The Tensions between Haiti and the

Dominican Republic and how these tensions

relate to Geography

By Timothy
An Introduction of Haiti
*According to the CIA.gov
website, Haitis geography
consists of being: tropical;
semiarid where mountains in
east cut off trade winds

*Its Population is 10,413,211 (as
of 2012)

*Its Major Languages: French
and Haitian Creole

*Its Capital City: Port-au-Prince

*Its Government has the
President Michel Martelly
It is also the third largest country in the
Caribbean in terms of land size and
population. Haiti is a member of CARICOM
(or the Caribbean Community) and the Latin
Union.
A Summary of Haitian History
*Haiti was originally inhabited by Native Americans like the
Arawak migrants and the Taino.

*Christopher Columbus traveled into La Navidad during the
late 1400s.

*The Spanish Empire ruled much of Haiti and then left. This
left the French Empire to control Haiti. Black slaves in Haiti
were exploited by the French as a means to develop the
sugar trade. Saint-Domingue was the name of the French
colony in the island of Hispaniola.

Haitian History Continued
Haitian Revolution (1791-1804):

*It happened in 2 phrases. One was headed by former slave
Toussaint Louverture. He was captured by the French and
died in prison. The second one involved the Haitians
defeating Napoleon forces. Jean-Jacques Dessalines
defeated the French at the Battle of Vertieres in November
of 1803. The independence of Haiti was declared in January
1, 1804. Haiti being a new nation was a great thing.

*There has been the factions of leaders of black African
descent like Henri Christophe in Haiti and other leaders like
Alexandre Petion (who was a biracial person). Even to this
day, many biracial Haitians have more political power than
black Haitians.

Some 19
th
century History:

*Haiti since then have experienced embargoes from
America and the French forced Haiti to pay money to them
(after French King Charles Xs invasion of Haiti) in the realm
of 90 million francs.
Toussaint Louverture
Haitian History Continued
*America occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934 to
maintain its interests.

*Many Haitian dictators ruled like Dr. Francios
Duvalier (or Papa Doc) and Jean-Claude
Duvalier (Francoiss son or Baby Doc).

*Papa Doc used the Tontons Macoutes or the
Bogeymen to terrorize political opponents
and the people of Haiti.

*From the 1980s to the present, there has
been a rapid succession of leaders like Leslie
Manigat, former Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, Reve Preval, and Michel Martelly.
The current Haitian
President Michel Martelly
and President Barack
Obama
An Introduction of the Dominican
Republic
*According to the CIA.gov website,
the Dominican Republics geography
is rugged highlands and mountains
with fertile valleys interspersed

*Its Population is 9,445,281 (as of
the 2010 Census)

*Its Major Languages: Spanish and
Dominican Spanish

*Its Capital City: Santo Domingo

*Its Government has President
Danilo Medina.
The Dominican Republic has the second largest economy in the
Caribbean. It is a hugely popular tourist nation.
A Summary of the history of the Dominican
Republic
*Arawak speaking Tainos came into Hispaniola by ca. 650 A.D.

*Christopher Columbus & the Spaniards arrive by 1492. Bartholomew
Columbus (Christophers brother) built Santo Domingo. The location of
Santo Domingo is Western Europes first permanent settlement in the
Caribbean.

*Spanish and French Empires ruled the Dominican Republic for centuries.

*The Haitian Occupation (started by Jean Pierre Boyer) occurred from 1822
to February 27, 1844. It was brutal and harsh against the Dominican
people.


More Dominican Republic History
*Juan Pablo Duerto and his La Trinitaria Secret Society helped to end
the Haitian Occupation as a means to establish Dominican Republics
Independence by 1844.

*The Dominican Republic was totally free from Spanish rule by 1865
with the leadership of General Gregorio Luperion.

*Soon, there would the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic.

*In the 20
th
century to the present there would be a mix of dictators
and more progressive leaders controlling the Dominican Republic like:
Trujillo, John Bosch, Joaquin Beleaguer, Antonio Guzman Fernandez,
Hipolito Mejia, Leonel Fernandez, and Danilo Medina.

*Today in 2014, President Danilo Medina today wants more emphasis
on developing social programs and education than infrastructure.
The origins of the Tensions Between Haiti
and the Dominican Republic
*The tensions started in the modern era with the
Haitian occupation of the Dominican Republic
(from 1822 to February 27, 1844). The occupation
was brutal with Haitian forces utilizing land
confiscation, forcing religious places to be closed,
and forcing heavy taxation upon people. Rafael
Trujillo was an evil, racist man.

*Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo
promoted racist anti-Haitian propaganda and he
ordered the Parsley Massacre of October 1937
(where thousands of Haitians were murdered in
the borderlands of Haiti).

*Societal and cultural differences among both
nations grew tensions as well.



The dictator Rafael Trujillo
Henry Louis Gates Research from his Black in Latin
America documentary
Henry Louis Gates found interesting facts about the
tensions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic:

*Haiti focuses heavily on black African culture, while
many Dominicans reject any mention of black African
heritage that is found in the Dominican Republic. Many
Haitian workers (by no fault of their own) in the
Dominican Republic have been scapegoated for
economic issues. This has increased tensions too.

*Tensions from both nations come from many historical
events like the Haitian occupation of the Dominican
Republic, trade embargos, and the Dominican Republic
dictator Rafael Trujillos massacre of Haitians. Even
today, huge racism is found in the Dominican Republic.

*Both nations have a lively, creative, and excellent
amount of music, culture, and cuisine.
Haiti possesses one
of the greatest
cultures in all of the
New World
Henry Louis Gates
Per capita GDP Comparison among both Countries
How Do These Tensions among both nations
Relate to Geography?
These tensions are related to geography, because the tensions are
interrelated to the following geographic principals:

*Demographics in populations: Haiti prides itself in respecting black
African culture. The Dominican Republic is more ethnically diverse
than Haiti. Both nations have different interpretations of race and
culture, which increases tensions among two countries.

*Land and Resources: The Dominican Republic receives more Western
assistance in developing its cities, ports, rural areas, and other
infrastructure than Haiti. Competition for resources has grown
tensions.

*Cultural Diffusion: Haiti and the Dominican Republic compete with
each other for being Hispaniola's most prominent culture, music, and
cuisine in the region (their cultures spread globally).
The 2010 Haitian Earthquake
*It was the most severe Earthquake in Haiti
in over 200 years. Its magnitude was 7.0

*Between 100,000 and 316,000 human
beings died and about 1.6 million people
were homeless.

*Charity came from all over the world to help
Haiti even ironically from the Dominican
Republic. President Michel Martelly was
elected soon after the Earthquake in April 4,
2011.

*It heavily damaged the infrastructure of
Haiti.




Funding for the Haitian Earthquake relief
The Controversial Dominican Republic
Immigration Law
The ruling came about in September 2013 by the Dominican Republic's Constitutional
Court. The ruling according to writer Marcia Garcia: that citizenship could be granted
only to those born to one Dominican parent since 1929... That means that even if you
were born in Haiti after 1929, but dont have one Dominican parent, you can be stripped of
your citizenship. This is different from total birthright citizenship.

*Dissenters of the Ruling: They view the ruling as unfairly depriving the citizenship rights of
Haitians who were already born in the Dominican Republic. Many Haitians and some
Dominicans have protested the decision in America.

*Supporters of the Ruling: They believe that it maintain previous immigration policy and
that the Dominican Republic has the right to govern their own immigration policies.
For the record, I dont agree with the
Dominican Court ruling at all. The ruling is
discriminatory, unjust, and reactionary point
blank period. The dignity of black Haitian
peoples ought to be respected.
Final Words
*There have been efforts to decrease tensions between both nations.

*There was the December 2013 meeting in Venezuela (as reported by the
Associated Press writers Trenton Daniel and Ezequiel Lpez Blanco). In that meeting
both Haitian President Michel Martelly and Dominican President Danilo Medina
agreed to try to end tensions surrounding the court decision and other differences.

*The Associated Press writers also wrote that officials from Haiti and the Dominican
have meet in January of 2014 as a means to decrease tensions too. God Bless Haiti.

Hopefully, both nations can end their tensions and live
more peacefully in one island.