The rule of law and common sense prevailed

A protest in front of GOA headquarters brought friends of detained tattoo artist Roberto Hernandez Pena, from Venezuela, into the limelight.

Pena, a well-respected and well-liked professional with MORE than five years on Aruba and an impressive stack of work and stay permits, was apprehended when GNC raided a number of barber shops and tattoo studios, in search of undocumented workers.

As his friends demonstrated during the protest, Pena filed all paperwork ahead of time and received the green light from the department of labor, but the snail-paced paper-pushers at DIMAS, were in no rush to do any work, mid-pandemic.

With DENIAL as a government policy, they systematically held back on issuance of all permits.

I listened to the interview given by Tonton-Macoute-styled head of GNC about the detention. He gave the interview from behind his intimidating dark sunglasses.

(TonTon Machoute, the Haitian nickname for a government sponsored goon squad created by dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, to scare the locals. They wore the same dark sunglasses.)

Who gives a public TV interview from behind dark sunglasses?

I heard what he said. He said they were tipped.

By phone, and by a personal office visit.

This case was inspired by an Informer.

A former employer, a tattoo parlor boss who ditched his employees at the start of the pandemic, then wanted them back, when business returned.

He did not want his ditched employee to go on, get another job, he wanted them back, and if they were no longer available, he wanted them cancelled, erased, jailed and deported.

That only took one visit / phone call, to the GNC offices.

And one call to the tax office.

Boy, these people move fast.

The group of protestors in front of GOA headquarters told the same story, they spoke about envy, and jealousy, they did not mention any names, and did not say it directly, but we all understood what they meant. Someone snitched, and gave the authority incriminating information, aware of the consequences.

The former employer’s motives were clear, wanting to destroy competition – if I can’t have them, you can’t have them –and he did not care about the human price, paid by real people, sitting five weeks in a cell, while being a law-abiding citizen all along.

Happy ending: Following a ferocious PR battle, lawyers, court dates, files and petitions, supported by the new employer, who obviously values the tattoo artist, the Minister of Justice intervened in his great wisdom, and released the detainee, until further handling of his case.

 

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February 20, 2021
Rona Coster