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Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, Mark Kurlansky, and Edwidge Danticat wrote a letter to The New York Times in which they firmly stood against Ruling 168-13 where all Dominicans born to undocumented parents are to be stripped of their citizenship. Junot Diaz was later caught telling cameras that Dominican politicians are corrupt. Dominican official Jose Santana then proceeded to write an email to Diaz calling him a “pseudo intellectual”. He later wrote a letter to Latino Rebels regarding his email to Junot Diaz, and he stated that the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic is under attack.
Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, Mark Kurlansky, and Edwidge Danticat wrote a letter to The New York Times in which they firmly stood against Ruling 168-13 where all Dominicans born to undocumented parents are to be stripped of their citizenship. Junot Diaz was later caught telling cameras that Dominican politicians are corrupt. Dominican official Jose Santana then proceeded to write an email to Diaz calling him a “pseudo intellectual”. He later wrote a letter to Latino Rebels regarding his email to Junot Diaz, and he stated that the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic is under attack.
This is actually not the first time that I hear the argument in
"defense of Dominican sovereignty". One of my childhood friends
recently posted a picture on Instagram where she attended a rally by the Red Nacional por la Defensa de la
Soberanía Dominicana in support of Ruling 168-13. Different folks
cosigned her position, stating "This isn't about race, it's about
sovereignty".
Santana writes in his email "Dominican
sovereignty is the scapegoat that France and the United States intend to
sacrifice in order to get rid of the ‘bad conscience’ representing the Haitian
tragedy, and the anti-Dominicans of the media in our country assist them with
enthusiasm in this ominous feast." Santana goes on to paint a
false picture between Dominican Republic and immigrants of Haitian descent. He
describes the relationship as one of solidarity when, aside from recent show of
solidarity during natural disasters, a close look at the history of the Dominican-Haitian relationship proves quite the opposite. Nonetheless, I
won't dwell into that right now. First, I'm going to point out the real irony
of this letter and the overall argument that a critique—by whomever—of
the 168-13 ruling is an attack on Dominican Sovereignty.
The Dominican Republic ranks
last in the World Economic
Forum when it comes to government waste. Most Dominicans see the
government as corrupt, and although this may not be true of every single
Dominican official, threats like Santana’s to legally challenge Junot Diaz for
speaking publicly of this corruption are what truly take away from freedom of
speech, investigative journalism and sovereignty of the Dominican people.
Protests in 2012 against the so-called "Paquetazo"
actually demanded a
decrease in government expenditure rather than the proposed increase on sales
taxes and taxes on fuel; especially after it was revealed that government
salaries were increasing, for example Education Minister Josefina Pimentel's
salary was being raised from $4,660 per month to $7,500. Numbers speak for
themselves, as was stated in an article on The
Economist during these
protests:
The
state hires too many people for non-essential jobs—it has more diplomats in the
United States than Brazil and the seven Central American countries combined—and
pays them generously. The country’s central-bank president earns 32% more than
Ben Bernanke of the United States’ Federal Reserve.
There's even a term in the country called "Trabajo
Botella" which can be defined as government jobs where folks get paid
simply for the title but they essentially do nothing. So, to Mr. Santana and others attacking Junot Diaz for calling out
the government's corruption, remember that Dominicans, LOS DOMINICANOS, as
Santana differentiated with bold and capital fonts in his letter, were actually
in La
Plaza de La Bandera in 2012, chanting "¡Ladrón, ladrón, ladrón,
ladroncito, ladronazo, ladronazazaso!"; Is Santana going to legally challenge
them as well?
Furthermore, Santana's letter actually does
reveal some truths: The United States and France are largely guilty for the
poverty in Haiti. But remember that the U.S. is also culpable for the situation
in the Dominican Republic. The United States has intervened in the Dominican
Republic several times, the latest forced
intervention was to take Juan Bosch off presidency due to his leftist
ideals—Juan Bosch being the first democratically elected president after the
Rafael L. Trujillo dictatorship.
The World Bank states
that the Dominican Republic
has been one of the fastest growing economies lately, yet 40% of its population
is poor. 40 PERCENT. Where is all that money from the booming economy going? Why is
the Dominican Republic one of the few countries in Latin America where income
inequality has actually increased over the last ten years? If it wasn't because
the government has such a strong choke on its own people and because the United
States has such a strong relationship with the Dominican Republic, then I bet
those numbers would change. A report
by RT shows that foreign
investment is at almost every economic sector in the Caribbean. The real
faithful server of the United States is the Dominican government, the U.S. being
the country's most important partner. This shows not just in the economic
relationship between both, but also in the number of Dominicans speaking
English online and in the streets, the number of American restaurants in
central parts of town, and the music playing on some radio stations.
If anything, this ruling is an example of further Americanization
of the country by Americanizing its laws and its border. A recent
article in The Nation exposed the
presence of U.S. border patrol in the Dominican Republic. Dominicans are being
trained by U.S. agents. So further reinforcement of border patrol is actually
something that the United States is exporting, therefore this law is not
something that the American government would oppose. In fact, with the cheap
labor of Haitian immigrants in different sectors, for example in Banana
plantations, I would argue that corporations
are the ones that should be regulated for abusing their buying power,
systematically forcing Dominican banana plantation owners to pay their workers
less. Just like in the United States with undocumented workers here, Haitian
workers are exploited and Ruling 168-13 will allow room for more discrimination
to happen. This border patrol situation actually proves the U.S.'s interest in
keeping citizens of poor countries from migrating as was stated in The Nation:
It’s all about Haiti, one of the poorest countries on the
planet. It is a response to fears of the mass movement of desperate, often
hungry, people in the U.S. sphere of dominance. It is the manifestation of a new
vision of global geopolitics in which human beings in need are to be corralled,
their free movement criminalized, and their labor exploited.
By imposing this ruling, the Dominican Republic is actually giving
up its sovereignty to choose to solidarize itself with Haitian immigrants, who
like the millions of Dominican immigrants in the United States and Puerto Rico
(like myself and perhaps Junot Diaz’ family), are seeking better lives. As Mr.
Santana pointed out, yes France and the U.S. are to be blamed for Haiti’s
prevalent poverty, but aligning itself with these imperialist nations is not
the answer when the Dominican Republic is still an exploited, developing
country.
Furthermore, the Dominican Republic is a country with a culture of
self-discrimination and low self-esteem. Dominicans have lost faith in their
government, which over the last few years has changed into a two-party system,
especially since the deaths of Joaquin Balaguer and Juan Bosch, and the (much-needed) decline
in popularity of Balaguer's Partido Reformista Social Cristiano. In his poem, Hay
Un Pais en el Mundo, Pedro Mir wrote about corruption, about thieves of the
land, and he states that "Faltan
hombres" who can revive that land. Decades later, that poem can still
be applied.
Other Latin American countries are already moving towards more progressive governments. In Chile, Michelle Bachelet just got reelected; In Brazil, Dilma
Rousseff of the Worker's Party has been president since 2011; In Ecuador,
Rafael Correa made headlines for stating that if the U.S. wants to have a
military base there, then Ecuador must be allowed to have a military base in
Miami; Bolivia's current leader is Evo Morales, a cocalero activist; amongst
others. Where are the men and women of Pedro Mir's poem who will finally revive
the power of our beautiful land? When will the Dominican Republic finally see
an alternative to the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana and Partido Revolucionario
Dominicano?
Arundhati Roy writes in her essay Democracy: Who is She When She is
at Home? about the rise of
fascism in India. She states that "historically, fascist movements have
been fueled by feelings of national disillusionment". Ruling 168-13 is an
example of this. At the end of 2012, Dominicans were protesting for change and
in 2013 they were met with a distraction.
To say that a law that retroactively strips people of their citizenship
–I repeat: retroactively—is not somehow tied to the racism that has become
inherent in Dominican society is delusional. On February 27th, 1844 the
Dominican Republic did not gain independence from Spain, as many believe, it
gained independence from Haiti. Haitians imposed heavy taxes on Dominicans,
freed the remaining slaves, and disallowed white elites from owning land which
made many of them move to Puerto Rico. Thus, since the moment of it's
independence in 1844, the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti
has been complicated: both countries were victims of larger
colonizers—Spain who tried reoccupying the Dominican Republic, and France who
imposed a very heavy fee on Haitians for their freedom. To this list we may add
the massacre during the Trujillo dictatorship on October 1937. Overall, there
is a hatred of negritude in the Dominican Republic. Being called
"haitian" for being dark skinned, for example, is considered an
insult. I recently wrote
the following on my blog:
One time, when I was probably around 11 years old, I was
walking down a busy street in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
with my mother when we saw a Haitian man being dragged by the arm by several
men. He was sweaty, scared, and clearly trying to run away. If I recall
correctly, I believe that he was wearing no shoes and his chest was showing. I
asked my mother what was happening, and she replied nonchalantly "oh, he
probably tried to steal something".
I was later told that he might be beaten up or even raped by those
men. Ruling 168-13 is racist and it relies on racist fear, racist believes, and a
feeling of self-discrimination that Dominicans have for their own blackness. If
the Dominican government wants to fight for sovereignty, why not fight for a
kind of sovereignty that will give more room to social reform, better education
programs, and better protection for workers? Why is sovereignty tied to
redefining nationality rather than reforming society?
Lastly, calling someone anti-Dominican for disagreeing with the government is a form of political bullying, so to those calling Junot Diaz et al anti-Dominican: check yourselves.
And since y'all love quotes so much, I'll leave you with this:
"We are a small country, we can only grow by love, by virtue, by culture, by kindness." -Juan Bosch
7 comments :
http://esonosehacerd.blogspot.com/ Dominican Economist Miguel Ceara Hatton's Statement to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission December 2013
Wow, it is difficult to find places with such detailed description of the relationship between Haiti/DR and with such detailed analysis of race relations in DR. Thanks for sharing! I remember the comments and racism towards Peña Gomez, and even in schools we were taught that "Haitians wanted to take over." I specifically appreciate how he explained the evolution of the law and how throughout the years it became more exclusive, ending in what today is this ruling. Again, gracias!
I love what you wrote and hope what you have said continues to circulate. Fortunately, I believe this situation has given us an opportunity to continue to have a dialogue about the present and future challenges in the Dominican Republic. We still need more people with the moral courage to stand up to this unjust sentencing.
Thanks, fortunately it has.
Why are you folks trying to hide the sun with one finger? By any chance has anyone noticed how the DR has been invaded by thousands of Haitians? Do you think this a a problem or what? Do we really want our country to become another Haiti? The problem is not racism, it is an excuse to distract us away from the real issue. We want to preserve Dominican culture and identity not fuse it with our neighbors next door.
Using discrimination of the skin tone is a scapegoat, and is not true because we value our African, European, and all the roots in D.R. The NGOs, the Clintons, and other greedy people want the Gold and gasoline billions of dollars of the island.
This was written by others people and true.
Dominican Republic always 100% gives free healthcare and education to the illegal Haitian people and Dominicans of Haitian descent. Hospitals and centers are so filled with illegal Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent, and the Dominican citizens are waiting for hospital beds that are filled by the Haitian illegals.
The fact the all the nations of the world put together have not done for Haiti a fraction of what the DR has done and continues to do is not under discussion. 54 thousand women have crossed the border to give birth in Dominican hospitals just in the last 12 months representing and expenditure of 150 million dollars just in that period just for that concept and making our maternal-infant mortality rates collapse to poor African country levels since they cross the border on the same day and with no clinical history or medical records.
When french paratroopers and US emergency services arrived after the earthquake in Haiti, Dominican firemen, armed forces, dominican red cross, doctors, nurses, trucks, ships, helicopters, mobile hospitals and Dominican government money in hundreds of millions of dollars had already been there for 2 weeks!!!! Our government has dedicated the international airport of Barahona for the exclusive use of aid coming for Haiti.
All our ports receive thousands of containers destined for Haiti that come into our ports because Haiti has no ports. Since 2010, 154,000 container trucks destined to Haiti have entered our ports.
Our highways, that we build with loans from the IDB, IMF, World Bank and other institutions controlled by the US are full of trucks destined to Haiti without paying any toll and we also don't charge them for the use of our ports. 61,000 Haitian children are in our public schools, the same schools that don't have sufficient space for many Dominican poor children. 35 thousand study in our government subsidized university. 18% of our health budget is specialized for providing medical services to Haitians. Although our law forbids employing more than 20% foreign nationals in any business, some of our agroindustries employ 80% Haitians and our hotel industry is now 40% Haitian, and the government just looks the other way because of the Human Drama."
We give Haitians everything for many decades and including Dominican nationality once they give birth to their child, and millions of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent live all around and within the Dominican, and Deforestation of Dominican trees is happening, just like they do in Haiti. Laws are not respected.
Is okay to live with a certain amount of people, but Dominican Republic can not take the rest 10 million Haitians brought to the over 10 million population there is in Dominican Republic already. There is no birth control in Haiti and overpopulation is there. Haitians are 86% of the immigrants in Dominican Republic.
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