ARUBA: ANOTHER ATV ACCIDENT

Author: Saranna
(---.dyn.optonline.net) Date: 07-27-06 11:46


Every year I go to Aruba and every year we have a great time. This year we decided to rent ATV's through ATV Extravaganza also known as WATAPANA TOURS. We rented them instead of doing the tour because we know the island and wanted to be on our own.


Everything was fine until my machine started overheating. We were all the way by the California Lighthouse, we called for technical support and got no service so we decided to take the ATV back and get a new one since we were only 45 minutes into our 4 hour rental. My machine being the one that was overheating was not as fast now as the others. We were about 3 blocks from the place to return them and mine stalled 3 times at a red light. We finally got it going, I was behind someone, and my brother was behind me, and another quad behind him. We rode in the middle because incase we stalled again, they would be able to see us and assist us.


All of sudden our ATV came to a complete stop. From 30 mph to 0 mph. The two quads in back tried to stop and couldn't ramming us like a domino effect. We all went flying off our quads in different direction. We all suffered SEVERE bruising, and my brother had to have emergency surgery because he ripped his arm muscle when he flew off his ATV and must of hit the back of mine where there was something sharp.

Not only did we have to cut our vacation short because of this, but this company shows no remorse. We didnt even receive a simple courtesy phone call from the owner, and when we try to contact the owner she is never available. After talking to other people they also say this place is a scam. This place should be SHUT DOWN!! For your safety, I strongly advise you not to rent from this company.

WHERE DO THE DRUGS REALLY GO?

Here in the United States, when drugs are seized by authorities they are eventually destroyed after a trial or when the evidence is of no use for the prosecution or the police. Police protocol demands documentation of what gets destroyed and when. Sometimes they are video-taped to cover their asses for proof if later questioned.


Do you ever wonder if the Dutch document what drugs they "destroy"? I doubt it. I'd bet all my money in Vegas that they keep the drugs and put them back on the market. Talk about real life pirates! Free drug money!

Cocaine cache found on Dutch drug patrol ship

Associated Press in Amsterdam
January 13, 2006


The Dutch coastguard found several kilos of cocaine on board one of its own ships, the Tjerk Hiddes, while it was patrolling the Caribbean for drug smugglers, the military police said yesterday. A spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Hirs, said no arrests had been made. (I wonder if any arrests were EVER made?) "I'm not going to speculate about how the drugs got there, or who put them there, that's all part of the investigation."


In 1999 two marines were sentenced to nine years for trying to smuggle 125 kilos (275lbs) of cocaine on a Dutch navy plane that had returned from combating drug trafficking in the Netherlands Antilles.

GOOD ADVICE AND THE TRUTH ABOUT ARUBA

This is an post from SM from an Aruban by the name of Leila:

Posted: 6/7/05

As a local from Aruba I am also very concerned about this situation. My prayers are with Natalee and her family and loved ones. I hope so much they'll find her back alive, but of course everybody by now fears the worst. If they don't find her alive or dead, they'll have no case. The three boys are not off the hook, nor are the two security employees. In tonights local news edition. Chris Lejuez said that most probably the 2 guards will not be formally charged with anything. For starters, the police arrested them unlawfully. Other technical mistakes have been concerning the arrest. Too many loose ends.


Yesterday I read some one was upset about Aruba being put in such negative light, cuz Aruba is, in his view, a safe and clean place. Hey, I'm glad! Carlos n Charlie is the worst place to go. Of course they wait for the girls that are spending their "last night in Aruba"- night. This date raping or gang raping is going on for a long time now. The local victims don't even go to police, cuz they're too embarassed about the situation. And NOBODY is going to believe there was no consent. Because you WERE drinking, you were dancing on the tables. And what happens here is soo tragic. The boys wait right outside on you, in this dark back alley location, to push you in their car for one more last stop.


Tourists will always come and go. But please girls, don't mix and don't do anything what here what you wouldn't do at home. You cannot even trust yourself, so WHY trust another?? Be it in Aruba or elsewhere.

HEY ODUBER? WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS?

Here's another retro-rewind day. A recycled article with new comments that needs to be brought up again to the public.


As far as I'm concerned, this case is pretty much closed. When is the last time the prosecutor DID ANYTHING? When is the last time Aruban officials reported anything? Why did the ATA website shut down? Where did their "excuse" page go to? All those sites are gone. Well guess what...WE ARE NOT GONE. And we are not going anywhere.

Hold on Aruba, this is going to be quite a ride. One like you've never experienced before.

Oduber wants the discrepancies in the Holloway-case be investigated

Amigoe;--January 23, 2006— After the Holloway-case is closed, Prime Minister Nelson Oduber (MEP) wants a thorough investigation be conducted on the course of everything that had to do with the investigation on the disappeared American teenager, especially the begin phase. (WHY NOT DO IT NOW???) He thinks that mistakes were made especially in this phase. “I have already spoken with the Court president, Louis de Lannooy and with former judge Bob Wit.” Oduber says that the investigation must reveal whether mistakes were made, so we can learn from them. (LEARN for what? What to do NEXT time some kid drugs, rapes and murders a tourist? Was this a practice for a better cover-up plan for future incidents? Don't forget to keep all your stories straight next time.)

Oduber’s statement is due to the Amigoe-comment of yesterday “Enough, this is it” of yesterday. “We have to figure out which mistakes were made and how to prevent these in the future. We have to come to standing agreements between the Public Prosecutor (OM) and the police on how to conduct an investigation and how to deal with the local as well as the international media in these cases. (So start doing it NOW. There is no better time than the present, Oduber.)

There is too much talk about the case and what is said, differs too much. The OM says one thing and the police say another. That confuses the Americans.” (Duh, talk about 14 months of confusion...Oduber you are talking out of both sides of your ass. You hate us (Americans) and Beth and her family and we all know it. Quit kissing ass, attempting to appease us by your little comments...we aren't appeased. And we aren't giving up.)

Oduber disputes the fact that he himself had recently approached a group to come look for the girl in Aruba. “I am sick and tired of the case. I do not talk about this case with people; not with the Attorney General, not with the OM. In the beginning I have discussed the matter with the American FBI, but I do not do that anymore. The OM and the Aruban police are doing the investigation and they have to try (Try? Try? What's that?) to conclude it right. I think that Aruba can do the investigation right herself, but if the OM and the police are of the opinion that they need assistance from abroad, they can get that. I am not the one to decide on that.” (Here's an analogy Aruba: when one is failing a class, one gets a tutor...maybe you should let the FBI in and finish this once and for all. However, with your track record, you don't want anyone hunting around your stinky little island, especially the FBI due to all the illegal and corrupt activities that go on everyday with a blind eye. Safest vacation spot MY ASS!)

13 YEARS LATER--THINGS DON'T CHANGE

The Caribbean's Shady Side: Organized Crime

5-22-93

KEVIN NOBLET, AP--A bout of political mudslinging in the sunny Dutch dependency of Aruba has revealed a glimpse of the Caribbean's shady side: organized crime's extensive presence.

In the aftermath of a hotly contested January election, Prime Minister Nelson Oduber and his opposition have been tarring each other with allegations of ties to a notorious Sicilian Mafia family that moved into Aruba in the late 1980s.

Many officials in the Caribbean are loath to discuss crime and corruption openly, lest the region's carefully cultivated reputation as a vacation paradise be tarnished.

But in many islands, from the Caymans to Curacao, a criminal underground is laundering money and stolen goods, running drugs or guns. Law enforcement experts say the Caribbean's politics, economics and even geography have combined to make it especially vulnerable to the mob. Its small governments, often less than professional, are ill-equipped to cope with the problem.


Organized crime is hardly new to the region. Pirates and buccaneers plied the blue-green waters centuries ago. Havana was rife with mobsters before Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959. Thieves and con men such as fugitive financier Robert Vesco, now living in Cuba, traditionally have found safe haven in the Caribbean. Law enforcement experts say events in the last two decades created an even more powerful magnet for big-time crooks.


As the cocaine industry developed in nearby South America to feed the American and European markets, British and Dutch islands were becoming independent or achieving greater political and economic autonomy.

With few natural resources, the new governments turned to tourism, casino gambling and tax sheltering as sources of income. Tourist services "are all cash-intensive businesses," said Merill Parks, operations chief of the FBI-organized crime drug branch in a telephone interview from Washington.

More recently, Italian crime groups began forging alliances with Colombian cocaine cartels, often working from bases in Caracas, Venezuela. They found the Dutch islands, just off Venezuela and not far from Colombia, especially attractive.



"They've infiltrated casinos, hotel and tourism businesses on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St. Maarten," Parks said. Officials in the Netherlands took direct control of St. Maarten's finances last year, responding to allegations of corruption.


The mudslinging in Aruba involves the Sicilian brothers Pasquale, Paolo and Gaspare Cuntrera. Dutch and Italian press reports say the brothers made extensive investments in Aruba in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Foes of Oduber allege that members of his cabinet had dealings with the Cuntreras, who were arrested in Venezuela... They were sent to Italy to face charges of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in drug-smuggling profits.

Money-laundering scandals also periodically arise -- and often are quickly hushed up -- in the current or former British dependencies of the Bahamas, the Caymans, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos.

Click to Continue

PETER DeVRIES--WE NEED YOUR CRIME SOLVING HELP!

Maybe we should recruit this guy in helping us find clues to Natalee's disappearance and how the corruption, family ties, and lies work within the Dutch system, Aruba, and The Netherland Antilles. Peter, would you consider helping us? For the sake of justice? Do you have a daughter?

Dutch crime reporter and crime investigator Peter R. DeVries is currently in New York for the trial of the Black Cobra, a Dutch international drug dealing operation. DeVries has been following the Black Cobra for years.


At one time he has actually been attacked. The Black Cobra is responsible for the biggest part of the XTC-trade between the Netherlands and the USA. The information DeVries gathered was always given to the Dutch justice dept. A big operation by a team of Dutch and American anti-drugs specialists (DEA) finally led to the arrest of the Black Cobra.


The Cobra states his arrest was illegal because the DEA operated in the Netherlands and broke the law on one occasion. It may be far fetched but DeVries is in the USA for a drug trial. Would it be possible to let him take a look at the situation on Aruba and the possibilities of Natalee being a victim of drug lords?


DeVries has been following the Black Cobra for so long, he must have information on the drug trade in Aruba. Maybe his knowledge of the drug trade could get Beth closer to the truth of what happened? Even if the disappearance of Natalee had nothing to do with drugs, Peter DeVries is a man who, once he gets interested in a case, never lets go again. He just has to solve it.


There are a few cases here in the Netherlands (Marianne!), where he is working on for years now, and he is still in contact with the parents, visits them as a friend, and just keeps trying to solve it. If only Beth had the chance to talk to him and get him interested in Natalee and Joran and the whole bunch of other vaguely involved people - he would be after them time after time - and this guy knows every single letter of the Dutch law, he knows how far he can go without breaking any law. He would drive them completely crazy.

BLACK COBRA UPDATE

"The black cobra" gets twenty years in jail

January, 2006 --Dutch top criminal Henk R., alias "the black cobra", has been sentenced to 20 years by a court in New York for preparing or conspiring to the smuggling of ecstasy pills to America.

According to the lawyer of R., Mark Teurlings, his client's sentecing is unjust and undeserved, because the american DEA have trapped him using a dutch undercover civilian. The Justice department in the Netherlands has never given authorisation for this method to be used by the DEA on Dutch soil.

Minister of justice Donner meanwhile, has asked the US for clarification, but according to Teurlings that action comes much late.

Notable Quote:

(source) Despite the "high" priority given by the Dutch government to fighting narcotics trafficking, the Netherlands continue to be an important transit point for drugs entering Europe, a major producer and exporter of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs, and an important consumer of illicit drugs. The export of the synthetic drug ecstasy to the U.S. during 1999 reached unprecedented proportions.

YOU PEOPLE ARE NOTHING BUT ANIMALS

If there are any people out there who believe that the Dutch and its Aruban counterparts are totally innocent and blame free...then you have to be completely insane. I don't need a psychiatrist's official diagnosis. What kind of people are you to think of things like this in order for your own laughs...or just to degrade a voiceless victim?!

What in the hell did Natalee do to YOU???

Did you know her? Did you have a vendetta against her? Did she take your lunch money? Just because one doesn't agree or like her mother does not give ANYONE the right to degrade the victim. Natalee was/is a beautiful person inside and out and she DESERVES the DIGNITY. She will haunt those who killed her FOREVER. We are her angels and good things will come to us...we are avenging her death. We are helping her parents in doing this. They would be powerless without the backing of millions of Americans who will watch Aruba disintegrate.



This site SUCKS...it's vulgar, rude and typical of Dutch culture. NO CLASS. I must say you people are sick. I can't think of any other word to describe you. Wouldn't it be nice if we could put you all on a big boat and exile you to a large deserted island so you may all live your lawless, valueless, animalistic world.


OUR world does not need people like you, your cultures, your attitudes and morales, your people or your government, those that support you, and the others that conspire to look the other way, cover up and lie.

Aruba--YOU WILL SINK. Holland...YOU ARE NEXT.

Don't click on the link. Copy it into your browser.

http://www.geenstijl.nl/feauteaufuck/manches/35/


COMPLAIN TO THEIR MAIN WEBSITE

redactie@geenstijl.nl

WOULD THE BOYCOTT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE ARUBAN ECONOMY???

If Government Does Not Reduce Expenses
Economy of Aruba Will Come to a Halt on the Long Run

If the government does not wish for Aruba’s economy to come to a halt it is up to the government to do something about it, amongst others with its expenses. Government expenses must be reduced and so far there is no indication that the government has any intentions to do so. The deficit and the budget must also be reduced even though the 2006 budget is not yet completed.


Many will ask: How can the economy come to a halt? This is because what the government is presently doing is reducing the purchasing power of each citizen, import duties were increased which makes all products more expensive and consequently the consumer will buy less.


Because the people will buy less the government will receive less revenue and also less will be imported. Consequently, we will land in a vicious circle. At the same time, there is too much money in circulation that the Central Bank which is to curb, and that it will have to continue doing there is a balance and that may take many years. Presently the Central Bank has limited credit possibilities. This in turn also brings the economy to a halt.


Thus, there are various factors that may bring our economy to a halt; an economy that will actually cool off and consequently there is less export of money, this may bring more inflation as a result of the present situation.

STAND UP FOR ONE OF OUR OWN!!!

AN OPEN LETTER TO AMERICANS

Angela Harenza, Arlington, Texas
Written in January 2006


Sometimes we just need to stand up for one of our own. Natalee Holloway disappeared on the island of Aruba and is feared murdered. Her mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, and father, Dave Holloway, have spent endless months and tears trying to find their daughter and maybe even find justice for her.


Yes, many locals on the island of Aruba were supportive with search efforts, kindness, food and even lodging. But not one person there stood up to their own government with the Holloways and simply asked, much less insisted, that the prosecutor’s office or law enforcement give them insight into the investigation or at least take proactive steps to bring even a semblance of justice to their wonderful daughter’s sad plight.


Every word from Aruba is, and has been, in support of the country’s system and attempts to educate us to its ways. Always, Arubans’ first priority has seemed to be merely about their concern for tourism. Arubans have defended their government entirely.


Beth and Dave aren’t merely working with the antics of a, perhaps, inexperienced police representative or investigator. Beth is a distraught American mother, Dave a devastated father, standing in their private grief while facing down a nation.


I have enjoyed cruising and traveling as much as anyone. But there comes a time when we need to stand up for a member of the team. This, I believe, is one of those times. A grassroots effort to boycott the island was launched after all other attempts to find justice or even truth had failed. The family (and we supporters) are asking all Americans to show Aruba, and by extension the world, that we are what they refuse to be. We really are a nation governed by the people, for the people.


Aruban officials have all but jeered at the limited scope the boycott has acquired thus far based on the mere few state representatives who have voiced their support. Americans are so much more; we have individual rights, and we definitely know how to stand up and claim them.


I am a veteran, having served in our U.S. Air Force on three different continents. Not once on those foreign shores, or while stationed here at home, did we have the attitude that we would only don our uniforms or perform our duties if we felt personally violated or at risk. This horrible situation in Aruba might not be war in the traditional sense, but I am certain Beth and Dave feel they have been standing there in the trenches of lies and slander, fighting an unseen battle — against a bureaucratic enemy — for almost eight months now. (Now going on 14 months now...)


Natalee is an American citizen, and she absolutely deserves us, her fellow U.S. citizens, standing strongly behind her parents on her now silenced behalf. This is not a case of Dutch legalities, Aruban law enforcement interpretations or even our contrasting judicial system from right here at home. Aruba has made this a case of a higher forum: the court of basic human decency.


At this point, it is no longer about our individual sense of fun on foreign shores or our individual rights to travel unrestricted. It is simply about being there for someone who needs us. It is about standing up and being on the team.

BOYCOTT ARUBA: WE WON'T TOLERATE IT!

One American's Perspective On The Boycott Of Aruba

By Meri, Aruban Boycott Contributor

We as a people are forgiving. We forgive our elected officials when they sin and we create heroes out of those who were once out of favor. Bill Clinton is a good example of our forgiveness and so is Richard Nixon. Bill had his Monica (and God knows who else), but we chalked it up to a private affair and only remembered his brilliance and his affability. When Bill spoke to you, you were the only person in the room...the world, who mattered. He could be forgiven.


Nixon was a bad guy who used our top investigative agencies to spy on and destroy his enemies who were determined by an actual list (the shit list, as it was called back then by his enemies). We forgave him because he forged a bridge between us and China and was a good Statesman when all was said and done.


The list goes on and on and the only time we fail to forgive is when the CEO of a company like Enron steals from the little people and shows no remorse. This type of person cannot be forgiven....at least not yet.


We also cringe at the very thought of taking food out of the mouths of people who work hard for very little and that's why some of us had a problem with starting a boycott on Aruba. There are a lot of people who are innocent there and who depend on the dollars that tourism brings to their small Country. They were hard to shunt aside when we first thought about a boycott.



There is another aspect of the American consciousness that is a part of our National mindset...our children. They are important and we don't take kindly to those who make them disappear and then lie about what happened to them. We expect those who are in charge to at least make a real effort to find them and to do everything in their power to return them to their families.


We can't tolerate it when they turn their backs on one of our children and it is compounded tenfold when we suspect (with good reason), that some of them actually know what happened to our child and choose to lie about it and cover it up.


We do not look kindly upon people like this and that's what has happened concerning Natalee Holloway on the Island of Aruba. None of us knows what really happened to her and one of the reasons for that is because of their lack of candidness and their ineptitude.



Many of us believe that they never took her disappearance seriously and tried to play it off as just another teenager who wanted to run away from home...someone who was just as guilty of her inevitable fate as the people who took her away from her family.


When they painted her as a girl of loose morals and a typical American teen (in their minds eye), who would subject her family to the suffering that has befallen them in her absence, we rose up and protested. We had no choice. Our children are our future and this girl was OUR child. They took her away from ALL of us and they acted like it didn't really matter and that she was replaceable and that we would forget about her and move on.


They were wrong and we have proven that. Natalee Holloway became a symbol to many of the corruption that became apparent on the Island Aruba in short order. The comments to Natalee's father Dave..."Go have a beer, she'll show up". "How much money do you have?", all rubbed us the wrong way. The endless non-productive searches (mostly funded and conducted by one of our own citizens and done without pay), the stories that grew more ridiculous by the day leaked and created by certain members of the Aruban police force and media angered us further. The difference in our laws and how so many were arrested and released, yet still considered suspects confused us and angered us and eventually proved to many of us that they had no intention of solving this case and no intention of telling what they knew about the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.


I as an American, can NOT forgive them...so I became involved in the boycott even though in the beginning it bothered me and the faces of those innocent workers on Aruba floated in front of me, I knew that this was the only way that I could express my outrage and punish that place for what they failed to do and how they went about doing it.

The boycott is working. The tourism is slowly diminishing on Aruba and the Island has acquired a bad reputation as a result of the behavior of those placed in positions of authority. Who wants to send their kids to an Island that won't protect them? Who wants to visit that place knowing that a child went missing and no one knew how to find her or even worse, didn't want to find her.


This site is an important place for those of us who want to see the boycott continue and grow. It is necessary that we help it's owner by donating or at least paying a minimal amount for materials that will advertise the intent to continue the boycott.


I have been accused of owning this site and that is an out and out lie. I am merely a blogger who writes articles for the owner. The owner is Michelle and she is the ONLY person who controls this site. I have written things that she has not published and I have written articles that she has published willingly. That is her choice, as it should be. My only contribution here is to express myself in the best way that I know how and I try to do that from time to time.


Not everything that I write is popular and many have disagreed with me but it is my way of telling people how I feel about Natalee Holloway and the Island of Aruba. It is also my desire to see this site stay strong because our goal has not been fully accomplished and more work is needed.


That's why I am asking everyone who does agree with me and what I write about to contact Michelle and become a part of this movement. She isn't asking for a lot; not nearly as much as she personally contributes herself. We need to help if we believe in this cause and in what she is doing. Our work is far from finished and I urge you to contact Michelle if you'd like to help her accomplish what must be done in order to let our voices be heard and our outrage be known.

As one Amercan this is all that I can do and I hope that you will join me.

WE ARE WINNING!!!

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE: You recently got a letter from the ARUBAN TOURIST DIVISION...what did it say?

BETH: Well, I think they are in major damage control now, and they are seeking out why they are not getting repeat tourists coming back to their Island, and I think the answer is pretty clear. You know, when you...tourists expect to have police access. You expect to file a report, and have action taken...none of that is going to happen in Aruba.

RETRO-REWIND TIME

I like the idea of re-visiting the past in order to remind people what has happened, what is going on, and educating those who don't know about the years of corruption throughout Aruba, The Netherland Antilles and Holland (Netherlands). They have all lied and misrepresented themselves to tourists with their "propaganda" they call "great marketing" about their low crime rate. The safest place to vacation. We know now these were blatant lies.


This old post is a letter from Art Wood to the Attorney General, Theresa Croes Fernandez-Pedra. Notice how everyone has the same last names? Like Sly and the Family Stone sang, "It's a family affair..." It's like one big mafia controlled by several different Dutch/Aruban families. It's a real life "Sopranos"...but to an amazing extreme.

Click here to read letter:

AN IMPORTANT "RE-RUN"--DON'T GO TO ARUBA!

BILL CLINTON ALREADY WARNED
US ABOUT ARUBA IN 1996

click for entire article

Here's an excerpt from this oldie-but-goody
post back in January, 2006:

"This year, I have added Aruba to the list of major illicit drug-transit countries. At the same time, I am adding the Netherlands Antilles to those countries that we monitor as potentially significant drug-transit countries. These already include Cuba, Turkey, the Balkan Route countries and the former poppy-growing countries of Central Asia."

DUTCH REPLACE AMERICANS IN TOURISTS

It's sad (in an embarassing way) to see that they have to resort to bringing their own to their little stinky corrupt islands to make up for the lack of profits in tourism. This leads me to believe that since they are relying on the Dutch to make up the slack, this boycott is leading its way to a SUCCESS!

CURACAO – This coming winter season, the Antilles can expect much more visitors from the Netherlands, promised travel-group TUI. The biggest Dutch travel organization announced yesterday that the number of flights on these destinations will increase considerably.


Other than Curacao and Aruba, also Bonaire is now in the travel-folders. ArkeFly has added the ABC-islands to their schedule flight from the Netherlands. They will make four weekly direct flights to the Antilles and Aruba starting this November. The company anticipates that about 20,000 Dutch travelers will visit Antilles and Aruba this winter, which are double the visitors of last winter.


Goa, the beach destination in India gets for the first time a weekly direct airlink with the Netherlands. TUI thinks that about 8,000 Dutch vacationers will visit India and the nearby Sri Lanka via the several offerings of the travel-group. TUI’s chairman of the board Steven van der Heijden also has expectations for Brazil, as this country has a big tourist future.


Last year, about 10,000 Dutch travelers flew to Brazil. The TUI-group has roughly 50 percent of that market. TUI is going to add Salvador de Bahia and Porto Seguro to their packages. The company anticipates doubling the tourism to Brazil. Expanding the packages has consequences for TUI’s own fleet. Currently, ArkeFly has six aircrafts: four Boeing-767 for faraway destinations and two smaller A320 and A321 airbuses for vacation destinations around the Mediterranean. These airbuses were leased just for this summer. The market is currently not suitable for long-term leases. The prices are too high due to the big demand.


About half of the more than 600,000 tourists that book a vacation by air with TUI, fly now with ArkeFly. The other half flies with other airline companies, with Transavia.com as the most important one. TUI works amongst others with Holland International, Arke and Kras Ster-vacations.

"STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES..."

This just shows the lack of brain capacity these people have. We are dealing with really low intelligence, here.

Antillean citizens in Lebanon refuse escape route

CURACAO – At this moment, the 27 people with a Dutch passport, including 12 Antilleans that are still in South Lebanon, can only escape on a boat to Cypress. This is the way the Netherlands, combined with other countries are taking their citizens to safety.


The Antilleans were told about this escape route yesterday, but they refused as yet to leave the country this way. The Dutch embassy and Foreign Relations Service are busy negotiating with the people and trying to persuade them. For the Netherlands, as well as for the Antilles, it is very unpleasant knowing that the Antilleans decide to stay in this unsafe area, and worse that perhaps there would be casualties amongst them. But nobody can be forced to leave Lebanon.


Hundreds of Dutch citizens, including some 50 Antilleans have already left Lebanon to Syria earlier and flew afterwards back to their country. 22 Dutch citizens left Beirut on a French ship to Cypress yesterday evening.

ARUBA: LOCAL BOYS RAPING AND WREAKING HAVOC ON ISLAND

This makes me sick. What kind of place and people condemn and ostracize rape victims? Especially a young girl! Is this the place where you would want your mother, sister or daughter vacationing at? Besides murder, rape is the utmost heinous act of violence I can think of. The majority of the time, these men/boys are never prosecuted and turn into sociopathic sexual predators who will at some point kill.


I am glad that Diario took this stance against these cowards. However, why not the outrage by the public? Why should the victim live in fear? Why does she have to leave her home? Why would her and her family FEAR the police? Is it because maybe the police are involved somehow with the profits of these pornographic videos and the other pictures that are taken by the island teens and sold by the Arubans/Dutch to the many markets around the world being bought by sick and disgusting sexually deviant rats. There's a lot of money to be made in pornography. Check the statistics. Whether the woman is a willing participant or not, it is still a crime not only to society, but to the values and attitudes men have placed on women.


I weep for this poor girl. I hope she can have enough strength to stand up and make sure these pieces of trash suffer for what they did to her. No one should go unpunished for a crime such as that. If I were her father I would take matters into my own hand. EYE FOR AN EYE.

translation by sandy leiva AT SM--THANK YOU!


Diahuebs, 27 Juli, 2006

Innocent 16 yr old female raped by man and then by schoolmates

Word has come to the paper that a group of males student aged from the same school as the victim had been loitering around.

This crime is considered to be punishable and condemned by law. The innocent 16 yr old virgin was accosted by many from within her own class and school. This was a forced act of violence against this child and she was raped anally and vaginally.

What makes this crime more sickening is that many of the male students used their cameras on their cellphones to record the act. By midday the photos were circulated to other males via cellphones.

The family of the girl wishing to protect her is not wanting to go to the polis in order to protect her identity further and prevent her from being marked as a raped female within the community. She has been thru a horrific ordeal and they don't wish to upset her more. They will seek professional help for her but are fearing to go to the polis. The photos continue to be distributed via MMS now more than ever diario has found out.




The family upon learning this has decided the girl will not return to school in august and instead they are looking to send her off the island with other family abroad.

Diario is supplicating to the family to protect the girl and press charges annonymously so that these group will not get away with this crime so that they may be brought to justice and not have a chance to do this to another female. The author of the article states he cannot believe what is happening to the island's youth today. He says the goverment and the judicial branches of Aruba must take a firm stance against this behavior and prosecute these thugs.

In another case he sites that a roaming group of youngsters have terrorised an entire area in Cas Paloma. In that case polis did nothing to disband this disruptive group of young males.

In yet another case last night polis did stop a group of youngsters who were out of control after leaving a concert for the band called of the highway in area of Boegoereio. while awaiting the arrival of more polis to the scene the youths scattered in different direction.

Diario is asking that the photos circulating in JPG form via MMs celluluar co be removed from airwaves. If not they risk falling as accomplices to the actions of these rapists.

SOMETHING TO BE REALLY PROUD OF...PAINTING OF A DRUG SHIP

Nochi Coffie on a big job Nochi Coffie paints the Hilma Hooker

BONAIRE – Painter Nochi Coffie is working on the mural in a dive-shop in Nijverdal. He will paint an illustration of the famous drug ship, the Hilma Hooker. The owner of the biggest dive shop in the world, Dick Lucas approached Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB) for advice. Lucas loves Bonaire very much and wanted to do something special with the 9-meter high wall. With the help of TCB and the Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association, he contacted painter Nochi Coffie, who accepted the offer and traveled to the Netherlands.


The painting includes a representation of the famous drug ship the Hilma Hooker that in 1984 had more than 12.000 kilo drugs on board when it got confiscated after a tip. After a while (after they "confiscated all the drugs"?), the ship was sunk and the location became a famous diving place.

ABRA-ABRA-CADABRA...I WANNA REACH OUT AND GRAB YA!

By Patrick Hurley,
Aruban Boycott Contributor

Aruba needs to be renamed Abra-ca-da-bra!

Now you see it....now you DON'T!




Here you have it...here you WON'T!

No, I am not singing that old Diet Pepsi commercial referring to weight loss. I am mocking the worst investigative team in the history of law enforcement. We have finally located "The Gang who Couldn't Shoot Straight!"

Van Der Stratten....Jacobs....Janssen....Dompig....

Not since Rosie Ruiz pretended to win the Boston Marathon by hopping on a subway in the middle of the race have we seen such incompetence in action involving egos who tried to convince all of us they were winners.


If this is the epitome of successful law enforcement bring back the Keystone Kops! Hmm, maybe they came out of retirement and now live in Aruba?


This country is badly misnamed. The travel brochures to this horrendous island paradise implies the "magic" that exists there for those who want to escape from the routine of every day life but the word is better used in a legal context. It has been truly "magical" to see the people who are supposed to protect young women like Natalee Holloway and her family in bringing justice to the fore and I do not mean that in a complimentary sense.


Remember all the, "now you see it, now you DON'T!" moments in this pathetic investigation? Like a magician who pulls a rabbit out of his hat and then....KILLS it! The land of Abra-ca-dab-ra rolls right along with its sadistic approach to breaking the hearts of Beth and Dave instead of breaking the case.


"We have arrested two security guards for the murder of Natalee Holloway." ABRACADBRA! "No, we HAVEN'T!"


"Joran has confessed to the murder!" ABRACADBRA! "No, he DIDN'T!" "We have the three boys in custody and Paulus, too!" ABRACADBRA! "No, we DON'T!"


"There has been a major breakthrough in the case! We have found....(insert here a large drum, panties, condoms, a pond, a waste dump, 752 gardners, twenty of Joran's best friends, a shadow in the ocean, Arlene Schipper's sincerity, a mansion, Jimmy Hoffa) and we now believe we can solve this mystery!" ABRACADBRA! "No, we CAN'T!"

This indeed is a magical island. That is why I encourage you to never go there.

Because one day your family may be saying, "Our loved one is coming home today from Aruba." ABRACADBRA! "Nope, I guess NOT!" If you don't want someone you really care about to disappear then make sure they never travel to ABRACADBRA.


Please and thank you.

WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DON'T

What we know and what we have heard about Natalee Holloway's last night

By Meri, Aruban Boycott Contributor


We know that prior to going to Carlos & Charlie's, Natalee sat at a gaming table with Joran van der Sloot. We know that she saw him again at the nightclub and that he took a jelly shot off of her. We know that Natalee had been drinking on and off throughout that day and that she drank 150 proof alcohol that night. Alcohol is a DEPRESSANT and NOT a stimulant and that would have made Natalee sleepy and woozy at the very least.


It is a fact that if she had consumed enough alcohol, she would have had impaired judgment which could explain why she left with strangers rather than staying with her friends. It would also explain why she failed to listen to those friends when they asked her to get out of Deepak's car and go back to the hotel with them. We know that Natalee, Joran, Satish and Deepak (who was driving the car), left Carlos & Charlie's around the time that it was closing and that a white car was behind them that night.


From that point on ALL we know for sure is that Natalee never came back and no one has seen her since. Here's what has become rumor and myth and may or may not be truthful and accurate:

• Joran claims that Natalee asked to be taken to see sharks at the beach.

• He states that they went to the beach and that Deepak and his brother dropped him and Natalee off.

• Joran also states that before going to the beach they stopped in front of his house. They may or may not have gone into his private apartment at some point.

• Joran claims that he and Natalee made out both in the back of Deepak's car and on the beach but that they did not have sexual relations because he had no condom.

• He claims that he wanted to go home because he had school the next day but that Natalee didn't want to leave the beach and wanted Joran to stay with her.

• We know that Joran claims to have called Deepak to come and pick him up and at first, he claimed that Deepak did.

• When the computer and phone records showed that Deepak was home at the time he would have been picking up Joran the story was changed to indicate that Satish picked Joran up and took him home leaving Natalee alone on the beach. Both Deepak and Satish deny having picked Joran up that night.

• We DO NOT know for sure how Joran got home or if Deepak and Satish were present on the beach when Natalee was there either with Joran or by herself.

• We do not know if one of the Kalpoe's returned to that beach that night.

• We know that stains were lifted from Deepak's car which contained a bleach substance and something that at first appeared to be blood. Later this was revised to be a bleach substance and chocolate.

I have a problem with this reading of the forensic evidence because if Deepak cleaned his car with bleach there would be no chocolate stains but there could be blood evidence left which luminal could detect when used by a qualified CSI.


What was that evidence? Where is it and who made the determination that it was not blood? Why did Deepak clean his car with bleach? Wouldn't there have been at least trace evidence containing Natalee's hair as it was long and blonde and everyone sheds hair all of the time. Why was there NO evidence of Natalee being in that car when even the three suspects admit that she was?



We have seen a picture from a video camera at the Casino that shows that possibly Paulus may have also been at that gaming table with Natalee and Joran. Was it Paulus and if it was, why did he lie about being there and seeing Natalee?


We know about the big lie that all three boys told and was Deepak's idea according to Joran and that Steve Croes (a supposed stranger to all three boys) substantiated, regarding two security guards and a drunk Natalee being dropped off at her hotel. Once that lie was exposed the story changed.


We know that the police searched for a pair of white shoes that Joran supposedly left behind on the beach. He admitted to having removed his shoes and leaving them there. Where are they? Joran claims that they were "old shoes" and that he didn't care about getting them back. Deepak states that they were only a month old and not old shoes.


We know that Joran spoke to Deepak via cell phone and that he messaged Deepak on his computer to say "Goodnight" after he supposedly left Natalee alone on the beach. Does a teenaged boy usually say "Goodnight" to his guy friend late at night after he's been with a girl?

Maybe only when he is trying to establish an alibi.

Deepak did not respond to Joran's message...where was he at that time? Was he asleep or back on the beach? There have been witnesses who saw the following:

• A body being removed from the trunk of a car and buried in the landfill.

• A witness spotted the boys standing beside their car and one of them ducked out of sight when he passed them by. That was near the pond area which was also drained and searched.

There have been other witnesses as well and none of them proved to be credible and as a matter of fact, one of them was Chief Dompig's brother-in-law who was a druggie and a beach bum who claimed that he sold Natalee drugs.


Dompig states that Natalee was not murdered and that she died of an OD or alcohol poisoning. He claimed that she was buried and than re-buried. Also, a faulty and unprovable account and outright ridiculous when you consider Dompig's history in this case and the fact that he went on a nationally broadcast television show and smirked his way through his story. Several other "Suspects" have been detained by the Aruban police and let go.


One was a boy called GVC and obviously his arrest was as a result of the fact that Dompig's son Michael was mad at him and ratted him out. The boy had a big mouth and bragged about his conquests but probably knew nothing about Natalee.


Guido Wever is a different case for me because he DID know Joran and they did play tennis together the day after Natalee went missing. He may have been told something about what happened and was in bad shape when he was arrested.


He also left Aruba for Holland soon after Natalee disappeared leaving his newly purchased car and his family behind.The rumor is that he actually wet himself when they picked him up for questioning. Guido is gay and they dismissed him as someone who would not have sexually assaulted Natalee or any other girl. Does that also mean that he could not have helped harm her or get rid of her? I guess that if you are gay you are not capable of participating in a crime where a female is concerned? More rumor and more speculation.


Steve Croes is the most interesting "suspect" of all after the three boys. He seems to appear almost everywhere and claims to have no knowledge of anything or anyone. He makes up lies and owns a boat and shows up all over the Island of Aruba at the oddest times. He poses for pictures with anyone who wants one and obviously considers himself some kind of celebrity.


What does Steve know and how involved is he with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway? I suspect (and it is ONLY a suspicion and NOT a fact), that Steve Croes knows a LOT. There is more..so much more that we have all heard, seen or read but none of it leads us to the answers we seek.


We are back to the beginning...Natalee met Joran, danced with Joran, drank alcohol and left a bar with Joran, Deepak and Satish. She was never seen alive again. The rumors could fill a book but the facts couldn't even fill a chapter because they are so sparse.



The family of Natalee Holloway obviously has more information than most of us do and Dave has written about what he knows. It still doesn't tell us exactly what happened to Natalee and where she is. Beth and Dave are still trying to get the truth out of a whole bunch of liars and that's the saddest part of this whole thing. They don't know what happened to their daughter and that not knowing is making this horrible situation even worse for them. They have pictures in their minds of Natalee being attacked, hurt, alone and frightened.


They have memories of a beautiful young girl in her prime that can no longer hug them or speak to them or run to them with exciting news of college days. They will not attend her wedding or hold her children...how much worse must this be for them not even knowing where she is or if she suffered? It's unimaginable and too painful to even contemplate. What we know is not enough to ease their pain and what we hear is not necessarily true or helpful to them.

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD BOYCOTT?

Holloway Matter Bad for Economy

24 July 2006 ORANJESTAD - the matter around the disappearance of the American tourist Natalee Holloway on Aruba has been very detrimental for the increase of tourism on the island. That puts the aruban Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance Nilo Swaen.The year 2004 was a good year with regard to tourism and economic growth. Also in the years for that we know each year an increase.


The year 2005 and the first months of 2006 are what badly concerns the Minister. The aruban economy knew previous year an increase of 2.4 percent. Aruba lags behind with that considerable at the rest of the Caribbean area, where the economic activities increased, with 4.1 percent.


According to Swaen, Aruba has had to contend with the negative impact of the disappearance of Holloway. Tourists have stayed away out of fear. Ten suspected in the matter were apprehended, but have been all released. In America several recalls have been done a boycott of Aruba, including by the governor of the state Alabama, where Holloway was from.


Aruba draws mainly American tourists for already thirty years. To spread out the economy the dangers for the future are Aruba in association with the World Bank busy at diversification. Tourism is only considered as of now as too uncertain.


Minister Swaen indicated that it is obtain income for a small island such as Aruba niettemin cumbersome also elsewhere from. "Aruba has mainly aimed many years' at tourism." As possible increase markets Swaen called education institutions and medical tourism. Swaen: "at medical tourism we can use of our strong tourism infrastructure."


Swaen said still hope of having that matter Holloway are solved. "from America and from the Netherlands it is worked still for the matter, therefore I have hope."

Loosely Translated by PearlinUSA from BFN. THANKS!

UPDATE FROM BETH

Beth called yesterday and she’s been diligently promoting her Safe Travels program. She was in Madison, Wisconsin presenting to a welcome and amazing group of people from the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association for their 2006 Summer Conference. She was very excited that they were so nice and supportive. She has had nothing but good responses and experiences from wherever she speaks.


She told me a story about when she was speaking in Illinois, an old couple came up to her, hugged her and said they were from Madison, Wisconsin, and drove down to listen to her speak. They said that they had been going to Aruba for years and will never return to Aruba because of what happened to Natalee, all the cover ups, lies, etc. She forgot their names, but she wanted to thank them through this blog for supporting the boycott and Natalee. She said we ARE ALL Natalee’s angels. I told her that I personally would not, and neither will the rest of us supporters give up.


She also mentioned that JQK told her that he thinks that the judge’s decision in New York will come down in about a week or so…so keep your ears open for the news. She said that of course she will be devastated if she loses; but if she does, she will continue to crusade for Natalee and maybe at some point get a bill passed by Congress and the President. Of course those ideas and details are in the far future. Right now her non-profit organization and building that up is her first priority since Aruba is obviously not doing anything at this point and there is no way for her to go down there and demand to see any information or have any of the three re-questioned.


She said that she and the rest of us will all bury Aruba and she will feel that way forever. We are dealing with a very determined woman who is avenging her daughter in any way possible. She wants to thank EVERYONE for their support and efforts. She seemed so lonely and I think from the tone of her voice she honestly believes we ARE Natalee’s angels and is so glad and honored that we aren’t letting this die.

THE JUNE 10th "CONFESSION"

By Meri, Aruban Boycott Contributor


Who saw it? Who has it? Where is it? It has been denied by ALE, the Prosecutor and the FBI has the interrogation records as well. Why haven't they come out and stated that there was a confession? Is this a rumor, a myth or the truth? I am not willing to buy into rumors or supposed confessions or statements that I have no proof of.


I actually saw Joran's statement to the police that I referred to in my previous "Theories" article but I have NEVER seen this confession. It doesn't mean that it didn't happen but it also doesn't mean that it did. Who actually said, "Something bad happened"? Who reported that and what was their source? NO decent researcher or reporter will go to print without at least two to three GOOD and CREDIBLE sources.


The ALE has been known to spread false stories and unfortunately, a lot of things have come from the press on Aruba. Do you believe everything that you read in the papers? I don't and that goes for the Aruban media as well as the US media. Show me the proof that ANYONE confessed. Don't tell me that Jossy said it or Nancy said it or that Julia or Greta said it. That is simply not good enough. Show me the proof.


This case has manufactured some real urban legends as it progresses throughout our consciousness and that means that many REAL facts may have been over-looked. You CANNOT base an investigation or a story on rumor and myth and urban legend. SHOW ME THE PROOF. If we want this case to be solved and we want to help than we have to stick to the facts that we can prove and not to what someone else told someone else...the game of telephone.


Did Joran really confess? Did Deepak confess? Did anyone really say, "Something bad happened"???? Where did that come from...Dompig? Do you believe anything that he says....I DO NOT. I believe that we as individuals are no closer to knowing the truth right this minute than we were on the first day of June, 2005. I believe that because so many have lied and covered up.


Posting that someone confessed without documentation is like me telling you that I am POSITIVE of who killed Natalee and how they did it. I can't do that and neither can anyone else aside from those who harmed her and made her disappear. Let's stick with the facts that we do have and not what we have heard through the grape-vine. That is NOT helping anyone and is only adding confusion to an already messed up case.


We owe it to Natalee and her family to ONLY post what we really know and to state up front if we are speculating about something rather than able to prove it actually happened. SHOW ME THE PROOF and I will run with it. Joran lies, Deepak lies, Satish lies, Steve Croes lies, Gerald Dompig lies, Julia Renfro lies, Jossy may embellish or put out information that is speculative. ALE lies, EVERYONE has lied....EVERYONE who knows what happened. Joran would no more confess than I would.


He is the son of a legal professional, as shoddy as his Dad's career is, he is a trained lawyer and his son is no fool. Do you really think that during those nine days of freedom that Joran and the Kalpoe's weren't primed as to what to say and what not to say? Do you think that ALE beat and tortured Joran into making a confession? HA...I doubt that Joran suffered any discomfort at all while he was being held. Why would he have...his father has connections.


Perhaps one of the Kalpoe's (maybe Satish who seems younger than the rest of them maturity-wise), said "Something bad happened"...maybe he did and maybe he didn't. Where is the document that has that comment on it and why hasn't it been produced as other documents have? I am really tired of reading about confessions and comments that may or may not have taken place and may or may not be real.


Something bad DID happen to Natalee Holloway and I want to know the TRUTH of what that was. I want to know who, what, where and how. I believe that I already know the why but I want to know the absolute truth of that as well. Someone knows the truth and they aren't talking...they have NEVER told the real truth so we DO NOT know what that is.


Let's search for the truth and stick to what is real and what isn't. This may anger some of you but enough is enough. I am ONLY interested in knowing the truth. That is the ONLY way for Natalee to get the justice that she deserves and has been deprived of thus far. "The truth shall set you free", the rumors and myths will hold you captive.