The island of Hispaniola is historically significant as the first European settlement in the Americas some 500 years ago. However, as European powers sought to exercise control over the territory, complications began soon after. Today, the long lasting legacy of slavery, colonization, and racial prejudice continue to plague the island, causing significant developmental disparities between the two states that now share the land, Haiti and the Dominican Republic respectively.

Background

In the late 1400s, a series of Spanish explorative missions led by Christopher Columbus established settlement in the island of Hispaniola, devastating the native Taino population with disease and violent intervention (1). Spanish colonists came to the realization after a retaliatory defensive mission led by native Taino that forcing their entrance into slavery would not be a simple task. As such, the Spanish began importing slave populations to help substitute the lack of labor present in the small immigrated Europeans workforce. Some 200 years later, French and British colonists began laying claim to territory in the Western portions of the island, also bringing slaves, and began the state-based violence over ownership of land that would culminate into a large-scale conflict in years to come. Over the next two centuries, Hispaniola proved to be a valuable agricultural colony for all parties involved, growing sugar cane, indigo, and a variety of other crops in plantations filled with fertile Caribbean fields(2). Slaves in Saint Domingue, the Western French Colony, with proper reason, led a multitude of unsuccessful rebellions. Their mistreatment and lack of recognition in matters of importance manufactured the Haitian Revolution, which culminated in the world’s first Black Republic, and the Western Hemispheres 2nd Democracy in 1804. The successful rebellion had instituted a government which forced away colonial powers, established control of the entirety of Hispaniola, and subverted the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo’s claims to territorial sovereignty. It was not until 1844 that the territory of Santo Domingo gained independence from Haiti as the Domincan Republic. These historical interactions and struggles for independence serve as foundations to the explanation for the contrasting social, political, and economic institutions in the modern day for Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The Facade of Autonomy

Today, Haiti and Domican Republic both experience the pleasures of territorial and political sovereignty, however even after each gained independence, autonomy was not an option for either government. Almost immediately after the Dominican Republic gained its political freedom from Haiti, the Spanish government, in 1861, sought to reattain authority and utilize its resources and population for economic indulgence (3). After this unsuccessful reoccupation ended in 1865, the Domincan Republic was relatively free from external political influence. That was until the United States militarily occupied both the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the 1900s although to varying degrees. US involvement in Domican Republic was short lived consisting of two separate missions. Each was an Anticommmunist fueled campaign that politically motivated dictatorial candidates and provided routes to executive office for authoritarian leaders. Even though the ramifications of these interventions from the USA did legitimately impact the regional economy and political infrastructure, “the Domincan Republic has posted one of the fastest growth rates in Latin America and its per capita GDP has quadrupled” since the disintegration of US intervention . 

The same cannot be said for Haiti. As a globally unique successful slave revolution, Haiti faced a variety of stigmas after their independence. The most impactful on the inequality between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is the harsh reparation payment demanded in return for independence from France. The 90 million gold francs repayment not only indebted an already juvenile and developing economy, but permanently damaged the economic infrastructure of the state to this day (4). In addition, the United States, as Haiti’s closest available international partner, was hesitant to recognize the independence of the Hatian government. Due to concerns over suppressing sentiment of slaves in the United States, the government chose to exist on an exclusively economic basis, with a zero tolerance for diplomatic recognition of legitimacy for over 60 years (5). In addition to this informal relationship, the United States, as previously stated, intervened in Haiti’s political institutions to fulfill not only a primary Cold War era goal, but additionally to quell any attempt of the state to demand repayment for their debt to France. The United States occupation of Haiti was of more instances, and of longer durations than seen in the Dominican Republic. In many ways, the even current interactions with Haiti continue to perpetuate the Racial Prejudice first seen during slavery era communication.

Dominican Racial Prejudices

In conjunction with international intervention and disarray, Haiti and its citizens face a variety of active prejudices. One crucial part of survival for the many who live on or below the poverty line in Haiti is domestic exchange of goods and services. Since the establishment of the trade center, established by the international community to address accessibility to the economic opportunity, located in Dominican Republic, Haiti’s citizens have had the opportunity to bring their goods to market. Each week, a large marketplace opens for the buying and selling of goods for both Domincian and Haitian peoples. Despite the theoretical promise of equal opportunity, citizens of Haiti are often held from access to the market until Dominican citizens are able to choose the best spots, begin selling products, and limit the marketplace to the desperate people of Haiti (6). In addition to these small but futile acts of local authority, the Dominican Government as a whole is responsible for asserting racist constitutional laws that change the framework of bilateral relationship between the two states. In 2010, the Dominican Republic introduced and passed an amendment which strips thousands of Dominican born people of Haitian descent of their citizenship for up to three generations (7). Despite the Dominican Republic’s future work to supply Dominican born individuals of Haitian descent with some avenues to remain citizens, the country has done little to actually support the many individuals who have never lived in Haiti, but would be forcibly deported or repatriated. Even though politically the law is framed as a process by which the government can unify its civilians against Haitian crime, the calls by DR are largely racially motivated and seem to pinpoint all recent instances of violence on the increasing population of refugees from Haiti. This constitutional amendment currently works to send thousands of Domincian born citizens to a country in which many have never lived, experienced cultural customs of the country, or had to persevere through the financial hardships present in one of the poorest states in the Western Hemisphere.

Action Needed

The multidimensional issues regarding Haitian inequality and depth to which they continue to be economically depressed, is an indicator of much needed but far overdue change. To begin, the United States must play a more strategic role in the revival of Haiti. Since the tragic Earthquake and Hurricane of the 2010 and 2016 respectively, the United States has poured over 5 billion into reconstruction and developmental efforts (8). Despite that investment, the International Monetary Fund continues to anticipate further economic recession and hardship for the people of Haiti. This process by which the United States passively invests into development for the end economic incentive is a failure of the partnership. The United States should play a more direct role in developmental services within the country and prioritize aiding in the building of a cohesive set of political institutions which can facilitate better preparedness for disaster response. In addition, the United States should work to become a more beneficial partner for Haiti. If the United States were to provide small loans, or pressure international firms to do so, small business would be plausible and more successful. A more integrated, diversified economy would ultimately lead to a more successful Latin America. On top of investment, the United States has indirectly established an agricultural dependency of Haiti on American farmers. With over 20 million dollars in food support assistance supplied to Haiti through the USAID’s Food for Peace initiative, domestic agriculture can’t effectively compete with the subsidized products sold from US farms. This has not through purposeful means caused a severe deficiency in the agricultural sector of Haiti that must be replenished. The US and other investors should prioritize subsidies for small farm startups, in turn providing avenues after successful creation for exportation of that product. Ultimately, in this situation, it is crucial to turn the economy of Haiti into a export/import balanced nation, instead of an import dependent state. The more the international community can incentivize small scale growth, the more national exportation of product can occur.

In regards to prejudice and discriminations present in Hispaniola, it is crucial that the international community place pressure on the government of the Domincian Republic and require a forfeiture of government sponsored deportation of Dominican born citizens of Haitian descent.  The repatriation and deportation of these peoples only serves to create a more hostile, unequal community that continues to expand its refugee population. When removed from the Dominican Republic, these individuals are forced to remain in temporary housing as they have no accessible place of work, housing, or nutrition. The situation regarding deportation must come to an end in order to effectively solve many of the problems that are supposedly caused by these citizens. The higher rates of crime as well as many other concepts pinned on Haiti’s migratory practices are certainly not issues of Dominican born peoples, and as such each person born in the DR of Haitian descent or otherwise must be entitled to their citizen rights.

The situation in Haiti and the Dominican Republic too is certainly not one of simple resolution. In order to mitigate not only refugees, poverty, economic inequality, and many other factors, there must be unique international investment into Haitian small business and agriculture. If the international community can not manage to provide adequate resources through a method that does not cause intervention dependency, then certainly Haiti is doomed to continue its path down a road of sub $1000 per capita earnings (9). 

References

Borgen Project. “Examining Causes of Poverty in Haiti.” The Borgen Project, Borgen Project Https://Borgenproject.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/The_Borgen_Project_Logo_small.Jpg, 18 June 2020, borgenproject.org/causes-of-poverty-in-haiti/. 

Crawford-Roberts, Ann. “A History of United States Policy Towards Haiti.” Modern Latin America, Brown University Library, library.brown.edu/create/modernlatinamerica/chapters/chapter-14-the-united-states-and-latin-america/moments-in-u-s-latin-american-relations/a-history-of-united-states-policy-towards-haiti/. 

Dominican Republic's New Citizenship Law Falls Short. www.justiceinitiative.org/newsroom/dominican-republics-new-naturalization-law-falls-short. 

“Haiti: Free from Slavery, Not Yet Free from Debt.” Jubilee Debt Campaign UK, 25 Apr. 2018, jubileedebt.org.uk/countries-in-crisis/haiti-free-slavery-not-yet-free-debt. 

“History of Haiti.” Library.brown.edu, Brown University, 27 Oct. 2015, https://library.brown.edu/haitihistory/11.html

Mckey, Colin. “The Economic Consequences of the Haitian Revolution.” Scholars Bank, University of Oregon, 2016, scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/20330/Final%20Thesis-McKey.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. 

Office of the Historian. “A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Dominican Republic.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/countries/dominican-republic 

Seelke, Clare. “Dominican Republic Background and US Relations.” Haiti and the Dominican Republic : Conditions, Issues, and U.S. Relations, Nova Science Publishers, 2015, pp. 109–128. 

Seelke, Clare. “Dominican Republic: Background and US Relations.” Crs.gov, Congressional Research Service, 21 Mar. 2014. 

Thornell, Christina. Divided Island: How Haiti and the DR Became Two Worlds. Vox, YouTube, 17 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WvKeYuwifc. 

“U.S. Relations With Haiti - United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 6 Jan. 2020, www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-haiti/. 

Yale University. “Hispaniola.” Hispaniola | Genocide Studies Program, Yale University, 

https://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/colonial-genocides-project/hispaniola