lo-de-alla.org

[Translation of an article from Espacinsular of Santo Domingo for April 10, 2013. See original here.]

by Griselda Liberato

Santo Domingo, April 10 – Although it is not state policy, events suggest that government agencies are supporting violations of the migration laws. Taking into account the legal mechanisms the country has for the control and registration of immigration and reviewing the repeated occasions in which Haitians have charged that authorities do not process applications for documents or for renewal of them, it can be confirmed that the state carries out policies that increase the percentage of persons living in Dominican territory indefinitely under irregular conditions. (more…)

Chamber of Deputies president says Treasury Committee will seek advise from Ecuador

[Translation of an article from Listín Diario of Santo Domingo for March 25, 2013.  See original here and related article here.]

By Ramón Pérez Reyes

Chamber of Deputies President Abel Martínez has announced that once Holy Week is over, if there have been no significant advances in the negotiations between President Danilo Medina and executives of the Barrick Gold mining company, the lower chamber will hold public hearings in the National Assembly hall.

He said the object is to hear all sectors of the nation who have concerns, suggestions and opinions about the contract covering exploitation of the mine in Pueblo Viejo, Cotuí

Meanwhile, Senator Félix Nova said senators are awaiting only the president’s decision before taking action against the mining company. (more…)

((Sergia Galván))

[Translation of an article from the website 7dias.com of Santo Domingo for March 17. See original here and related articles here and here. The Dominican legislature in September, 2009, approved a measure introduced by then President Leonel Fernández to amend the constitution to declare  the right to life inviolable beginning at conception.]

Santo Domingo, March 17 – After labeling the criminalization of abortion one of the most shameful provisions of the Dominican legal system, the Colectiva Mujer y Salud [Women and Health Collective] today called on congress to approve a revision of the penal code in order to free women and girls from forced motherhood who have been raped or whose health is in danger as a result of pregnancy.

The organization, led by Sergia Galván, holds that in this matter the Dominican Republic is decades behind the rest of the world, “being one of only six counties that still impose an absolute prohibition.” (more…)

[Translations of four articles from the Dominican Republic on challenges to the terms of a contract between the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold and the Dominican government covering operation of the Barrick mine at Pueblo Viejo.  See related articles here, here and here.  The mine, one of the oldest gold mines in the Americas, is in the Cibao region of the country, on a belt of mineral-rich and fertile land stretching from northwestern Haiti, site of another recent conflict over gold and copper mining operations.  For more on the Haitian conflict, go here.]

President Danilo Medina calls Barrick Gold contract “simply unacceptable”

[From Despertar Dominicano of Santo Domingo for February 27. See original here.]

Santo Domingo – President Danilo Medina has described as “unacceptable” the portions of benefits divided between the Barrick Gold mining company and the Dominican state.

At the same time, the president announced that his administration will direct efforts toward a renegotiation of the contract.

He warned that if the fiscal terms of the contract are not modified by mutual agreement in the next few years, Barrick will keep practically everything and the people will be left with nothing.

“Dominican men and women, I, Danilo Medina, assure you that that will not happen,” he declared.

(more…)

[Translation of an article from Espacinsular of Santo Domingo for February 6. See original here and related articles here and here. The study referred to, "Haitian Construction Workers in the Dominican Republic: An Exploratory Study on Indicators of Forced Labor," is here.]

Santo Domingo, February 6 – Dangerous working conditions, long hours, months with no pay, threats and physical abuse are reality for many of the Haitians working in the construction industry in the Dominican Republic, according to a study carried out by ICF International and published last September

In the past two decades, the Dominican construction industry has come to depend to a great extent on the work of Haitian migrant workers, the largest migrant community in the country. In interviews with 135 Haitian construction workers, the researchers have found many indications of forced labor. For example, there are practices like confining workers in their workplaces to prevent their claiming their rights from construction business owners. There is also evidence that the police, in cooperation with the employers, have been heavily involved in covering up accidents and abuse. (more…)

[Translation of an article from Espacinsular of Santo Domingo for January 15. See original here and related article here.]

Santo Domingo, January 14 – The continuing presence of the more than 100 Haitian workers in front of the Ministry of Labor represents a conflict with international repercussions to which the government should respond in order to avoid damaging the country’s image abroad, sociologist Max Puig has declared.

Also a former minister of labor, he expressed surprise at statements by authorities that it is a problem affecting exclusively the justice system, “when the workers labored more than ten years in businesses that were not legally registered,” for which he wondered, “where were the Migration inspectors, where were the Labor inspectors, where was the national police?”

The one-time presidential candidate believes that what is being denounced basically goes well beyond a simple labor demand. “It is a matter of a business that has caused Haitian citizens to come from Haiti to a country that has been accused frequently of human trafficking,” he added.

Puig, president of the Alianza por la Democracia party, insists “it cannot be that the Ministry (of Labor) says it has no jurisdiction and that nobody in the government has jurisdiction.”

The approximately 112 Haitian workers, who have held a picket line for more than a month in front of the Ministry of Labor, some together with their spouses and young children, worked for the [coconut producing businesses] Coquera Rea and Coquera del Kilómetro 5, in the southern province of San Cristóbal.

Rafael Emilio Luna Alonzo, owner of the businesses in question, refuses to pay the workers’ wages on the grounds that only five of the workers were legally registered.

[You can subscribe to an RSS feed for this website. Click here.]

Haitian workers are holding a vigil at the Ministry of Labor

[Translation of an article from Espacinsular of Santo Domingo for December 27.  See original here.]

Santo Domingo, December 27 – Leaders of the Haitian diaspora offered a Christmas dinner on December 24 to 112 of their compatriots, workers who have been camped out in front of the Ministry of Labor since Friday, December 14, because of a labor dispute. Lawyers representing the undocumented workers also attended the event.

In contrast with the way they have spent their days so far, with tables arranged on the sidewalk at the government agency and under police surveillance, the workers and their families, including small children, shared Christmas eve dinner thanks to a gesture of solidarity by leaders of several Haitian community organizations in the Dominican Republic, under the coordination of the Fundación Zile. (more…)

[Translations of two articles from El Nuevo Diario of Santo Domingo for June 14 and 16. See originals here and here and related articles here, here, and here. Salcedo, a city of about 45,000 inhabitants, is the capital of the northern province of Hermanas Mirabal.]

Salcedo becomes a battlefield between demonstrators and police

by Miguel Cruz Tejada

Salcedo – The main streets of this city, especially those in the marginal neighborhoods, were turned into chaotic battle fields when demonstrators supporting an indefinite strike called by the Frente Amplio de Lucha Popular (FALPO – Broad Front for Popular Struggle) and other organizations joining the stoppage clashed with agents of the Black Helmet SWAT team, units of the elite “Linces” of the National Police and soldiers of the National Army, who were reinforcing the police, with gunshots, bombs, rocks, bottles and other objects, while more than 90 percent of businesses responded to the call for a strike. Beginning Wednesday morning, the strikers, led by FALPO, have taken to the streets, blocking commercial lanes, stopping the flow of vehicles, throwing stones and confronting the public forces, with the support of thousands of residents who see their protests as justified. (more…)

((Leonel Fernández, Félix Bautista))

Author Aristy Escuder says Senator Félix Bautista used funds for personal and political expenses

[Translation of an article from Diario Digital of Santo Domingo for May 4. See original here and related articles here, here and here.]

Santo Domingo – Economist Jaime Aristy Escuder has released his long awaited book El Lado Oscuro de la Sun Land [The Dark Side of Sun Land], which reveals previously unknown details about the loan of 130 million dollars attained in a questionable manner for the construction of a series of projects at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) but which vanished, with no public explanation of the destination or use of the funds.

The 258-page work explains how the project was developed and how the bureaucratic procedure, which included approval by the president of the republic, Leonel Fernández, was carried out so that then director of the Oficina Supervisora de Obras del Estado [Supervising Office for Public Works], Félix Bautista, could arrange the loan without involvement of the national congress. (more…)

((Hartley with two Haitian sugar cane workers.))

[Translations of three articles, one by the Spanish news agency EFE as published in El Nuevo Diario of Santo Domingo on April 24, two from Listín Diario of Santo Domingo for April 24 and 25. See originals here, here and here. Christopher Hartley is featured in the film “The Price of Sugar;” for more information, go here.]

US investigates priest’s claims of slave labor

Santo Domingo – The United States Department of Labor has opened an investigation in the Dominican Republic into charges by the priest Christopher Hartley, who claims sugar producers are subjecting workers in the industry to conditions of slavery, the US embassy reports. Hartley is currently outside the Dominican Republic but from 1997 to 2006 he worked in the bateyes, workers’ villages set up on sugar plantations, in the San José de los Llanos parish, in the eastern province of San Pedro de Macorís.

The Anglo-Spanish priest has for years made denunciations on the treatment of workers who cut sugar cane, most of whom are Haitian, by large companies.

He has accused them of human trafficking, child labor, racial discrimination and failure to provide health care, as well as of exploitation, fraud and labor abuse. (more…)

[Translation of an article from the Dominican/Haitian website Espacinsular.org for April 10. See original here and related articles here and here.]

Port-au-Prince, April 10 – Without a doubt, this is not the first time Dominican politicians and businessmen have financed electoral campaigns in foreign countries. The best known case in Dominican-Haitian relations is that of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo and Elie Lescot, whom the Dominican dictator managed to bribe, according to [Dominican historian] Bernardo Vega, from the time he was minister of the interior under President Stenio Vincent in 1932 until he helped him become president in May, 1941.

Even more recently, during the last two decades, both Haitian and Dominican candidates, as a result of their connections in social and business circles, have benefited from donations coming from sources on the other side of the island and from the diaspora of both countries. This applies as much to the presidential level as in legislative and municipal elections. (more…)

[Translation of an article by the Spanish news agency Efe as published in El Nuevo Diario of Santo Domingo on April 12. See original here and related articles here and here.]

Santo Domingo, April 12 – The governments of the Dominican Republic and Haiti today denounced a plot organized by a former Dominican colonel to destabilize the presidency of Michel Martelly. The plan was denounced by Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, Haitian Minister of Justice Michel Brunache and Dominican Attorney General Radhamés Jiménez, who attribute the plot to former Colonel Pedro Julio Goico Guerrero, known as “Pepe Goico,” one of the closest collaborators of former Dominican President and current presidential candidate Hipólito Mejía.

“This campaign is based on a false and baseless accusation against the integrity and honor of President Michel Martelly,” the officials said in a brief document read by spokesman for the Dominican presidency Rafael Núñez in a meeting with journalists in which questions were not allowed. (more…)