dominican republic

Rafael L. Trujillo welcoming newly-elected Haitian President Paul Magloire in Ciudad Trujillo, Santo Domingo in February 1951. also present were, army officer Hector and Trujillo's son Ramfis.

Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (born on October 24, 1891) was a Dominican politician, soldier and dictator, who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. Trujillo was killed by a group of rebels determined to topple his regime. He was Dominican President between 1930-1938 and 1942-1952. In 1937, he ordered the massacre that took more than 35,000 Haitian lives on charges of invading the Dominican Republic. It was launched by the army with common criminals released for these purposes against Haitians living in the Dominican Republic's northwestern frontier and in certain parts of the adjacent Cibao region. It was a shameful and brutal event that harmed his prestige in the entire world. Punishment for the atrocity amounted to an agreement in which a paltry US $525,000 was paid to the Haitian government. Haitian President Élie Lescot put the death toll at 12,168; in 1953, the Haitian historian Jean Price-Mars cited 12,136 deaths and 2,419 injuries. In 1975, Joaquín Balaguer, the Dominican Republic's interim Foreign Minister at the time of the massacre, put the number of dead at 17,000. Other estimates compiled by the Dominican historian Bernardo Vega went as high as 35,000. Before the massacre, Trujillo made his intentions towards the Haitian community clear in a short speech which he delivered on 2 October 1937 at a dance in his honor in Dajabón. He accused Haitians on charges of thefts of cattle, provisions, fruits, etc., and thus they were preventing Dominican people to live a peaceful life.

Trujillo was a man of bad temper, but had many fabricated justifications of such mass genocide. With the crash of world markets and the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the price of sugar fell drastically, sugar production was cut, and the Haitian worker was no longer in demand in the Dominican Republic. In 1931, Trujillo took power and began to deport Haitians living in the Dominican Republic using discriminatory and inhuman policy to the Haitians. However, when in the 1950s, when the economic situation became reversed, he took a different tone because, by then he had accumulated about 75% of the Dominican sugar mills and had forced many U.S. competitors out of business. To maximize his profit, he turned to the Haitian workers. In 1952, Trujillo and Haiti's President, Paul Magloire, signed a bilateral agreement in which the Dominican Republic bought 16,500 Haitian workers directly from the Haitian government. These migratory Haitian sugar cane cutters were kept in wooden barracks where there was no running water, no electricity, and no bathrooms; the workers were not allowed to leave except to cut sugar cane. Armed guards from the sugar companies kept close watch on them. However, the Haitian government received compensation in selling these men; the money never trickled down into the worker's hands.

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Here is President Jocelerme Privert with Dominican President Danilo Medina.

During the last 7th ACS (Association of Caribbean States) Summit in Havana on June 4, 2016, when Danilo Medina, the Dominican president met President Jocelerme Privert, Medina greeted Privert with a direct question: "When will be elections in Haiti?" Privert replied very quickly, "According to all available information, it has been scheduled for October 9, 2016." Then Privert conveyed his warmest congratulations to the Dominican President Medina for his second time victory under banner of "Partido de la Liberación Dominicana" with 61.61% votes against his main rival Luis Abinader, of the "Partido Revolucionario Moderno" (PRM) party who obtained 35.22% of the votes. Election in Haiti is equally important to the Dominican Republic, because the two countries have many outstanding issues to settle. Privert, as an interim president representing an interim government with little political support, has very limited ability to solve these issues. He was appointed for a very short tenure (120 days) and not to remain in power. In October 2015 during Martelly regime, Haiti unilaterally banned import of 23 Dominican products which choked 88.72% of US$ 467.9 million annual trade between the two countries. As per the decision taken, the banned items cannot cross the land border, but they can enter by boat or plane on payment of taxes to the capital of Port-au-Prince or in the northern coastal town of Cap Haitien. The upcoming October 9 election will start from a scratch. There will be many new candidates, new agreements, new alliances, and different coalitions. Two former allies might become two opponents-- former Presidents Rene Preval and Jean-Bertrand Aristide. However, for us, one thing is important. Privert is thinking for the handover of power.

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Here is a picture of a Haitian delegation in the Dominican Republic as they are interested in adopting Dominican literacy plan Quisqueya Aprende Contigo.

On Thursday, July 21, 2016, Paula Brutus, the Haitian Secretary of State for Literacy Plan, accompanied by 7 Haitian experts visited the Dominican Republic to meet the Dominican Directorate General of Special Programs. The Haitian delegation team expressed Haiti's interest in Dominican government's national literacy plan, "Quisqueya Aprende Contigo". They expressed their interest to adopt that as a role model for eradicating literacy of people over 15 years. "Quisqueya Aprende Contigo" aims at all young and adult illiterates; it has been taken over by the Dominican government, under the leadership of President of the Republic, Danilo Medina. It includes three social programs that composes, "Quisqueya Aprende Contigo", "Quisqueya Empieza Contigo" and "Todos Somos Quisqueya". MS. Paula has admitted that Haiti alone cannot tackle its illiteracy problem; with the feedbacks received from the Dominican government. Haiti will move forward to implement the program for illiterate people aged between 16 and 50 years, during the years 2016-- 2021.

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Thisis expected to be an event out of the ordinary. On December 28, 2012, the current Haitian President Michel Martelly Will Sing With the international singer Julio Iglesias In the Dominican Republic.

Several importand individuals will be present at the charity event, including Henry Kissinger, designers Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta.

President Michel Martelly or sweet Micky on this occasion will sing two songs with Spanish singer Julio Iglesias

Before becoming President of Haiti, Michel martelly was performing on stage as a professional musician

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Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a history of conflict on the island of Hispaniola they share. Recently tensions have escalated at the border crossing. Merchants from Ouanaminthe cross over into Dajabón to sell their wares at the cross-border market.

Reports say violence has erupted between Haitians and Dominicans. But during the last border crossing no flare-ups occurred. A military presence keeps the peace and detains Haitians whom they suspect are potential trouble-makers.

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Here is a photo of some undocumented haitians attempting to enter the Dominican Republic border.

This is as the Dominican authorities announced new measures to stop the entrance of undocumented people from Haiti

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This Saturday, April 16, 2016 many personalities of the Haitian media was present at the inauguration of Maison Kreyol in the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The new Haitian restaurant in Santo Domingo opened during Diaspora Week.

It is primarily a Haitian restaurant which is considered to be the first of its kind in the neighboring country. It is already predicted to become a success for the Haitian community living in the Dominican Republic as the new Maison Kreyol will be a central location for Haitians either living or visiting the Dominican Republic.

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Here is a picture of Vice-Consul of Haiti Judnie Galdine Souffrant as she has decided to paralise traffic on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Vice Consul of the Haitian Consulate, Judnie Galdine Suffering, obstructed the Ouanaminthe border road with her car, impeding traffic for two hours. She invoked diplomatic immunity for refusing to hand over identity documents and car registration.

Consulate and Human Rights Committee representatives arrived to remove the car blocking the road. International conventions still require diplomats ". . . to respect the laws and regulations of the State of residence . . ."

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Industry and Commerce minister of the Dominican Republic, Jose del Castillo, tells Haitian authorities, we have got to talk.

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Here is a picture of a Makeshift camps "Pak Kado" in Anse-à-Pitre for the Deported people coming from the Dominican Republic.

On August 15 and 16, 2015, the Support Group for Returnees and Refugees (GARR) had visited different sites at Anse-à-Pitre which have been built to accommodate the future returnees, our compatriots, from the Dominican Republic. The purpose of their visit was to gather information on the facilities and infrastructure that have been created for the deportees. "Pak Kado" is a camp at the foot of a hill where over 115 repatriated families from the D.R are living since July 17, 2015. The makeshift camps have been built here out of cardboard and straw. There is no regular supply of clean water and food. In similar condition at "Tête à l'eau", a second camp located about 3 kilometers from 'Pak Kado', another 140 families live. People here are dying of hunger. The members of an organization sometime visit these camps and help them with little food. That's all.

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