Look to the Sky

The Santo Domingo Teleferico (Skylift) was inaugurated on Tuesday, 22 May 2018 at 4 pm by President Danilo Medina who rode to the Gualey station for the ceremony.

The Teleferico stations are Gualey, Los Tres Brazos, Sabana Perdida and Charles de Gaulle. Over a path of five kilometers, the skylift connects the municipalities of Santo Domingo north and Santo Domingo East with the National District. The stations are located from the "Puente de la 17” in western Santo Domingo to Av. Charles de Gaule in eastern Santo Domingo.

The skylift will serve a population of 287,000 people when facilitating their commute from east to west Santo Domingo.

Speaking at the inaugural, the director of the project, Jose Miguel Gonzalez Cuadra said that it is one of the most modern systems in Latin America and will benefit a population of 287,000 persons that will see considerable reductions in cost and time of their commutes. Estimates are that the service will benefit 132,773 people that live in Gualey, 57,510 in Los Tres Brazos, and 97,149 in Sabana Perdida. 80% of the population in these communities rely on public transport to get around.

Barrios that are benefiting from the collective transport system are Villa Blanca, Salomé Ureña, La Nueva Barquita, Los Guandules, Espaillat, María Auxiliadora, Urbanización Moisés, Los Mina Norte, Brisa de los Palmares and La Victoria.


A first month of free service at peak hours has been announced. The peak hours are 6-9am and 5 to 8pm. Afterward the month, the cable car will cost RD$20 per journey and will connect with the Santo Domingo metro for no additional charge.

Jamaican "BooBoo" Banton to be Released

Caribbean News Now associate editor
youri@caribbeannewsnow.com

TAMPA, USA — Previously sealed video evidence that shows Grammy Award winning reggae artist, Buju Banton, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, involved in a drug operation turned undercover sting, has been obtained and released by ABC News just months before his scheduled release from the McRae Correctional Institution, Georgia, in December of this year.

The video shows Myrie, along with three other men at a warehouse in Sarasota, Florida, examining a packet, which was said to be cocaine, bound for an unidentified man in Georgia.

Fans of Myrie, who has had no prior drug arrests, claim that the arrest was entrapment and that he should be freed from prison and fully exonerated.

Without question, court testimony shows that Myrie was indeed courted by drug informant, Alex Johnson, over the course of several months, to the point of harassment of Myrie who he desperately wanted to make a significant drug deal after their chance encounter on that flight from Madrid back in 2009.

As a result of the sting, Myrie was arrested in December 2009 and booked in the Pinellas County jail on conspiracy to distribute and possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine. He was also charged with a count of possession of a firearm with the intent to use in the trafficking of distribution of cocaine.

The first trial ended up in a mistrial in February 2010 due to the failure of jury to reach a unanimous verdict.

During a retrial in February 2011, Myrie was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offence and sentenced to ten years and one month in US federal prison.

Myrie, while not having any prior drug arrests or convictions, has had a controversial career since he first broke on to the music scene.

When he was 15, his chart-topping 1992 song, “Boom Bye Bye”, sent shockwaves through the ever increasingly empowered gay and lesbian community years later, as they realized that the song advocated for the shooting and murdering of gay and lesbian people.

The confirmed release date for Myrie is December 8, 2018, after eight years of his original ten-year sentence in 2011.

Pool Boy Takes a Break

Discounted Destinations

TravelZoo has amazing vacation packages at awesome rates. Sign up for the weekly bulletin and receive email notifications about fabulous get-aways like THIS ONE to Jamaica!

Mucho Mauro

Mauro was one of my favorite models during my visits to Santo Domingo. So sweet and so guapo. As dedicated to health and wellness as he was back then I'm sure he's still a head turner.

Antigua Carnival

 ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda – 25th April 2018…….The Antigua and Barbuda Festivals Commission has tweaked its 2018 carnival schedule.

In a meeting that included Minister for Festivals the Hon. Daryll Matthew, members of the calypso association headed by Eugene Silcott, Soca Monarch chairperson Herbert ‘Burga’ Joseph, Calypso chairperson Dion Simmons, soca artistes Menace, Tian Winter and Claudette Peters and chaired by Festivals Commission Chairperson Maurice Merchant; the grouping addressed issues to include private fetes, the calypso and soca monarch competitions, marketing, panorama, prize monies and the format of the various competitions during carnival.

In the interest of providing the best possible programme for visitors and local patrons, the grouping consented to switching the days for the Caribbean Melting Pot show and the Calypso Monarch competition.  The Caribbean Melting Pot show will now be held on Thursday 2nd August and the calypso monarch competition on Friday August 3.

The new carnival schedule will see Panorama held on a Saturday and the Soca Monarch competition on a Sunday.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Festivals Commission, Maurice Merchant has announced that the Commission will commence discussions this week with stakeholders on a proposed new parade route for Carnival Tuesday.  The proposed route will incorporate streets in and out of St. John’s city proper. 

Antigua’s Carnival will be celebrated from July 27 to August 7 under a theme, “Revel in Greatness.”

Delicious Diego