La Romana vs Punta Cana - La Romana Message Board ...

I might get a bit off topic at times, and I apologize if I seem to be falling into the 'new user, bunch of threads' trend. I promise not to.
Quick background: I have a friend in Venezuela who sells Venezuelan cigars and has been looking to expand the business, either by offering it to more international markets or by getting more international brands to sell locally. In doing so, he recently visited the Dominican Republic and made many contacts. So when I made plans to visit DR, I asked him to give me some of those contacts.
In my short smoking experience, it's been Dominican cigars the ones that have surprised me the most. While I enjoy the myriad of pepper types available in Nicaraguan cigars and have enjoyed many habanos (even some of the fakes), it's the Dominican cigars that I've found to have more unexpected and different flavors.
My first surprise was that many of the best known brands are really expensive there. I'm talking $40 for an Opus X, $18 for a la Flor Dominicana La Nox, $23 for a Romeo y Julieta - Romeo, and so on. This happens because most of the big name factories sell almost all of their production to the US, leaving very little to the local market, so most Dominican big brands found in DR are actually imported products from the US. Naturally, they try to import the ones where the can get a higher gain margin and that's why you'll see many Opus X and very little $5 cigars.
Yet, the DR has its healthy amount of local, smaller and rising stars in tobacco, with brands like Chogüí, Edolara, Musa, Caminos and others. My visit was kind of short and there aren't huge highways in DR, so going from where I was (Punta Cana) to the tobacco capital (Tamboril) is about a 5 hour drive in semi-rural roads... not something I was looking to do, especially since I had a wife and my parents to tag along (non smokers) and I already had a recommendation to visit a factor in La Romana (90 minutes away).
This recommendation was Cornelio Cigars, property of Martin Cornelio, a really down-to-earth guy I contacted via Facebook and who told me to drop by whenever I wanted. I was quite sure it'd be the typical "yeah, this is a store, buy anything and good-bye" type of deal, but as I entered the store/factor, Cornelio was actually waiting for me. I made it clear from the start I was neither a distributor or a corporate buyer, I was just a regular smoker looking to buy some smokes. Cornelio led me to his storeroom and asked me what type of cigars I liked. I said strong-flavored coronas and he gave me one and said "try this one" and he just gave me a cigar.
As soon as I lighted it up, Cornelio pointed to a chair and said "You can enjoy the smoke there", right in the middle of the store. I sat down and in the next minute, Cornelio sat and also lighted a cigar. We sat there smoking for about 10 minutes and having a great chat about Dominican cigars, the best leaves, why he doesn't sell habanos (too many fakes, not worth the risk) and his other projects.
About 15 minutes later he asked me what I though of the cigar; it was really good. I was halfway through and there were different nuances along the smoke, smokey flavors, raisins, fruity like melon, and more. Cornelio just got up and came back with a torpedo. He said "Light this one, you'll notice it's a bit different, maybe you'll like it more". The torpedo was a bit softer, less intense, so after about 20 minutes of that he gets up and offers me a robusto. "Maybe you'll like this one better". I got there at around 10:00am and before noon I had already smoked 4 cigars and had a line of about 3 more to try... all before lunch!
He also asked me if I liked VegaFina, which I confessed I never tried before. So he told me he's working with a blender form there to produce their own blend (called Tiranos, which isn't available yet) and let me try one of the test cigars.
I ended up buying about 4 mazos (2 of torpedos, 1 coronas, 1 robustos), plus a few other cigars he sold, including a La Flor Dominicana - Conga 1994, which he said is the best LFD cigar and a Dominican H. Upmann. I also left the store quite happy to have met a cigar producer and have him tell me so much about the industry and without so much as my insistence on the subject. I've actually managed to gauge some local interest here and will probably visit the island soon to get some more cigars as well as visit other factories.
At one time two guys entered the store with a few cigar boxes and started showing them to him, trying to sell them. The cigars were called Don Andres, which I had never heard of. One of the boxes was red, another was black and two of them were wood colored (not painted). Cornelio looked at them for a while and asked "Are these maduros, naturals or what?" The two guys looked at each other and one said "The ones in the red box are maduros, and the ones in the black box are... maduros as well... the ones in the wooden box I think are Connecticut". So after about 5 minutes of just looking them over, Cornelio gives them back and says "no thanks". After they left I mention I never heard of Don Andres cigars before, and Cornelio says "neither have I". Then he said, "these guys will try to sell these in a couple of other stores. If they can't sell them, they'll go back home, slap a Cohiba band on them and go hunting for tourists". The fake Cubans market in DR is incredible. I saw many decent looking stores that had Cohibas for $55 each and you could see the open boxes where each cigars was a different shade.
Before leaving the DR, I also visited a store in the airport called Cabinet, where I know they sell good stuff and got me some much-needed habanos and some Dominican goodies. Next time I visit I will try to go into more emerging factories and maybe even venture the 5-hour drive to Tamboril.

The Dominican political sphere, after first being introduced to Dividido Nunca Mas, is finally being irrevocably altered. The establishment of the ideology as a consistent and legitimate thought instead of a fad has yet to be completed, yet there are already politicians and a large amount of civilians who, whether or not they believe in it, legitimise it through debate and speech.
Admittedly, its explosion from a small-town idea to one a lot of Dominicans have on their mind through a media interview may not have been the best idea to make people believe Vincent was serious. Despite a rough start, numerous variables have contributed to its legitimation.
First of all, a large amount of people within the Congress have already expressed opinions about Dividido Nunca Mas. Although the majority are obviously denouncing it, there are a few who have expressed support in one way or another. Some probably do it in order to simply appeal to what they believe is a fad, and don’t think that any Dividido Nunca Mas legislation will even grace the committee, but a small, small amount, maybe 1 or 2 politicians, have truly taken it to heart. It’s a start.
Second of all, Lo Ultimo has continued coverage of Dividido Nunca Mas instead of completely abandoning it. The show has become the main source of information about the movement, but that’s not to say that other media has not picked up the story on its own. Whether accurate or inaccurate, it has contributed to ensuring the presence of Dividido Nunca Mas in the people’s collective consciousness.
Finally, the expansion of the thought’s promotion on the street instead of its complete movement into media has shown the commitment of Vincent and his new speakers to the grassroots that originally represented the ideology, when it was just Vincent and a small group speaking in La Romana. Thousands of people from on the southern peninsula, from Santo Domingo to Punta Cana, hear speakers dedicated to the cause speak about their just plight in order to assist the Westerly Brothers.
These things have sustained Dividido Nunca Mas as an ideology, ensuring that people who hear of it take it seriously, and making it a contender for actual governmental policy. How long it will take to reach the legislature is unknown, but many are already confident in the possibility.

Grassroots Promotion Expansions

Vincent, as well as his new right-hand man, Dengra, have been discussing the possibility of using their massive influx of new believers and donations to go further than just the southern peninsula of the Dominican Republic. Through the establishment of an official non-government organisation, they could begin to pay wages for speakers, ensure that they are the central voice in the evolution of the ideology, and also further legitimise the group.
Vincent thought that although it would certainly take a bit away from the “grassroots” part, he thought it was an affordable sacrifice. The organisation, named the “Hispaniolan Unity Group”, soon had an expansive employee base. Dengra was placed at the helm of finances and miscellaneous things of importance, while Vincent was in charge of promotion.
Soon every major city in the country had speakers, clubs, and passionate followers of Dividido Nunca Mas. A small amount, but enough to show that this wasn’t just going to go away. Dividido Nunca Mas was here to stay, and influence the future of the country in way’s everyone could only imagine.
As support rose, criticism and debate rose too. Controversy struck, and controversy breeds popular news. The most fervent in their expressions of distaste were, of course, hardcore racists. Most disguised this motive, but of course, there were a few to reveal the ulterior motives.
This was a good case of a few bad apples spoiling the bunch. While not necessarily correct, the labelling of the anti-DNM as racists was common. That’s not to say it was the most common response, but the fact that a lot of people just aren’t good at debate led them to take this cop-out.
It worked well enough, with a large amount of arguments just ending with nothing accomplished except for making both sides angry, instead of blowout victories for anti-DNM people. Vincent expressed some distaste for this strategy, saying that although the majority of hatred for the movement was indeed derived from some sort of subconscious racism, to claim that every single anti-DNM person was a racist was a bit extreme.
So he made a pamphlet for DNM supporters, better explaining common arguments, counter-arguments, and logical fallacies to avoid when arguing with an anti-DNM person. After the first edition of the official DNM pamphlet went into publication, Vincent began to work on making it a more all-encompassing pamphlet, with what the DNM stands for, and other things important to the cause.
When the second edition went into publication, it was widely spread and was distributed to speakers in order to give out to passerby so that they could learn from a more articulate source than they. Burnings of the DNM pamphlets were common in western border towns, and in general the pamphlets eventually became synonymous with the DNM. Every DNM supporter had a pamphlet, and got an updated version when one was released. They were all for free, of course, so there wasn’t much difficulty in updating it.
After a few editions were created with gradual improvements, Vincent realised his want for more. He was going to write a book. This book would inspire others to write books, and reports, and analyses showing how the DNM would see reality through governmental policy.

The Book

Vincent didn’t write the whole book. He had a slight bit of burnout, and several people, including Dengra, volunteered to ghost write sections for him. Vincent refused. He said every author would have their names on it. Dividido Nunca Mas wasn’t just Vincent, it was all of them. There was no reason, in Vincent’s mind, to turn this into anything of a personality cult. DNM should have an idea, not a person, basis.
The book was titled “Innocence Renewed: Hispaniola’s Past & Future”. It was split into 3 parts. The first part was the history of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, from their birth as colonies, to the failed development of Haiti, to the rise of Trujillo, to modern times.
The second part was about the ideology itself. It featured the symbolic analogy of child countries and the DR’s growth and eventual surpassing of Haiti, and the divide that growed greater due to a loss of innocence in the transition from a child to an adult, which is expressed in the mutual hatred. It mentions the possibility of a united Hispaniolan culture, and a small chapter in the book mentions greater political integration, which was not written by Vincent, but Dengra, to Vincent’s curiosity.
The third part was about the realistic. How would it be implemented, what could be done, how could cultural syncretism be encouraged, how could the DR contribute to Haiti’s development past its current state, and, again, a small (but slightly larger than the previous) chapter on political integration possibilities. It seems that Dengra had some amount of interest in furthering the DNM to somewhere it never would’ve went before.
The book’s release was in mid-2031, to critical acclaim. It further pushed the expansion of DNM, and was basically a must-read for everyone who could afford it, which was basically everyone, because it was sold at a subsidised price.

The Books

The publishing of Innocence Renewed resulted in a true explosion of analyses published around Dividido Nunca Mas. Criticisms of Part 3 were the most common, and while some focused on destroying the claims, the majority actually offered constructive criticism which allowed for the DNM to rework some of their newly found political base.
The political integration aspect addressed in the book was looked upon controversially, and caused the formation of a relatively small but still present divide between the DNM supporters. Who would triumph in the future was unknown, but currently it was not a large enough concern for it to be a focal point.
Overall, it fostered a new range of debates in the political sphere of the Dominican Republic. True, academic debates, featuring evidence, reputable people, and a serious audience who was not just there because they had nothing else they do. It fostered a range of publications, both criticising and praising DNM and the book. It fostered the next battleground where the war for the institution of the DNM’s beliefs would be fought, where the DNM would face the grinder, and be forced to adapt or die. It would develop into something that could face the big leagues, and appeal to more people across the country.
Dividido Nunca Mas has already come so far. It has developed a tint of diversity, and, although small, has devoted supporters throughout the Dominican Republic. What will come next is, once again, anybody’s guess. [m] if anybody’s guess was the annexation of haiti by the dominican republic in order to form hispaniola. [/m]