Divided island: How Haiti and the DR became two worlds

Summary

El guion explora las disparidades entre Haití y la República Dominicana, dos países separados por una frontera en una sola isla. Revela cómo el legado colonial, la política racista y la explotación de la tierra han impactado Haití, mientras que la República Dominicana se ha desarrollado con políticas más inclusivas. La narrativa sigue el viaje de comerciantes haitianos que enfrentan dificultades y discriminación en el mercado fronterizo, ilustrando así las consecuencias de las políticas históricas y actuales que perpetúan la desigualdad en la isla.

Takeaways

• 🌎 La frontera entre Haití y la República Dominicana separa dos países muy diferentes, con diferencias significativas en salud, riqueza y esperanza de vida.
• 🚢 Las mujeres haitianas viajan en barcos desgastados para cruzar la frontera y participar en el comercio informal en mercados dominicanos.
• 🌅 El mercado fronterizo fue establecido como una asociación entre los dos países, pero en la práctica, los dominicanos tienen ventajas significativas.
• 🚨 Los guardias fronterizos a menudo retrasan el paso de los haitianos, permitiendo que los dominicanos establezcan sus puestos de venta primero.
• 🏰 La historia compartida de la isla por Francia y España influyó profundamente en sus desarrollos económicos y sociales.
• 🌾 Los franceses explotaron la tierra y crearon una economía altamente dependiente de la producción de azúcar y café, lo que dejó un legado de suelos erosionados y una población resentida.
• 🏰 Los españoles, en contraste, integraron a la población indígena y desarrollaron una economía más sostenible y una estructura política más estable.
• 🏴 La independencia de Haití fue un logro histórico, pero también dejó al país con una estructura social y económica frágil y un legado de deuda que retrasó su desarrollo.
• 📜 La política de regularización en la República Dominicana ha afectado a la población de ascendencia haitiana, incluso a ciudadanos, con medidas discriminatorias y de deportación.
• 🌳 La diferencia en el manejo de la tierra y las políticas racistas han dejado un impacto duradero en el paisaje y la economía de la isla, con la República Dominicana teniendo una vegetación más verde y Haití con áreas erosionadas.
• 🛂 Las políticas racistas y discriminatorias no solo son un problema histórico, sino que siguen siendo una realidad en la vida cotidiana de los haitianos en la República Dominicana.

Q & A

¿Qué contraste se observa entre Haití y la República Dominicana en términos de vida y muerte de los bebés?

Un bebé nacido en Haití tiene 2.5 veces más probabilidades de morir que uno nacido en la República Dominicana.

¿Cuál es la relación entre la pobreza en Haití y la en la República Dominicana?

Un habitante de Haití es casi diez veces más pobre que uno en la República Dominicana.

¿Cómo describe el guionista la situación de comercio informal entre Haití y la República Dominicana?

El comercio informal se realiza mediante barcos desgastados que viajan dos veces por semana a la frontera para comprar y vender bienes en un mercado dominicano.

¿Qué dificultades enfrentan los comerciantes haitianos al llegar a la frontera?

Los comerciantes haitianos enfrentan retrasos en la apertura de la frontera por parte de las autoridades fronterizas, lo que les impide establecerse en los mejores puntos del mercado.

¿Cuál es la importancia histórica de la isla compartida por Haití y la República Dominicana?

La isla fue colonizada por Francia y España, lo que dejó un legado de explotación en la parte francesa y una integración más sostenible en la parte española.

¿Cómo describió el guionista las consecuencias de la independencia de Haití?

Haití declaró su independencia luchando contra Francia y se convirtió en la primera república de esclavos negros liberada, pero enfrentó el aislamiento del mundo y una deuda de independencia que afectó su desarrollo.

¿Qué cambios recientes en la política de inmigración de la República Dominicana afectaron a la población de descendencia haitiana?

La República Dominicana implementó políticas que revocan la ciudadanía a aquellos nacidos en el país de padres indocumentados y que hasta 2015 habían vivido como ciudadanos.

¿Cuál es el impacto de la nueva definición de ciudadanía en la República Dominicana en la población haitiana?

Más de 200,000 ciudadanos dominicanos de descendencia haitiana se vieron privados de su ciudadanía y muchos fueron deportados o se volaron a Haití.

¿Cómo se describe el trato de los guardias fronterizos hacia los haitianos en el mercado del norte?

Los guardias fronterizos en el norte también muestran un trato discriminatorio, permitiendo que los dominicanos entren primero y a veces golpeando a los haitianos con un bastón.

¿Qué efecto tienen las políticas racistas y predatorias sobre la vida de los haitianos?

Las políticas racistas y predatorias han afectado el desarrollo de Haití y la calidad de vida de sus habitantes, tanto en el pasado como en el presente.

¿Por qué el guionista agradece a lululemon en el guion?

Lululemon es el patrocinador de la serie 'Borders' y proporcionó ropa para el guionista, lo que ayudó a realizar el proyecto.

Outlines

00:00

🌎 Diferencias entre Haití y República Dominicana

Este párrafo explora las disparidades entre Haití y la República Dominicana, dos países que comparten la isla de La Española. Se destaca la diferencia en la tasa de mortalidad infantil, la pobreza y la esperanza de vida. El narrador visita un pueblo en Haití para entender cómo las mujeres viajando en barcos desgastados participan en el comercio informal en el mercado fronterizo, enfrentándose a la discriminación y la burocracia en la frontera. La narrativa se enfoca en cómo la historia colonial y las políticas racistas han impactado la isla, desde la época de la colonización por Francia y España hasta la actualidad.

05:01

🏛 La historia colonial y su impacto en la isla

Este párrafo profundiza en la historia de la isla, desde la llegada de Cristóbal Colón y la posterior división entre Francia y España. Se describe cómo la colonización francesa, con su intensa explotación de la tierra y la introducción de esclavos, contrasta con el enfoque español, que integró a los indígenas y tuvo una economía más sostenible. La independencia de Haití y las consecuencias de su lucha por la libertad, incluyendo el aislamiento mundial y la deuda de independencia, se narran para entender las raíces de sus problemas actuales. También se menciona el cambio en la política de inmigración de la República Dominicana y cómo ha afectado a la comunidad haitiana.

10:48

🛃 La discriminación en la frontera y su impacto en las vidas de las personas

El tercer párrafo narra la experiencia del viaje del narrador por la frontera, observando las políticas de control migratorio y su impacto en los individuos. Se describen los múltiples puntos de control de seguridad y cómo se centran en ciertos pasajeros, particularmente en el traductor del narrador, Pascale, quien a pesar de ser ciudadano estadounidense, enfrenta el escrutinio por su apariencia. Se relata un incidente específico donde una mujer y sus hijos son entregados a las autoridades por el conductor del autobús, ilustrando la discriminación racial. El párrafo concluye con una reflexión sobre cómo la historia de Haití y las políticas racistas han moldeado su presente y la vida de sus habitantes.

Keywords

💡Frontera

La 'frontera' es una demarcación geográfica que separa dos países o territorios. En el video, la frontera simboliza la división entre Haití y la República Dominicana, dos países con realidades socioeconómicas muy distintas. La frontera es también el escenario de un comercio informal y de desigualdades evidentes en el trato entre los habitantes de ambos lados.

💡Desarrollo económico

El 'desarrollo económico' se refiere a la mejora del bienestar y la calidad de vida de una población a través del crecimiento económico y social. En el video, se contrasta el desarrollo económico de Haití con el de la República Dominicana, destacando la pobreza y la falta de oportunidades en Haití en comparación con la relativa prosperidad en la República Dominicana.

💡Colonialismo

El 'colonialismo' es la política y práctica de una nación que establece control político sobre otras territorios y sus poblaciones. En el video, se menciona cómo el colonialismo francés y español modelaron las sociedades y economías de Haití y la República Dominicana, dejando un legado que aún afecta su desarrollo.

💡Esclavitud

La 'esclavitud' es la práctica de someter a una persona a la propiedad de otra, obligándola a trabajar sin pago. En la narrativa del video, la esclavitud fue un elemento clave en la historia de Haití, donde los franceses la utilizaron para explotar sus recursos naturales, lo que dejó un impacto duradero en su sociedad y economía.

💡Independencia

La 'independencia' es el estado de no estar sometido a la autoridad de otro país o gobierno. El video destaca cómo la lucha de Haití por su independencia, siendo la primera república de esclavos liberados, influenció su desarrollo y su aislamiento por parte de otras naciones.

💡Deuda

La 'deuda' es la cantidad de dinero que se debe, generalmente como resultado de un préstamo o una transacción. En el contexto del video, se discute cómo Haití heredó una deuda abrumadora después de su independencia, lo que ha afectado su capacidad para desarrollarse económicamente.

💡Racismo

El 'racismo' es la discriminación basada en la raza. El video muestra cómo el racismo ha sido un factor en la política y las interacciones entre Haití y la República Dominicana, así como en la legislación y las prácticas sociales que afectan a los haitianos en la República Dominicana.

💡Mercado fronterizo

El 'mercado fronterizo' es un lugar donde los comerciantes de dos países pueden intercambiar bienes y servicios. En el video, los mercados fronterizos son un punto de contraste entre las oportunidades y los desafíos que enfrentan los vendedores haitianos y dominicanos.

💡Discriminación

La 'discriminación' es el trato desigual o injusto hacia una persona o grupo por motivos no relacionados con su capacidad o mérito. El video ilustra cómo la discriminación afecta a los haitianos en el acceso al mercado y en las interacciones con las autoridades fronterizas.

💡Estado sin nacionalidad

Un 'estado sin nacionalidad' se refiere a una persona que no es considerada ciudadana de ningún país. El video menciona cómo las políticas recientes en la República Dominicana han dejado a muchos dominicanos de ascendencia haitiana sin nacionalidad, lo que los expone a la deportación y la vulnerabilidad.

💡Legado histórico

El 'legado histórico' se refiere a los efectos perdurables que tienen los eventos del pasado en la situación presente. En el video, se argumenta que el legado histórico de Haití, incluyendo su experiencia como colonia y su lucha por la independencia, ha influido en su desarrollo y en las políticas racistas que aún enfrenta.

Highlights

Driving on the road that separates Haiti from the Dominican Republic reveals stark differences between the two countries.

Haitians are 2.5 times more likely to die as babies and almost ten times poorer compared to Dominicans.

The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic produces two completely different worlds.

Haitian merchants, mostly women, embark on a nighttime boat ride to reach the border market.

The journey to the border is chaotic and unorganized, reflecting the informality of international trade.

The border market was established as a partnership, but Haitians face discrimination and delays.

Haitians complain about being held back at the border while Dominicans set up and secure the best spots.

Haiti's history as a French colony involved exploitation and a legacy of resentment among the enslaved population.

The Spanish colony had a different approach, integrating with the indigenous population and avoiding over-exploitation.

Haiti's declaration of independence as the first black republic was met with isolation and crippling debt.

Racism and anti-Haitian sentiment have been codified into Dominican legislation in recent years.

Dominican policies have targeted Haitian descendants, even citizens, for deportation.

Over 200,000 Dominican citizens were rendered stateless by retroactive citizenship rulings.

The Dominican government's actions are described as illegal, immoral, and racist.

Security checkpoints along the border target Haitians and those of Haitian descent.

Haiti's land has been abused through clear cutting and single crop planting, leading to environmental degradation.

The story of the Haiti-Dominican Republic border is a reflection of centuries of racist policies holding Haiti back.

Sponsorship from lululemon supports the creation of the Borders series, highlighting important global issues.

Transcripts

Let's pause here.

I'm driving on the road that separates Haiti from the Dominican Republic.

Right here.

It's the border that divides two very different countries.

If you're born in Haiti, you're 2.5 times more likely to die

as a baby than if you're born in the DR.

You'll be almost ten times poorer and

you can expect to have a much shorter life.

I came here to find out how the two

countries that share this one island can be so different, with a politically

volatile and impoverished Haiti on one side and the stable and relatively rich

Dominican Republic on the other.

How did this line produce two totally different worlds?

My journey starts here, at this beach village in southern Haiti, where Haitian

merchants, most of them women, are preparing for a nighttime boat ride.

The women boarding this boat have one goal: to make it to the border where they will

be let into a Dominican market, to buy and sell goods before returning to their villages.

It's international trade at its most informal. We're taking these boats

because the next door mountain range makes the land journey almost impossible.

These worn-out wooden boats have been making this exact journey twice per week

for decades and yet the process remains chaotic and unorganized as if it's

happening for the first time.

All of this energy, time, and effort all to transport

a handful of goods that, in most countries, would be shipped in bulk

inside one of these.

We make this seven-hour journey to the border town arriving around, 4 am.

The sun rises and we walk to the border market. This market was established right on the border

as a partnership between the two nations, to give vendors from both sides

a place to buy and sell on equal footing.

As we approach the border I quickly realize that's not what's happening here.

So I'm looking across the border right now,

into the market and you can see that Dominicans are already setting up.

This is one of the big complaints of the Haitians: they're stuck on this side

waiting to cross the border and the border guards are just delaying it and

meanwhile the Dominicans are able to set up and get the best spots.

These Haitians come from miles away on this grueling boat journey, that I know now firsthand

is very grueling, and they get to the border and the guards stop them for no reason.

They're supposed to open it up for everyone at the same time.

The guards keep the Haitian women from crossing, not letting anyone know how

long it will be. The tension grows and then finally, hours after the Dominicans

were allowed to enter, the guards open up the bridge.

They buy and sell for the day, before returning to the boats to make the journey home.

The grueling boat journey, the senseless discrimination, it embodies

the asymmetry that exists on this island. Watching it happen, it's impossible not

to ask how it got like this.

There are a few key things that explain how this

island produced two very different countries, but if you want to get at the

very root of it you have to go back to when this island was owned by two

European powers: France and Spain. This island is actually the first place that

Christopher Columbus set up a colony in the new world on his first voyage back

in like 1490. France wanted a piece of this island because it was rich in

resources like sugar and coffee, so they fought a war with the Spanish and they

ended up splitting the island in two: one side would be the Spanish colony of

Santo Domingo and the other side would be the French colony, with the same name,

Saint-Domingue, just in French. And that is the most important part of understanding

this whole thing, is how these imperial powers treated their colonial posessions.

The French exploited the land. They brought in tons of slaves and

they were interested in making Saint-Domingue solely an economic producer.

They destroyed the soil from aggressively harvesting the same crop year after

year, and they created a group of very resentful, overworked, and abused slaves

that eventually rebelled.

The Spanish had a different approach. After establishing

domination on this island by massacring the indigenous population, they didn't

exploit it like the French did.

Instead they went to places like Mexico and Peru, to look for gold.

So they didn't bring nearly as many slaves onto this island,

and as a result they weren't nearly as profitable a colony.

Instead, the Spanish integrated with the remaining indigenous population,

by recognizing the native leader's authority and intermarrying with the locals.

The result was a smaller and more racially mixed population,

with a sustainable economy and a political system,

something totally absent from France's colony.

This becomes really important in the early 1800s, when independence comes around.

Haiti declares independence, fights off the French, and basically

declares itself the first black, former slave republic in the world.

They do so with very little framework for a society and for a government and they also do so

with land that has been exploited, year after year, with the same crop which

basically destroys the fertility of the land.

And to add to all of that, because

they were this first black Republic, the world essentially isolated them.

The United States didn't want to recognize the independence of a black nation.

They thought it might become a slave empire and seek revenge.

The French showed up on Haitian shores soon after independence, and said you owe

us a debt for all of the assets that you stole from us when you became independent,

all these economic assets, you owe us that debt and you have to pay

it over the next thirty years. This crippling debt Haiti did pay back over

years, but it really hampered their development.

This history doesn't exonerate the dictators and corrupt politicians that have plagued Haiti's

development since its independence, but it helps explain them.

Suffocating embargoes and the independence debt, as well as the lack of any tradition or

investment in governmental institutions, guaranteed Haiti's failure from the

moment it was born, and a racist world made sure of it.

That racism isn't just

embedded into Haiti's history, it is in fact very alive today.

As I drive up the border, by coincidence my driver is also a Dominican border patrol official.

We have hours in the car, where he slowly and cautiously tells me about how

immigration policy has changed in the Dominican Republic in recent years.

"Regularization Program".

That's a euphemism. He's talking about a

policy of targeting anyone of Haitian descent, even citizens, rounding them up

and deporting them. There's always been anti-Haitian

sentiment in the Dominican Republic, usually resulting in racist violence,

but since 2010, that sentiment has been seeping into legislation. The Dominican

Constitution that was drafted in 1929, says that anyone born in the country is

automatically a citizen, even if your parents were undocumented immigrants.

This is the same in places like the United States, but the DR rewrote its

constitution in 2010, to only give citizenship to those born on DR soil, to legal residents.

Then, in 2013 the high court in the DR ruled that this new

definition would be applied retroactively. All the way back to

1929, meaning any citizen who had been born in the DR to undocumented parents

would have their citizenship revoked.

More than 200,000 Dominican citizens,

were suddenly stateless.

It is clearly an illegal act, it is an immoral act, it is a racist act by the

Dominican government. And it's happening because these people are black.

Dominican law said that if these stateless people wanted to stay in the

DR, they would have to go to a government office and put their name on this

foreigner registry. The government gave these people one year to either get

their name on the registry or face deportation.

Over 55,000 have been officially deported since the June 2015 deadline.

The UN estimates that 128,000 people have voluntarily fled to Haiti,

a country many of them have never lived in. Some came here to this camp on the

border, where they've been living in limbo for years.

The moment I cross into the DR, I start to see what this crackdown looks like.

On a 75km bus ride, we pass eight security checkpoints in which security

personnel board the bus, to eye who was on it, and in some cases check papers.

But each time we stop, they seem to only check the papers of the same few passengers.

That's my translator, Pascale.

He's an American citizen, but everywhere we go in the DR,

security forces keep asking him for his passport.

Halfway through the journey, we pull off the road

into a facility where a few young military guys

are sitting around. And our driver brings this woman and her two children over to

the military guys. She's speaking in perfect Dominican Spanish to them,

claiming that her children are Dominican and that the driver brought us to this

checkpoint to turn her in because she's black.

None of this seems to matter,

she doesn't have her papers and her skin color seems to be all the guards need to see.

Haiti's land and people were abused when it was a colony of slaves.

The world then shunned it, with embargoes and independence debts when it was a new

nation, and today Haitians in the DR experience racism that is overt enough

to be enshrined in law.

As we drive up this very curvy road, I have the DR to my right and Haiti to my left.

Back when the French were here, this was the richest colony on earth,

but that came at a price.

Not only to abused slaves, but also to the

land that they worked. Clear cutting and single crop planting continued after the

French left, but instead of being used to make fancy French furniture, the trees

were burned to cook food.

This explains what I'm seeing when

on my right there's lush jungle.

and on my left there's bare and eroding hillsides.

Zoom out a little bit and it's very clear.

I follow the border road all the way north, until I hit another market town. I wanted

to see if the same discriminatory dynamics played out up here as they did down south.

This market was built with money from the European Union,

and the UN development program,

with the specific intention of creating a space where communities

from both sides could come and buy and sell on equal footing.

Rolling through the market, and once again like we saw in the southern market,

the Dominicans are first setting up.

I walk to the border and find this

huge group of people at this gap in the fence, paying a border guard to get in early.

The dynamic is the same as down south, only with a few more overt bribes

and border guards who seem to have no problem hitting Haitians with a stick.

After hours of waiting for guards to open the gate for everyone,

the Haitians are finally let in.

This is a story about a border that separates two vastly different countries,

but it's moreso a story about policy:

how centuries of racist policies, from

the French, from the U.S., from the world, from the DR, can hold a nation back from progressing.

Haiti, this first black republic, has experienced some of the most

predatory and racist policy from outside forces.

For Haitians this story isn't just their history.

It's their present.

It's the stage on which they live their lives.

So, I want to say a big thank you to lululemon,

who is a sponsor for Borders.

They sent me these ABC pants,

which are these really versatile, flexible pants.

They're super sturdy,

and they're meant to be basically used for hiking and for activewear,

but also around the house when I'm kind of just hanging out,

I've been using them for both as I've been making Borders.

I love them.

Thank you lululemon for sending me these pants,

but more importantly thank you for sponsoring Borders

and making this happen.

If you want to try out some lululemon ABC pants,

You could get a pair of your own.

You should definitely check that out.