Dominican Republic–Haiti relations

Dominican Republic-Haiti relations

Dominican Republic
Haiti

Dominican Republic–Haiti relations refers to the political and social relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. These two countries coexist on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The living standards in the Dominican Republic are considerably higher than those in Haiti. There are deep-set cultural differences that contribute to the long-standing Haitian-Dominican conflict.

History

Overview

Struggles begun during colonial times have developed into nearly constant conflict between the two governments.[1] The political division of the island of Hispaniola is due in part to the bitter European struggle for control of the New World during the 17th century, when France and Spain began fighting for control of the island. They resolved their dispute in 1697 by splitting the island into two countries.[2] It was not until the 19th century that Haiti became independent from France on January 1, 1804.

The Disgorgement of Moca and Santiago

In January 1805 the remnants of the French army were on the east side of the island commanded by the French General Louis Ferrand come back into action. Ferrand ordered his troops to hunt black boys and girls under 14 years old to be sold as slaves. This causes the wrath of Dessalines who invaded the eastern part of the island and then raze some villages as Azua and Moca besieging the city of Santo Domingo on March 5, 1805.[3]

On April 6 Henri Christophe gathered his troops in Santiago; they slaughtered in the cemetery, male prisoners, among whom 20 were priests, they also set fire to the town and its 5 churches, and left, taking as a flock of 249 women, 430 girls and 318 boys (almost all whites), this amount, very high considering the relatively small population of these villages, some were killed, others were kidnapped and taken prisoners, forced to walk by foot to Haiti.[4]

In the main altar of the church of Moca 40 children had their throat slit by the Haitian army, besides this notified recount, the disgorgements on the entire island are countless, as this action by order of Dessalines was implemented in many parts of the French territory of the island and the victims were thousands.[5]

The Dominicans declared their first independence from Spain in November 1821. On February 9, 1822, the Haitian leader Jean-Pierre Boyer led troops into Dominican territory to declare an end to slavery across the island. Haitians soon gained control of Santo Domingo, successfully ending slavery in the Dominican side of the island. In effort to unify the island, Boyer then took over Santo Domingo and its people.[6] The twenty two years of Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo after a brief period of independence are remembered by Dominicans as a period of brutal military regime, the use of the Spanish language was restricted. The Haitian army tried to eliminate traditions, confiscated all church land and property, military service and French language were imposed, the army also close La Universidad Santo Tomas de Aquino, (the oldest one in America).

This period of time stirred up in Dominicans the perception of themselves as different from Haitians in language, race, religion and national traditions and also created a resentment of Haiti by the Dominicans, which saw the Haitians as oppressors.

Occupation

In order to raise funds for the huge indemnity of 150 million francs that Haiti agreed to pay the former French colonists, and which was subsequently lowered to 60 million francs, Haiti imposed heavy taxes on the Dominicans. Since Haiti was unable to adequately provision its army, the occupying forces largely survived by commandeering or confiscating food and supplies at gunpoint. Attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the system of communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), which had arisen with the ranching economy, and newly emancipated slaves resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer's Code Rural.[7] In rural areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it was there that the movement for independence originated.

Haiti's constitution also forbade white elites from owning land, and the major landowning families were forcibly deprived of their properties. Most emigrated to Cuba, Puerto Rico (these two being Spanish possessions at the time) or Gran Colombia, usually with the encouragement of Haitian officials, who acquired their lands. The Haitians, who associated the Roman Catholic Church with the French slave-masters who had exploited them before independence, confiscated all church property, deported all foreign clergy, and severed the ties of the remaining clergy to the Vatican. Santo Domingo's university, lacking both students and teachers had to close down, and thus the country suffered from a massive case of human capital flight.

Although the occupation effectively eliminated colonial slavery and instated a constitution modeled after the United States Constitution throughout the island, several resolutions and written dispositions were expressly aimed at converting average Dominicans into second-class citizens: restrictions of movement, prohibition to run for public office, night curfews, inability to travel in groups, banning of civilian organizations, and the indefinite closure of the state university (on the alleged grounds of its being a subversive organization) all led to the creation of movements advocating a forceful separation from Haiti with no compromises. In the Dominican War of Independence[8] Dominicans fought against the Haitian occupation[9] Led by Juan Pablo Duarte who along with Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Matías Ramón Mella, gave the Dominicans, in February 27, 1844 freedom from Haitian rule, thus giving birth to the Dominican Republic, a self-sufficient nation established on the liberal ideals of a democratic government.

Since then, Dominican-Haitian relations have been unstable.[10]

Parsley Massacre

Main article: Parsley Massacre

In 1937, claiming that Haiti was harboring his former Dominican opponents, Rafael Trujillo ordered an attack on the border, slaughtering tens of thousands of Haitians as they tried to escape. The number of dead is still unknown, though it is now calculated between 20,000[11] and 30,000.[12]

Cultural and economic factors

In the mid-Twentieth Century, both countries had a comparable economy, but while the Dominican economy grew, Haiti's diminished as a result of factors such as internal power struggles, rapid population growth, environmental degradation, and trade embargoes. Today, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. There is a lack of resources and Haiti's population density exceeds its neighbor's by far. Despite the U.N. sending missions since the 90s, in order to maintain peace, terrible conditions persist.[13] One large contributor to cultural dissonance is the language barrier, as Spanish is the primary language spoken in the eastern part of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) while French and Creole spoken in the western part (Haiti). Race is another defining factor of Dominican-Haitian relations. The ethnic composition of the Dominican population is 73% Mixed (mestizos and mulattos), 16% white and 11% black; with a significant number of Triracial people (European-African-Indigenous mix)[14] whilst 95% of the Haitian population is black and only 5% is composed of mulatto and other minorities. The development of social classes in the Dominican Republic is somewhat based on race. Since the Haitian invasion of 1822, skin color holds importance in Dominican society. Darker-colored Dominicans are usually found in the lower class, while lighter-skinned (mixed, whites and others) Dominicans are found in the middle and upper class. Today, most Haitians are darker-skinned because most of their ancestors were previously slaves. Unfortunately in the Dominican Republic, there is a stigma behind dark-skinned residents. People with darker skin are usually associated with poor, uneducated Haitians because of their past connections with slavery.[15] Another disparity between is the popular religions of the two countries. Dominicans are much more strongly tied to Roman Catholic and Christian sects, opposed to folk religion, like Vodou, that is practiced in Haiti.[16]

Also the Dominican economy is over 600% larger than the Haitian economy. The estimated annual per capita income is US$1,300 in Haiti and US$8,200 in Dominican Republic.[17] The divergence between the level of economic development between Haiti and the Dominican Republic makes their border the one with the highest contrast of all Western world borders and it is evident that the Dominican Republic has one of the highest illegal migration issues in the Americas.[18]

Haitian migration in the Dominican Republic

Some cross-border cooperation exists in areas such as health, business, and infrastructure. Many Haitians travel to the Dominican to find seasonal or long-term work in order to send remittances to their families. Some of these Haitian workers, as well as Dominicans of Haitian descent have reported complaints of discrimination against them by the Dominican majority population. Other Haitians who would seek work, instead remain in Haiti, fearing discrimination on the other side of the border. Migration has been taking place since the 1920s, when Haitian laborers were actively encouraged to come work in the thriving Dominican sugar industry. With modernization from the 1960s on, fewer workers were required, and other Dominican industries and services started employing more Haitian workers, often an inexpensive, less regulated labor source with fewer legal protections. Many Haitian women find work in Dominican households, and Haitian men at Dominican construction sites, often leading to the move of an entire family. A large number of migrated Haitian workers have continued to live in the Dominican over several generations. The two governments have been unable to agree upon a legal framework to address the nationality of these descendants, leaving around one million people of Haitian ancestry in the Dominican Republic effectively stateless, restricting their access to health care, education and employment opportunities.[19] Though migration from Haiti to the Dominican is economically beneficial to both countries, it is one of the leading contributors to tension between the two countries as well; illegal immigration from Haiti resonates high dissonance with the Dominican people. It has led to anti-Haitian feelings and mistrust of the Haitian people. Another problem with Haitian migration into Dominican Republic is that it blurs the line of citizenship. This factor of migration affects not only Dominican economy but its culture as well.[20]

The 2010 Haitian earthquake

After the devastating earthquake of 12 January 2010, countless Haitians fled across the border to escape the quake's effects. The Dominican government was one of the first to send teams to help distribute food and medicine to the victims and made it easier for Haitians to acquire visas to receive treatment in Dominican hospitals. Supplies were transported to Haiti through the Dominican Republic, and many injured Haitians have been treated in Dominican hospitals. Virtually, every level of the Dominican efforts assisted its neighboring country. Haitian refugees were also taken in and supported by many Dominicans, though relations have since deteriorated, as the refugees have remained in the Dominican Republic, leading to reported concerns among some Dominicans that quake refugees contribute to rising crime, over-crowding, cholera and unemployment. More and more discrimination has been attributed by the massive amounts of Haitian refugees in the Dominican. Over the past years tensions have risen, causing the International Organization for Migration to offer to pay Haitians $50 a piece, plus additional relocation assistance, to go back to Haiti. More than 1,500 have gone back through the program.[21]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=conflict_haiti_dominican
  2. ↑ Wucker, Michele. 1999, Why the Cocks Fights: The Dominican/Haitian Struggle for Hispaniola. New York: Hill & Wang Inc.
  3. ↑ http://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/2014/04/03/i552671_degello-moca.html
  4. ↑ http://lavendatransparente.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/el-deguelle-de-moca-santiago-y-parte-de-la-islael-holocausto-mas-grande-de-la-hispaniola/
  5. ↑ http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/01/28/1805-deguello-moca
  6. ↑ http://www.blackpast.org/gah/haitian-invasions-and-occupation-santo-domingo-1801-1844
  7. ↑ Terrenos comuneros arose because of “scarce population, low value of the land, the absence of officials qualified to survey the lands, and the difficulty of dividing up the ranch in such a way that each would receive a share of the grasslands, forests, streams, palm groves, and small agricultural plots that, only when combined, made possible the exploitation of the ranch.” (Hoetink, The Dominican People: Notes for a Historical Sociology transl. Stephen Ault Pg. 83 (Johns Hopkins Press: Baltimore, 1982)
  8. ↑ Dominican War of Independence
  9. ↑ Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo
  10. ↑ Moya, Pons Frank. 1977. Historia Colonial de Santo Domingo. 3rd ed. Santiago: Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra.
  11. ↑ Pack, Parini 1997, p. 78.
    On October 2, 1937, Trujillo had ordered 20,000 Haitian cane workers executed because they could not roll the "R" in perejil, the Spanish word for parsley.
  12. ↑ Cambeira 1996, p. 182.
    anyone of African descent found incapable of pronouncing correctly, that is, to the complete satisfaction of the sadistic examiners, became a condemned individual. This holocaust is recorded as having a death toll reaching thirty thousand innocent souls, Haitians as well as Dominicans.
  13. ↑ http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1953959,00.html
  14. ↑ http://www.dominicanaonline.org/portal/espanol/cpo_etnica.asp
  15. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=cXyV65U2vsQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
  16. ↑ Franco, Franklin J.1973. ―Antihaitianismo e ideologia del Trujillato.‖ P. 83-109 In Gerard Pierre-Charles et al., Problemas Dominico-Haitianos y del Caribe. Mexico D.F..: Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico.
  17. ↑ Bello, Marisol (January 21, 2010). "Hispaniola comparison". USA Today.
  18. ↑ IMF - PIB per cápita (PPA) República Dominicana / Haití
  19. ↑ http://haitiinnovation.org/en/2009/05/21/haiti-and-dominican-republic-same-island-different-worlds
  20. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/american-anthropological-association/generations-of-haitian-de_b_4156611.html
  21. ↑ Childress, Sarah (August 31, 2011). "DR to Haitians: get lost". Retrieved April 22, 2013.