Haitians protest expulsions from Dominican Republic
By Oscar
Ovalles and G. Dunkel
New York
The expulsion of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian origin
from the Dominican Republic has slowed to a trickle as November
ended. Sonia Pierre of the Movement of Haitian-Dominican Women
(MUDHA) attributes this slowdown to the annual African, Pacific
and Carribean conference held then in Santo Domingo.
A Haitian who has lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., for 15 years
summed up the demonstration of 300 people outside the Dominican
Consulate on Times Square Nov. 20: "To see Haitians and
Dominicans in the same struggle against imperialism warms the
heart."
He also charged that "the Macoutes and the FRAPH don't
really oppose the Dominican actions," speaking of right-wing
Haitian groups.
For the first three weeks of November, the Dominican
government sent its army into the streets to grab any Haitians
or Haitian Dominicans, whether or not they had documents. The
troops threw their targets onto a truck, drove them to the
Haitian border, and expelled them at gunpoint without allowing
them time to care for children or take property.
The Dominican government claims that only 4,000 people have
been expelled, but MUDHA observers, who have been on the
border, feel that the real number is over 20,000.
The FRAPH is the paramilitary organization the Haitian army
set up during the 1991-1994 coup against elected President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Its object was to carry out vicious
anti-popular acts the army didn't want to be blamed for.
Washington granted asylum to FRAPH leader Toto Constant
after Aristide returned to Haiti. Constant now lives in Queens,
New York, where he runs a string of dry cleaners.
Wilson Spencer, a Dominican activist, said, "Haiti and the
Dominican Republic share the same island, the island of
Hispaniola. We need to come out from the control of U.S.
imperialism. It is in both our interests if we struggle
together."
He pointed out that the Dominican bourgeoisie gained an
advantage by deflecting popular anger over raging inflation and
rising unemployment. Workers had held a general strike at the
end of October that shut the Dominican Republic down for a few
days. There was a wave of arrests then and some people were
killed.
The Dominican capitalists and the U.S. imperialists make
huge profits in the Dominican Republic. The Vicini family, one
of the wealthiest there, and Gulf+Western, a U.S.-based
corporation, have made vast profits in the sugar industry. All
sugar workers in the cane fields and mills, who do the hard,
heavy and dangerous work, are either Haitians or Dominicans of
Haitian ancestry.
Another Dominican, Hector Gerardo, who was proudly carrying
a Haitian flag, said he came to the demonstration "to stop the
Dominican government's racist repression against the Haitian
people."
Demonstration in Santo Domingo
Organizers called the Times Square action to oppose a rally
called by the party of former Dominican President Joaquin
Balaguer and by Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, head
of the Dominican Catholic Church. The organizers said this
rally supported the expulsion of Haitians to "preserve
Dominican culture, citizenship and territorial integrity."
Balaguer has been a tool of U.S. imperialism ever since he
returned to Santo Do mingo during the 1965 U.S. invasion and
ran for president. Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez is not only a
"prince of the Church" but also one of the wealthiest
individuals in the country.
Balaguer was vice president in the 1960s under Hector
Trujillo, brother of the dictator Gen. Rafael Trujillo, who
held effective power. It was Gen. Trujillo who ordered the
massacre in 1937 of 30,000 to 35,000 Haitian sugar can workers.
The Hai tians were singled out because their skin was dark and
they didn't speak proper Spanish.
The Dominican army used these same criteria this November to
single out people for expulsion.
Progressive observers in Santo Domingo said less than 600
people came out to the rally in Santo Domingo. To disguise
their march's reactionary purpose, some of them held signs
reading, "Haiti is the responsibility of the international
community" and "USA: 40 percent are overweight; Haiti: 40
percent are malnourished."
They complained that Haitians were a "burden" on the
Dominican Republic, ignoring the fact that their labor has
brought tremendous profits to the sugar barons, and that they
do jobs that no Dominican has taken for decades.
The small turnout, some Dominican activists feel, might
reflect a popular rejection of this racist campaign.
Sonia Pierre told Hait-Progres, "We deeply thank the New
York communities for their demonstrations, because it has a big
impace here. It has made the Dominicans think twice."
Threat of a Dominican invasion
When Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti in 1994, one
of his first acts was to dissolve the army. While this helped
defend Haiti from a coup, it also makes it difficult to defend
against an invasion. Haiti has only 6,000 police to oppose the
100,000 U.S. trained and equipped Dominican army, one of the
largest in Latin America.
Ben Dupuy, secretary general of the Popular National Party
(PPN) which is one of the strongest mass organizations in
Haiti, was at the Times Square demonstration." "The PPN feels,"
he said, "that this move by the Dominican military is an
attempt to influence both the elections in Haiti and those in
the Dominican Republic."
The elections for Haiti's parliament are scheduled for
March. The Dominican elections are scheduled a few months
later. Then in the fall, elections for Haiti's president will
be held. Aristide is universally expected to win.
Even though USAID, an agency of the U.S. State Department,
is controlling how voters are registered and identified in
Haiti, voters could still fail to elect an anti-Aristide
parliament. If this happens, the Haitian bourgeoisie and its
backers in Washington would want to overturn the elections.
Washington would prefer to use the Dominican proxy, Dupuy
feels, than to overthrow the Haitian government itself.
The Justice Committee for Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans in
the Dominican Republic has called another demonstration for
Dec. 10 at the United Nations in New York. Readers can call
(718) 284-0889 for more information.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME :: U.S. NEWS :: WORLD NEWS :: EDITORIALS :: SUBSCRIBE :: DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page