Posts Tagged border
Launch of the book “La Frontera dominico-haitiana”
Posted by ONeil in Activities, Publications in English on January 7th, 2010
We are proud to announce that we are launching the book La Frontera dominico-haitiana on Wednesday, January 13th at 7:00 pm at the Academia de Ciencias (Calle Las Damas, zona colonial, Santo Domingo). This is second book that we have published with Ciudades y Fronteras and their fourth publication. The book consists of ten essays and three annexes in Spanish written by authors from five countries. This is the most complete, most up-to-date reference book on the Haitian-Dominican border. It is available in the Dominican Republic for 500 pesos or internationally for $25.
La Frontera Dominico-Haitiana was published with support from the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Organization of American States.
Birdwatching in the Dominican-Haitian Borderlands
Tucked high in the mountains near the Jimaní-Malpasse border crossing is an ecological campground that caters to birdwatchers. Although this part of the border is very dry and barren, the mountains are lush and green.
In the video below, Kate describes the birds that can be seen in the area:
Why is cross-border commerce such a mess at the Haitian-Dominican border?
Posted by ONeil in History of the Borderlands on November 19th, 2009
The border at Elias Pina-Belladere
Transporting goods across the Dominican-Haitian border is a mess. Large trucks are queued from the border far down the road into the Dominican Republic. There is no clear process to the inspections. Haitian market women stream through the border with goods on their heads. Little documentation is provided to anyone.
Whereas Dominican airports quickly and efficiently process large numbers of people, the border is a mess. This mess and confusion is also a significant source of conflicts. Both Haitian and Dominican exporters complain of arbitrary fees, excessive delays, and expropriation of merchandise. Haitian market women complain of their treatment by Dominican authorities and Dominican exporters complain of their treatment by Haitian ones. The arbitrariness of the treatment stems from the lack of clear rules governing cross-border trade. Although both countries have clear rules for imports, these rules were written for the ports in the main cities and require inspections and approvals that are not available in the border–this is the result in the odd process through which the border went from being a wall to being porous. Without clear policy guidance and in violation of their own laws, each country has developed procedures to allow for goods to flow through their border. These procedures are neither documented nor fixed. This lack of transparency and consistency creates confusion for importers and makes it easy for officials to solicit bribes.
The new progress report for the Our Border Program
Posted by ONeil in Activities, Publications in English, What's New on November 4th, 2009
We’ve just published our semi-annual progress report [pdf file, 2.2MB). This twenty-two page report includes a description of the background behind our project, our current activities, and our future plans. Although it was written primarily for our donors, we are happy to share it with anyone interested.
The porous border: 1987-present
Posted by ONeil in History of the Borderlands on October 22nd, 2009
CESFRONT soldier on the Pednernales-Anse a Pitres border on market day. Photos by Karl Grobl
In previous posts, we looked at how the the “Spanish Island” became divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, how the current border was formed, and the fifty year period when the border became a wall. Today we look at how the border went from being a wall to the sieve that it is today.
There has been a spate of news stories in both the Dominican press and later in the US press about the growing Haitian presence in the Dominican borderlands. Former President Carter invigorated this debate when he called the illegal flow of Haitians into the Dominican Republic “unstoppable.” Cross-border trade has become a significant issue for both countries and there are a growing number of Dominican investments in Haiti. Unfortunately, this growth in cross-border exchanges have happened in a policy vacuum. The rules that govern the border are still those that were developed when the border was largely closed. Therefore, most of the cross-border exchanges violate Haitian and Dominican law. Today we look at how this mess developed. Read the rest of this entry »
Is the Dominican Haitian border as unique as we think it is?
Posted by Molano in Perspectives on October 19th, 2009
Pedernales - Anse a Pitre Border. Photo by Andy Wilson.
By Sebastian Molano
Those of us who have had the privilege of knowing the area which geographically divides Haiti and the Dominican Republic are continually intoxicated with the sensation of experimenting with a reality completely different from anywhere else on earth. Certainly the isolated situation of these two nations, the undeniable reality of Haiti and the possibility of intervening in the dynamics of the frontier from the Dominican side, can both contribute to and exacerbate the existing conditions of this border.
However, is the Dominican Haitian border as unique as we think it is?
The border becomes a wall: 1936-1987
Posted by ONeil in History of the Borderlands on September 29th, 2009
This is part three of a four part series on the history of the Haitian-Dominican border (parts 1,2,3,4)
The border gate at the Dajabon-Ouanaminthe border crossing. Photo: Ciudades y Fronteras
Following the signature of the 1936 border treaty, the Dominican President, Rafael Truijillo, began tightening restrictions on Haitians in the Dominican Republic and stepped up deportations in an effort to reduce the number of Haitians. He visited the border region in August and September 1937, and concluded that his policy was not working. On October 2, 1937, he gave the order that resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of Haitians in the borderlands (Eric Paul Roorda, The Dictator Next Door: The Good Neighbor Policy and the Trujillo Regime in the Dominican Republic (Durham: Duke University Press, 1998), p. 131). This massacre is brilliantly portrayed in Edwidge Danticat’s haunting fictional narrative, The Farming of Bones. Read the rest of this entry »
The birth of Haitian-Dominican border: 1777-1936
Posted by ONeil in History of the Borderlands on September 22nd, 2009
One of the concrete "bornes" that mark the Haitian-Dominican border
In last week’s post, we looked at how Gold, Cows, and Pirates led to the division of Hispaniola between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We left off in the story with France building up the economy of its sides of the island through the development of large sugar plantations while the Spanish continued to neglect the eastern side of the island.
