One Crooked Politician opened his eyes.

Barbour opposes Aruba boycott.
By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
Tuesday, January 10, 2006

The father of missing Alabama teenager Natalie Holloway was taken aback Tuesday when he learned that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour opposes an Aruba tourism boycott that fellow Southern governors have endorsed.

“I don't know what to say,” said Meridian resident Dave Holloway, whose daughter Natalee Holloway disappeared in May while on a senior trip to the Dutch Caribbean island. “The attorney that is representing us indicates that a boycott would help. So far, it has caused them to take a different view of the case.” The Attorney forgot to tell Dave that a boycott will only hurt the economy of the island and its populations but not the investigation, ex-suspects nor would it pressure police and investigators to plant false evidence, just like what Dr. Phil and Skeeters did.

Barbour, in an interview with The Meridian Star's Editorial Board on Tuesday, said he does not believe a tourist boycott of the island is the right means to an end.

“When it comes to boycotting, I am more accustomed to Mississippi being on the receiving end of people boycotting us because they don't like this or that,” he said. “I am not favorably disposed toward that device.”

Some civil rights organizations called for tourist boycotts of Mississippi when voters refused to change the Confederate-themed state flag in a 2001 referendum.

So far, the governors of Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia have urged their citizens not to travel to Aruba until authorities cooperate more fully with the Holloway family.

Three men were questioned in Natalee Holloway's disappearance, but they were later released without being charged.

Beth Holloway Twitty, Natalee's mother and a Birmingham, Ala., resident, is originally from Arkansas. Dave Holloway graduated from high school in Jonesboro, Ark.

Holloway said he called Barbour late last year to ask for his support of the boycott, but he did not get a response.

Barbour said Tuesday his office is doing what it can to support the Holloway family. And the Netherland all what we can to help them after the Katrina Disaster, the unmantained levees and helping in their War in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Through various ways we tried to urge the government of Aruba to not only be as serious and determined about this as possible but to make it plain that they are,” Barbour said. But the media, FOXNEWS, Nancy Waste and Greta van Susselen do not want to show the other side of the story and do not cooperate with the Arubans.

Holloway, a State Farm insurance agent, said he firmly believes a boycott will force the government of Aruba to do more to solve the case. He said he was discouraged from searching for his daughter since the first day he arrived on the island. When he was told that the a massive search would involve a lot of money, from the government and privately.

“The tourism bureau did not want me to do a search because it would bring too much media attention to the island and hurt tourism,” he said. “About 70 percent of their tourists are from the U.S.” Unfortunately the Tourism Board was NOT the one that conducted the searches or investigation.

Holloway said he respects the governor's position.

“But I know (a boycott) would help. It would make them dig deeper and find more answers,” he said. Except he forgot to report that still the Mountain Brook kids and some family members are still not cooperating in the case.