The Political Persecution papers in the Romero Collection
The Political Persecution papers include clippings and copies of contemporary articles published about the dolphin controversy, correspondence and faxes between Romero and his supporters, and dot-matrix printouts of email discussions on continuous form paper. Additional documents include a summary of Romero's case (10) and an exposition on the history of the Venezuelan government's prosecution of environmentalists (11) who denounced the killing of dolphins. The Collection also contains a copy of the original video shot by Romero and Agudo in its entirety. (12)
More than ten years later, Romero contributed a chapter to the book Adventures of the Wild: Experiences from Biologists from the Natural State. The chapter is titled "Nobody's Dolphins." (13) In it, Romero relates and reflects upon the story of the dolphin episode. Romero and Agudo no longer live in Venezuela and have become citizens elsewhere (the United States and Brazil, respectively). (14)
Romero continues to research and write about the exploitation of dolphins.
Footnotes:
10. Romero, Aldemaro, Jr. Case Summary. Also available in box 606 of the Romero Collection.
11. Romero, Aldemaro, Jr. The Killing of Dolphins in Venezuela and the Government Prosecution against Environmentalists for Denouncing It. Also available in box 606 of the Romero Collection.
12. Available in DVD format in box 654 of the Romero Collection.
13. Romero, Aldemaro, Jr. "Nobody's Dolphins." Adventures of the Wild: Experiences from Biologists from the Natural State. Eds. Joy Trauth and Aldemaro Romero. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2008. 11-19.
14. Romero was inteviewed in December 2014 by Tom Atwood for the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville College of Arts and Sciences Segue series. In the interview, Romero gives an overview of his life story, including the issue with the dolphins.