Juan Williams on Dominican Republic tourist deaths
Juan Williams on Dominican Republic tourist deaths
The Dominican government hasn't been explicit enough regarding suspicious deaths or illnesses in the popular vacation destination over the last year, according to Juan Williams.
As the number of incidents continues to rise, Williams claimed Thursday on "The Five" that observers have been left to draw their own conclusions due to a lack of information from officials.
"I don't think they have been transparent - I don't think they've been clear with people about what's going on," he said.
"People then fill the void with rumors and supposition. We all agree ... it's a small percentage of the total number of visitors that go to the Dominican Republic.
DOMINICAN TOURISM EXPERT WARNS OF 'CATASTROPHE' IF AUTHORITIES STONEWALL IN DEATH PROBES
"So I don't think we've been unfair."
Williams said another situation of interest is the shift in reports about a shooting that left a retired Boston Red Sox star seriously injured.
"On this David Ortiz shooting thing, they're now saying it's not David Ortiz, it's another target," he said.
"Are you guys covering something up here?"
A Dominican federal prosecutor said Wednesday the Ortiz shooting was a result of mistaken identity, as the intended target was a man dressed similarly to the former slugger.
In the wake of the ongoing health scare, Dominican officials dismissed reports of the rash of deaths of U.S. tourists at luxury resorts as nothing more than “fake news” aimed at undermining their tourism industry.
Ministry of Public Health spokesman Carlos Suero told Fox News on Wednesday either final or preliminary autopsy reports for the tourists whose deaths are publicly known show they died of natural causes.
In response to the news, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. - the first and only Dominican-American to serve in Congress - announced Thursday he will be visiting with officials in the Caribbean nation to discuss the mysterious deaths.
Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly, Frank Miles and Elizabeth Llorente contributed to this report.
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