governors of Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia have encouraged residents of their states not to visit Aruba in order to protest the handling of the disappearance of Natalee. However, the boycott has not received support from the US State Department. Neither did it gain the support of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour who did not think it was appropriate. (Who cares what those Governor's think? This boycott is a grassroots effort...which can be stronger than the government itself. Ever heard of Martin Luther King, Jr., or Rosa Parks?)

On November 2, 2005 during a meeting with the Strategic Communications Task Force, Mrs. Twitty stated that during a conversation on October 5, 2005, with the Governor of Alabama the Governor asked her what she wanted: "Do you want an economic boycott of the island or do you want to find your daughter?," Twitty explicitly said she wanted to find her daughter. She further clarified that such action would not be helpful in finding Natalee. (So she changed her mind...and why? Because the people she was dealing with in Aruba were outright cruel and demeaning, such as "Wait...I haven't had my frosted flakes yet!" Also don't forget they refused her plea find answers...they got annoyed with her, so no return phone calls, no communication. Nothing. I'd be mad as hell too! Who wouldn't?)

Cohen said that pieces of American media have fed frenziedly on the story for their own purposes. (I would agree...that's why I stopped watching FOX and MSNBC...I get my information from blogs...which seem to be more credible than the mass media.) This case is the continuing interest on such a soap opera level, and not of great significance to the American public and proves little consideration for the Arubans whose livelihood is based on tourism - contributing seven percent to GDP.

Minister for tourism and transport Edison Briesen said his industry has remained resilient. There has been no impact on economy after the boycott. (NOT YET...and I believe I read somewhere that tourism in Aruba has been declining.)

Further, massive support from 78 municipalities in the country has seen all the mayors rallying behind the campaign to promote tourism against all odds, through the closure of a case of one American missing in an island whose crime rate low: that is 0 or 1 murder per year.

So what if you claim Aruba has 1 murder a year. Let me do some research, because I already know for a fact that statistic is incorrect. A majority of the time crimes aren't reported and if someone is murdered, the Aruban police just chalk it up to they are just "missing"...and then turn it into a COLD CASE.

This is not about Natalee's murder...it's how it has been handled by your government and police force. It is a conspiracy between certain Aruban officials, PVDS, Joran, Deepak, Satish, Koen, and many more.