How You can Help
For a long time now I've seen Natalee supporters asking myself and others, "How can we help? What else is there to do? What can we do?" The truth is, there are a lot of quick, dirty, inexpensive things that everyday Joes and Janes like you and I can do to keep pressure on Aruba until Natalee is found.
* Visit travel and tourism blogs and simply state that because of how Aruban authorities deliberately and continually mismanaged the investigation, possibly beyond recovery, you will never visit Aruba. Its very important when you do post that you make it known who the blame lies on (the MEP and ALE). There are already people doing this on MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL message boards.
Other topics you might want to mention are:
- past corruption (the Caruna-Cuntreras scandal and how organized crime got a toehold in Aruba under- guess whose administration- the MEP's), drug trafficking through the island, concerns of corruption from Dutch officials (like former Dutch Attorney General Arthur Doctors van Leeuwen, who said, "I think we are going to lose it (the drug war) on Aruba" or former Aruban Security Service director Martien ras, who wrote to van Leeuwen suggesting that organized crime had such an influence on Aruban politics that democracy itself was in jeopardy).
- the fact that Aruba has not released complete crime statistics since 1997;
- the many instances of questionable investigative strategies on the ALE's part , beginning with an 11-day lag before arresting the last three people Natalee was known to be with (despite numerous witnesses who named said suspects). It certainly didn't end with that slip-up....
- mention the fact that, despite the many incentives offered by Aruba in a (hopefully futile) effort to recover, Aruba is still one of the most expensive Caribbean destinations for Americans to visit and yet offers nothing unique to tourists;
- mention how current Aruban Prime Minister Nel Oduber bragged about Aruba's political closeness with anti-American dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (incidentally, Venezuela is only about 15 miles from Aruba, and the majority of drugs shipped from Aruba come from there buond for the U.S. and Europe);
- mention past anti - money laundering and anti- drug trafficking treaties between the U.S. under the Clinton administration and Caribbean islands that Aruba did not sign onto;
- if you've been to Aruba in the past and had a bad experience, by all means post those!
There's a lot of really ugly things like that you can post to keep travelers away from Aruba. Just make sure your facts and your sources are straight!
* Buy a 'Boycott Aruba' bumper sticker and display it proudly. cafepress.com has tons of boycott Aruba merchandise.
* For you creative kinds, make a video and tell us why you will not be going to Aruba and who you blame for Natalee's disappearance. Post to youtube.com - its free, and it will show up on Google videos, too. Again, this is a great way for people who have been to Aruba and had a bad experience to help!
* Write your local Congressperson and State Representative and tell them why you are concerned with the investigation, why the government should be doing more to pressure the Netherlands to clean up Aruba's corruption (drug trade, money laundering, and more).
* Write the U.S. State Department and ask them to get involved politically in any way possible. An international lawyer tells me that if the State Department gets at least 5,000 letters from the public expressing concern about the same subject they are required to officially address it with the foreign parties in question.
* Buy a copy of Dave Holloway's book from Amazon.com- they cost less than $12 a copy, and the proceeds go to the Natalee Holloway Foundation, a non-profit organization Dave Holloway founded to help other missing Americans overseas (Federal law prohibits him from using foundation money to look for his own daughter...). Call your local library when you're done and ask if they have a copy. If not...donate yours.
* Send a copy of Dave's book to your local Representative or Congressperson. Ask them to read it and donate it as well.
* Post 'boycott Aruba' flyers around travel agencies and especially around Aruba Tourism Authority field offices in Weehauken NJ, the Woodlands TX, Chicago IL, Ft. Lauderdale FL, and Atlanta GA. Make sure your local laws allow this, but in many places you are allowed to post small flyers in public rights-of-way and public utilities (like light- and telephone poles) without permit- and it is usually illegal for anyone else but city employees to remove them if posted properly!
* Another good way to put those little flyers to use is to leave a few in the magazines you find in the dentist's office, the barbershop / salon, the doctor's office, etc. Target any travel magazines you find especially- and rip out any Aruba ads you find too!
* Send letters to the Dutch Embassy to the U.S. , the Aruba Tourism Authority, and the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association and simply state, "No justice for Natalee = no tourism!" They'll know which Natalee you mean...
* Many people who have been to Aruba looking for Natalee (Dave Holloway, Texas Equusearch members, Art Wood, the late Jamie Skeeters to name a few) have said that the Arubans all seem afraid of something. Hell, even some TV psychic picked that up! So Arubans: if you know something about this case that could solve it, there is a way you can safely tell what you know: write it down or type it out, seal it in a security envelope, and give it to an American tourist (assuming you can find one). Tell them that it can help Natalee's case and ask that they send it to Dave Holloway or America's Most Wanted- not the FBI (they are bound by law to turn it over to the ALE), and certainly not the Aruban authorities of any kind! Then walk away. Quickly.
* Look through magazines, travel blogs, etc. and send anything negative you find about Aruba to lionhunter053005@yahoo.com for rapid redistribution throughout the internet. Make sure you include the exact source, date, and author of the article!
* Leave a prayer request for natalee and her family in your church's offering plate. Some of us believe Natalee may be alive and findable (I am firmly of this opinion, sadly more than her own parents), some believe she is gone and want justice for her and closure for her family. Just pray your heart's wishes for this family.
* Write the major networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, and especially CBS since they hyped Aruba up so much on the 07/12/07 edition of the Early Show). Tell them that they may be sleeping with the Devil but you haven't forgotten Natalee and that they couldn't pay you to go to Aruba! Suggest to them that they concentrate on the many equally charming but safer, less corrupt places like Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Barbados....
* Post business card-sized 'Boycott Aruba' flyers under windshield wipers in parking lots. People do this all the time for comemrcial profit, why not do it for selfless reasons too?
* Buy an Aruba flag. Destroy and desecrate it (don't be unsanitary, though) and mail it to the Aruban government. Let them know why you did it.
* Write to the U.S. businesses that have ventures in Aruba (McDonald's, Holiday Inn, and the supposedly patritotic Wal-Mart to name a few). Tell them that their Aruba branches will not be seeing any of your money- and why.
* Call or send a letter to the ATA or AHATA expressing your displeasure with their government and make sure you tell them why you won't ever set foot in Aruba. Don't e-mail them; deleting an e-mail is easy, but it takes time and costs these people money to talk on the phone or open a letter.
* There are several international pen pal websites out there. Get a pen pal from Aruba, the Netherlands, or Curacao (remember Aruba and Curacao are very close and pretty much the same community). Tell them exactly who you are boycotting Aruba and what us Americans expect if they want us to come back.
* Contact your local VFW Hall and ask if they would pass this list on to their members for anyone who is interested. Veterans of all people should be concerned with corrupt foreign governments and victimized Americans seeking justice.
* If you have a property line that fronts a busy street or highway, post a big 'boycott Aruba' message (if you have a chain-link fence you can easily do this with paper cups). People near airports, cruise ship docks, and theme parks- we really need you for this one!
* Finally, join a group that deals with justice for Americans overseas, traveler safety, victims rights, or the like. Possibilities include the Natalee Holloway Foundation (Dave Holloway's foundation), the International Safe Travels Foundation (Beth Twitty's foundation), the International Cruise Victims, and Texas Equusearch. There's other people to help besides Natalee, after all...
* Visit travel and tourism blogs and simply state that because of how Aruban authorities deliberately and continually mismanaged the investigation, possibly beyond recovery, you will never visit Aruba. Its very important when you do post that you make it known who the blame lies on (the MEP and ALE). There are already people doing this on MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL message boards.
Other topics you might want to mention are:
- past corruption (the Caruna-Cuntreras scandal and how organized crime got a toehold in Aruba under- guess whose administration- the MEP's), drug trafficking through the island, concerns of corruption from Dutch officials (like former Dutch Attorney General Arthur Doctors van Leeuwen, who said, "I think we are going to lose it (the drug war) on Aruba" or former Aruban Security Service director Martien ras, who wrote to van Leeuwen suggesting that organized crime had such an influence on Aruban politics that democracy itself was in jeopardy).
- the fact that Aruba has not released complete crime statistics since 1997;
- the many instances of questionable investigative strategies on the ALE's part , beginning with an 11-day lag before arresting the last three people Natalee was known to be with (despite numerous witnesses who named said suspects). It certainly didn't end with that slip-up....
- mention the fact that, despite the many incentives offered by Aruba in a (hopefully futile) effort to recover, Aruba is still one of the most expensive Caribbean destinations for Americans to visit and yet offers nothing unique to tourists;
- mention how current Aruban Prime Minister Nel Oduber bragged about Aruba's political closeness with anti-American dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (incidentally, Venezuela is only about 15 miles from Aruba, and the majority of drugs shipped from Aruba come from there buond for the U.S. and Europe);
- mention past anti - money laundering and anti- drug trafficking treaties between the U.S. under the Clinton administration and Caribbean islands that Aruba did not sign onto;
- if you've been to Aruba in the past and had a bad experience, by all means post those!
There's a lot of really ugly things like that you can post to keep travelers away from Aruba. Just make sure your facts and your sources are straight!
* Buy a 'Boycott Aruba' bumper sticker and display it proudly. cafepress.com has tons of boycott Aruba merchandise.
* For you creative kinds, make a video and tell us why you will not be going to Aruba and who you blame for Natalee's disappearance. Post to youtube.com - its free, and it will show up on Google videos, too. Again, this is a great way for people who have been to Aruba and had a bad experience to help!
* Write your local Congressperson and State Representative and tell them why you are concerned with the investigation, why the government should be doing more to pressure the Netherlands to clean up Aruba's corruption (drug trade, money laundering, and more).
* Write the U.S. State Department and ask them to get involved politically in any way possible. An international lawyer tells me that if the State Department gets at least 5,000 letters from the public expressing concern about the same subject they are required to officially address it with the foreign parties in question.
* Buy a copy of Dave Holloway's book from Amazon.com- they cost less than $12 a copy, and the proceeds go to the Natalee Holloway Foundation, a non-profit organization Dave Holloway founded to help other missing Americans overseas (Federal law prohibits him from using foundation money to look for his own daughter...). Call your local library when you're done and ask if they have a copy. If not...donate yours.
* Send a copy of Dave's book to your local Representative or Congressperson. Ask them to read it and donate it as well.
* Post 'boycott Aruba' flyers around travel agencies and especially around Aruba Tourism Authority field offices in Weehauken NJ, the Woodlands TX, Chicago IL, Ft. Lauderdale FL, and Atlanta GA. Make sure your local laws allow this, but in many places you are allowed to post small flyers in public rights-of-way and public utilities (like light- and telephone poles) without permit- and it is usually illegal for anyone else but city employees to remove them if posted properly!
* Another good way to put those little flyers to use is to leave a few in the magazines you find in the dentist's office, the barbershop / salon, the doctor's office, etc. Target any travel magazines you find especially- and rip out any Aruba ads you find too!
* Send letters to the Dutch Embassy to the U.S. , the Aruba Tourism Authority, and the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association and simply state, "No justice for Natalee = no tourism!" They'll know which Natalee you mean...
* Many people who have been to Aruba looking for Natalee (Dave Holloway, Texas Equusearch members, Art Wood, the late Jamie Skeeters to name a few) have said that the Arubans all seem afraid of something. Hell, even some TV psychic picked that up! So Arubans: if you know something about this case that could solve it, there is a way you can safely tell what you know: write it down or type it out, seal it in a security envelope, and give it to an American tourist (assuming you can find one). Tell them that it can help Natalee's case and ask that they send it to Dave Holloway or America's Most Wanted- not the FBI (they are bound by law to turn it over to the ALE), and certainly not the Aruban authorities of any kind! Then walk away. Quickly.
* Look through magazines, travel blogs, etc. and send anything negative you find about Aruba to lionhunter053005@yahoo.com for rapid redistribution throughout the internet. Make sure you include the exact source, date, and author of the article!
* Leave a prayer request for natalee and her family in your church's offering plate. Some of us believe Natalee may be alive and findable (I am firmly of this opinion, sadly more than her own parents), some believe she is gone and want justice for her and closure for her family. Just pray your heart's wishes for this family.
* Write the major networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, and especially CBS since they hyped Aruba up so much on the 07/12/07 edition of the Early Show). Tell them that they may be sleeping with the Devil but you haven't forgotten Natalee and that they couldn't pay you to go to Aruba! Suggest to them that they concentrate on the many equally charming but safer, less corrupt places like Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Barbados....
* Post business card-sized 'Boycott Aruba' flyers under windshield wipers in parking lots. People do this all the time for comemrcial profit, why not do it for selfless reasons too?
* Buy an Aruba flag. Destroy and desecrate it (don't be unsanitary, though) and mail it to the Aruban government. Let them know why you did it.
* Write to the U.S. businesses that have ventures in Aruba (McDonald's, Holiday Inn, and the supposedly patritotic Wal-Mart to name a few). Tell them that their Aruba branches will not be seeing any of your money- and why.
* Call or send a letter to the ATA or AHATA expressing your displeasure with their government and make sure you tell them why you won't ever set foot in Aruba. Don't e-mail them; deleting an e-mail is easy, but it takes time and costs these people money to talk on the phone or open a letter.
* There are several international pen pal websites out there. Get a pen pal from Aruba, the Netherlands, or Curacao (remember Aruba and Curacao are very close and pretty much the same community). Tell them exactly who you are boycotting Aruba and what us Americans expect if they want us to come back.
* Contact your local VFW Hall and ask if they would pass this list on to their members for anyone who is interested. Veterans of all people should be concerned with corrupt foreign governments and victimized Americans seeking justice.
* If you have a property line that fronts a busy street or highway, post a big 'boycott Aruba' message (if you have a chain-link fence you can easily do this with paper cups). People near airports, cruise ship docks, and theme parks- we really need you for this one!
* Finally, join a group that deals with justice for Americans overseas, traveler safety, victims rights, or the like. Possibilities include the Natalee Holloway Foundation (Dave Holloway's foundation), the International Safe Travels Foundation (Beth Twitty's foundation), the International Cruise Victims, and Texas Equusearch. There's other people to help besides Natalee, after all...
Labels: ideas
posted by Dan in Tx | 2:32 AM
|
31 comments
