[Wmshyrga]

Once again, our politicians seem to be sniffing something. Otherwise you would not hear so much nonsense. I am not sure if you heard the one about a Congressman calling for changing the name of the San Cristobal province and giving it the name of Pena Gomez. This nut was not even the province's senator!

Now the ultimate idiocy is the proposal by some to name the Malecon, which has been known forever as George Washington Avenue as the Avenida Hermanas Mirabal.

Those of us who live and love this city would find this outrageous. I am sure Uncle Sam would also look at this as a slap in the face. There is already a Mirabal Avenue in one of the popular neighborhoods. The Malecon has already been divided in four sections with different names. Of course, nobody respects any other name but Goerge Washington's and Malecon. The section by Avenida del Puerto was named after Caamano. But who cares. Have you ever heard even the most vocal revolutionary call the Malecon by Caamano's name? Can you imagine purchasing a $4 million condo on a street with the Mirabal sisters's name? What would happen to the Torre Washington and the Malecon Center. Can you picture living in a luxury hirise called Mirabal Tower? It would be the equivalent of buying at any Martin Luther King Drive in the USA. This is not a racist thing.

Caamano was a nobody. So were the Mirabal sisters. What did they do for this country besides opposing Trujillo? Many think they gave their life for democracy. I don't. They just hated Trujillo because he chased one of the sisters and she didn't like him. That's it. The other one was married to Tavares Justo and one can understand her hate. Tavares Justo was a frustrated revolutionary who sacrifized his life for stupidity. He knew he was no Fidel Castro, but he still decided to got o the mountains and die there. So did Caamano. We are not talking here about Che Guevara quality people!! I would prefer Che Guevara Boulevard if it were the case.

I could care less what they call the Malecon. To me it will always be George Washington Avenue. So it's Lincoln Avenue and Churchill Avenue. Keep the fake Dominican heroes to the oriental zone and small towns where people still believe in fables.

TW