Dominican Republic health officials lashed out Wednesday at the recent reports exposing the deaths of American tourists visiting their country, calling them “fake news” with the intent to derail the county’s tourism industry.
“It’s all a hysteria against the Dominican Republic, to hurt our tourism, this is a very competitive industry and we get millions of tourists, we are a popular destination,” Carlos Suero, the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Public Health spokesman told Fox News. “People are taking aim at us.”
Suero also insisted during the interview that tests of resort booze, food and other areas of the impacted luxury properties by Dominican authorities and US Embassy officials came back negative.
He also said on Wednesday that the FBI is also testing alcoholic beverages from the resorts.
A number of tourists — at least nine — have reportedly died under mysterious circumstances, some after consuming booze from their hotel room minibars.
The State Department in a statement to Fox News didn’t back up Suero’s claim, instead saying, “We are closely monitoring ongoing investigations by Dominican authorities into several recent deaths of U.S. citizens in the Dominican Republic.”
Dominican Public Health Minister Rafael Sanchez sided with Suero, blasting the string of reports as “a setup,” aimed at “hurting tourism,” according to Fox News.