Is Robert De Niro an A$$h0!e ???

Thank you for this video. Please keep us posted if you learn of any developments in favor of empowering the residents.

Great information! I'm glad you delved in and shared the local perspective. It often gets lost and the voices fade. I fear that Trump's objective is the same for Puerto Rico. People abandon their homesteads for a lack of services and the gov't takes over and sells to developers. Not honorable, but that is who our country elected

DeNiro may be a dick in this instance but he also just banned Trump from all of his restaurants so he can't be all bad. : ) I hope he uses his powers for good.

Sounds like Haiti all over again. Albeit a bit different as far as the communal property and small community. Disaster struck in the form of an earthquake and everyone reached out to help. Even some famous people (they know who they are) who took up to help their fellow Haitians. In the end it didn’t turn out well for the locals. The money went missing, contracts were given to relatives or friends of officials and money was misappropriated at every turn. Barbuda has a slightly different narrative but humans remain the same. Yes they need money for infrastructure and certainly to rebuild but at what cost. In the end Haiti had a tiny fraction of homes rebuilt compared to what was promised. It’s such a greedy world we live in. I’m am rooting for The people of Barbuda. I truly hope they can find a balance that doesn’t destroy their way of life. Love your investigative reporting guys, keep it up!

This has been done around the world, money for unnecessary development puts countries (Greece) in debt forever to Goldman Sachs and "investors." Mother Nature will have the last grim laugh, as the mega-storms are only going to get worse.

We were visiting Barbuda just a year ago prior to Irma. The people were absolutely beautiful and their simplistic island lifestyle was inspirational. We walked along in front of the K club property and other closed resorts . From talking to the locals prior to Irma, they were interested in developers coming in to renovate the closed resorts and encourage tourism. We heard about De Niro’s plan to expand the K club to a mega yacht, mega resort facility. Most locals were against such development on a massive scale. And at that time, land ownership by non-Barbudans was not on the table. You discuss the communal ownership of land. I wouldn’t call it communal, I would call it native. You must be a native to own property but not all property is owned by all Barbudans. They are a part of the nation of Antigua and Barbuda and as citizens, they should expect drinking water and electricity. Antigua is known for corrupt government. While we were there, we learned about Chinese money being used to build infrastructure such as community buildings and hospitals on the island In exchange for UN voting support- this is happening throughout the Caribbean. Thank you for bringing attention to Barbuda. It is a very special place and I hope it remains that way.

Sadly none of this deplorable behaviour by corporate bodies and greedy politicians comes as a surprise any more. As the great Terry Pratchet used to say "principles are soluble in cash".

This is as heartbreaking to me as it gets. Wow. We have already seen how many of these small islands have changed (for the worse) with these mega hotels and resorts coming in to small out islands (in the Bahamas for instance) and promising jobs and money to the island - yet these people who live there don't see the money. The reefs and ecosystems are being decimated by too many people (tourists who don't care about the residents or people or sea life), and the money lines the pockets of scoundrels who never see that the true beauty is the raw and rare simplicity of these islands and its people. I am beyond heartbroken to hear this. How can we stop it? How can we help? There has to be something we can do.

But then with 1600 residents of Barbuda, they put up 1600 dollars and own the land communally.....? Nothing is ever this simple is it?

I have seen a couple other sailing channels (Ran Sailing and Shaun and Julia Sailing) that bear record of finding islands already decimated by defunct resorts and now vacant and crumbling into disrepair. These were run by supposed Cartels, or high-dollar moneymen. Now Cuba itself is a different case entirely, but has much influence in these islands. This could end up as a political gambit with other leaders trying to exert their influence on autonomy. Your message is a step in the right direction.

I had heard something about that a while back. And to use your words, it's some serious bullshit.

Riley, No doubt the difficulty the people on Barbuda have gone through is horrendous and it will take capital to repair the damage. Speaking in generalities, people who put up capital to make repairs wanting something in return like ownership rights seems completely legit to me. A fair deal could be done here.

Riley: Eco other comment(S) above; Tread lightly; all Politics [($)] is local until its not; call a legal mind in AU (once colonial) - understand how U? could help, or not, or hinder concerns of the good, bad or ugly, and thus, be helpful with personal participation from "off shore,"

...it would also be good if someone had S. Colbert's writing team's email address...one could circumvent the grass-roots slog and get right into an artery. This is a land grab + indigenous displacement.

It would be interesting to know how the business plan was presented to de Niro.

This is some heavy stuff ): I really feel for the people of the land.. There are more than enough resorts in the world. I can't imagine how someone can have such a warped view of reality.. De niro has so much money already. The fact he and others have such a viewset that allows them to choose for others to have nothing and in return for them to have more is a very scary thing

Riley, If what you are saying is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, the Answer is "YES"

Riles & Elay ,we are mere mortals but you my friends have the power of your Channel to help these people,your followers ,if you started a campaign with someone like 38 degrees and we all signed and share it then its power to the people .please do that and we can all sign,post and share

It’s a very sad situation. There has to be some middle road available where the folks living there now can maintain access to their communal property while still bringing in some investment and infrastructure improvements... I wish I had answers for these people who seem to be caught in a very unfortunate and unhappy circumstance.

I also read that the Clinton Foundation is involved. This is horrible really. The more I read and watch, the worse it gets.

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Hope they give you something really fast

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De Niro is just like Trump. He is crazy to think what he liked about the island will be the same after he gets done with development.

Robert Denero? We knew he was an asshole Way before this video! He is a liberal that thinks of only himself.

Doesn't Rhiannon have family there still or is that a diffrent country....guess I will check it out...the people need help in more ways than we can even think about. I don't know the answer. Thanks for posting, I'll check this out.

Its amazing what people with money will do to people who dont

But.....If the local population does not want the tourism / invasion at any scale, and would prefer to survive as best they can (as the always have, I imagine), then that should also be their right and choice to make. Is there a possible middle ground? Allow for a reasonable amount of very expensive bungalows, with specific controls and restrictions on impacting the local population (no high rises, no forced displacement etc.) Developers could still make profits, just not as much, and the locals could potentially benefit if it's done right. (But only if that's what they want).

De Niro is nothing more than an over paid, self centered, high-school drop out. The people of Barbuda should keep THEIR land. Selling out to developers will destroy the landscape, and eventually turn the island into another "Nassau", with the local people being pushed out. De Niro does not care about the history, culture, or the people of the island. He is in it for the $$.

I'm glad you've told this story, and you're smart to warn folks it's not a typical episode. If it's just about who owns the land, it seems like the local population, and their descendants, should be able to share in the wealth of the development opportunity, while being guaranteed a personal family home and reasonable amount of property for their own private use (presumably they would all raise their standard of living etc.)

That's so unfortunate that the people are being treated this way and are getting boxed out of a deal that they should have ownership in. Given politics are corrupt, let's hope for strong job creation and wage growth as it might be all they get. I'm no activist, nor do I want to be, and I agree w Mr Giroux. Thank you for making it known. Like you said Riley, there's little we can do about it...hoping for the best for the people.

Caution you’re now entering the “Political Zone” a place nobody emerges from unscathed!!! Please don’t become an activist!!!

De Niro? The low rent guy that takes the "high road" politically. There it is.

Moratorium

Good work Riley, De Niro is indeed a asshole, besides this topic and his land ownership deal. he's a off the hinge Liberal bashing our Great President almost daily, to the point where he has been boycotted by most of the nation. So yeah good thing you brought attention to this. Way to fight for the people here Riles.

Riley, great research & opinion. If anything is done in Barbuda, the local people must be involved & compensated. It is their land. If a resort is built, it should be limited & profits enjoyed by all inhabitants. Alaska has delivered funds to all Alaskans out of the profits from oil. Same here somehow. Do the local people have any voting rights that can be used to influence the politicians? There must be some agency that can assist, UN or otherwise.

First of all - you guys are naturals at this political pro-earth thing! Yeezus! I was sucked right in by your angering but believable title. And feel well-introduced to the issue as well as curious and excited about finding out more... I lived in Maui and France over this past year and it was devastating to see how both places have been overtaken by the resort industry in less time than I've been alive. While Maui has had a lot of success with preserving land thanks to a very motivated population of locals, Oahu has not, and both coasts of France are being devastated by richies trying to build resorts & hotels. I think, if you two move carefully through this discussions, you could have a really big and meaningful impact on our environment through your platform. Thanks for speaking up. Big love.

What profits a man if he gains the whole world,but loses his soul ? I know what I would rather have. Love of money is the root of all evil,not money itself, money can buy freedom from poverty hunger and disease or it can lay in offshore bank accounts doing nothing to help anyone including the account holder apart from buying the odd superyacht or car,no point in being a rich person in the graveyard or in the mansion..something will be missing,your soul and that's priceless.

I can recommend to also read the articles which explain in detail the history and the present situation of Barbuda and its inhabitants. I for instance didn't know that there existed this kind of communal landownership anywhere in the world and seemingly worked for a long time. It would be sad if this really would be destroyed by these ignorants, and I hope and wish that the people of Barbuda will win in the end. Thank you Riley & Elay for this informative post, well done!

This is no different what happened native indians in America in "go west"-movement. Their land was robbed from them, plain and simple. You are right, there is nothing we can do or say that could have an impact, which is sad. Still it is very important to give those people a voice, even it appears to be like shouting in the wind (or in this case a hurricane). Nice work, Riley. Hats off, man!

Did... not... disappoint 👏🏼 was really looking forward to this! It’s time - PATREvOlutioN ✊🏼 SLV sub series name for these investigative pieces 😉 looking forward to more!

Use your social media savvy to crowd fund a legal team. Or better still to kickstart infrastructure remedials. It’s a tough one. David and Goliath is happening all over. No easy fix.

De Niro aside (maybe he means well?); a number of questions come to mind. Many islands were devastated by Irma. All of the islands are at continued risk and that will not change. Where is Barbuda going to get the money to rebuild its infrastructure and protect that infrastructure from future storms? What was considered infrastructure before the storm damage? What is the collective will of the population moving forward? The government should make its citizenry aware of the challenges it's facing and include them in building a meaningful solution. Puerto Rico was hit by Maria last September and estimates are near 90 billion. Their infrastructure was already failing. Elon Musk installed his power solution at Hospital Del Nino providing critical services. Elon has powered numerous other remote islands around the globe. PR is broke, who knows how they will pay for it?

The whole world doesn’t need to become a hotel, so well said buddy. A similar thing is happening up on the west coast of Canada with the First Nation bands. They are being pressured to privatize their land and sell it off for cheap. A 100,000 meter square mall was just built in Tsawwassen close to Vancouver... so I hope the Barbudan’s have better luck.

Riley saw something and said something.Now if only God could help these people in need to get Organized and educate them on what to do by sending Sean Penn in there to make it happen eh!

The real issue is that there is no capital to build infrastructure in Barbuda. These islands need infrastructure in the form of hotels, ports, shopping centers, airports to generate jobs. Excess of labor demand will increase salaries. If you really want to help you have to go beyond lifting the veil on the apparent corruption and lay way to potential solutions to attract investment in a way that benefits the majority of the population. You have found a very modern way to raise money for your ventures thru technology and crowdfunding. Wonder what you could do for the people of Barbuda if you start working on solution space rather than just awareness.

Riley,

Isn’t it better for Barbuda and it’s citizens long term to have private ownership of the land to modernize schools power sewage (All infrastructure) than to have a communal land ownership system ? Nobody should live in buildings that can be blown apart in a hurricane ? Barbuda was flattened after Irma. Just because a system of land ownership that resembles socialism has been in effect doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t change that’s what kept the citizens of Barbuda in poverty. Yes real estate speculators will make profits and there will government corruption ! But people will also get an education have an airport and reliable power, better medical facilities will become available. You can’t stop progress or greed and protests don’t work. We can only hope Barbuda gets the money the opportunists promise when they take what they want. Wow that was depressing ! Pass the Vodka

they would determine equivalent to ownership $$$ dollar returns . Or "syndicate" the property with natives part of the syndicate and paid with further syndicate ownership as part of their work contributions.

The "locals" should form a "union" equivalent and hold up the developers to employ only natives at "rates"

Such a shame... been there and a proud people and unlike many islands down there, the land was given to the locals when slavery broke up and they should be able to keep it. Many islands went to European (Dutch, French etc) folks that were on the other side of slavery and there still a bad vibe to this day. Hope your publicity helps...

Great use of your platform. Thanks guy for sharing guys.

De Niro may not be the asshole after all. The Barbuda government is seeking a large windfall for themselves and, secondarily in my opinion, the citizenry and seems to be overriding their objections to due process. Celebrity investments are opening up worldwide and Barbuda is joining the bandwagon. Celebrities will answer the call; it's just that De Niro, et al, is first and in the limelight. If not him, then who? The island desperately needs rebuilding cash, but will this deal actually direct it to the island or into graft? Bobby can boycott the govt and along with Hollywood draw attention to the corruption.

would the locals be able to withhold or block utilities to the property? And or access otherwise? Also isn’t the country a democracy... vote the president out?

Thanks for sharing, had no idea. I'll share it around when the video is public.