I think, to be honest/fair, there's a certain measure of denial in it, as I mentioned. Punta Cana, by all accounts, is absolutely gorgeous and I've personally not read of crime being a problem in that part of the DR. But over the years, when I've mentioned that overall the country has a pretty significant drug-trafficking and violence issue, I get back a lot of hemming and hawwing from those folks.
And I should be clear, beyond the need for them to fully explain what the fuck is going on with these pulmonary embolisms popping up all over the damn place, I'm not saying ppl shouldn't go down there.
But I'm sad to report the ignorance can be strong in certain pockets of this country, overall education level be damned.