Dominican Republic–Haiti relations are the diplomatic relations between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti. Relations have long been hostile due to substantial ethnic and cultural differences, historic conflicts, territorial disputes, and sharing the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The living standards in the Dominican Republic are considerably higher than those in Haiti. The economy of the Dominican Republic is ten times larger than that of Haiti. The migration of impoverished Haitians and historical differences have contributed to long-standing conflicts.
The island of Hispaniola was the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo established in 1493 by Spain. The Spanish Empire controlled the entire island from the 1490s until the 17th century. Due to its strategic location British and French pirates began establishing bases on the western side of the island. Battles began during colonial times and developed into constant conflicts between the European powers. Eventually the island was divided in 1697, with Spain controlling the eastern side and France controlling the western side.
The distinction between the colonies was accentuated by differing settlement patterns. Spain developed a settler-based society with a white and mixed-race majority, while the French brought masses of African slaves to their side of the island. France trafficked nearly ten times as many slaves, creating a divergent population in their colony. These historical events led to Dominicans and Haitians becoming culturally and ethnically different groups.
During the start of the 19th century Haiti became independent from France after a series of slave revolts in 1804. Afterwards the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo, the predecessor of the Dominican Republic, also became independent from Spain in 1821 after more than 300 years of Spanish control. Thus since 1804 many wars, massacres, border disputes, and stand-offs have occurred between the two countries. Haiti would eventually become the poorest country in the region, while the Dominican Republic developed into one of the largest economies of Latin America. In the 21st century, illegal Haitian immigration into the Dominican Republic ensure tensions remain high. Many Haitians migrate due to extreme poverty and political unrest in their country.
Country comparison Dominican Republic Republic of Haiti Coat of Arms Flag Population 11,532,151 11,470,261 Area Population Density Capital Santo Domingo Port-au-Prince Largest City Santo Domingo – 1,029,110 (4,274,651 Metro) Port-au-Prince – 1,200,000 (3,133,000 Metro) Government Unitary presidential republic Unitary semi-presidential republic under an interim government(de jure)Limited to none (de facto) First Leader José Núñez de Cáceres Jean-Jacques Dessalines Current Leaders Luis Abinader Laurent Saint-Cyr Official languages Spanish French and Haitian creole GDP (nominal) US$334.292 billion ($30,710 per capita) US$38.200 billion ($3,040 per capita)
History European colonization Christopher Columbus colonized the island of Hispaniola during his first voyage to the Americas in 1492. The original inhabitants of the island were the Native Tainos, an indigenous group related to the Amazonian natives of South America. The native Tainos suffered a steep population decline early on due to brutal enslavement, warfare, and intermixing with the Spanish colonizers. When the Spanish Crown outlawed the enslavement of Natives in the island with the Laws of Burgos, slaves from West Africa and Central Africa were trafficked from the 16th to 18th centuries. These Africans eventually intermixed with the Europeans, Mestizos, and Natives creating a triracial Creole culture in Santo Domingo. The official name was La Española, meaning "The Spanish (Island)". It was also called Santo Domingo, after Saint Dominic.
The political division of the island of Hispaniola is due to the European struggle for control of the New World, when France and Spain began fighting for control of the island. They resolved their dispute in 1697 by splitting the island into two colonies. France established a lucrative plantation economy and trafficked nearly ten times as many slaves on their side of the island. Meanwhile, in the eastern side of the island the Spanish promoted the migration of white settlers from Canary Islands to fight against further incursions in the colony of Santo Domingo throughout the 18th century. The Spanish colonial administration invested more in infrastructure and institutions in Santo Domingo compared to the French administration in Haiti.
The population of Santo Domingo was approximately 125,000 in the year 1791. Of this number, 40,000 were white landowners, about 70,000 were mixed-race, and 15,000 were black slaves. This contrasted sharply with neighboring Saint-Domingue (Haiti), which had an enslaved population of approximately 860,000 slaves, representing 90% of the French colony's population, and accounting for nearly two fifths of the entire Atlantic slave trade from 1785 to 1790. As restrictions on colonial trade were relaxed, the colonial French elites of St. Domingue offered the principal market for Santo Domingo's exports of beef, hides, mahogany and tobacco.
Wars of Independence In the 1790s, large-scale slave rebellions erupted in the French portion of the island, which led to the eventual removal of the French and the independence of Haiti in 1804. At Dessaline's order, Haitian rebels, most formerly enslaved, fought back against European enslavers and colonizers, successfully pushing out the French population of Haiti. The eastern portion of the island was preparing itself for an eventual separation from Spain.
With the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution, the rich urban families linked to the colonial bureaucracy left the island, while most of the rural (cattle ranchers) remained, even though they lost their principal market. Nevertheless, the Spanish crown saw in the unrest an opportunity to seize all, or part, of the western region of the island in an alliance with the rebellious slaves. The Spanish governor of Santo Domingo purchased the allegiance of mulatto and black rebel leaders and their personal armies. In July 1793, Spanish forces, including former slaves, crossed the border and pushed back the disheveled French forces before them.
Although the Spanish and Dominican soldiers had been successful on the island during their battles against the French, such had not been the case in the European front, as Spain and Portugal lost the War of the Pyrenees, and on 22 July 1795, the French Republic and Spanish crown signed the Treaty of Basel. Frenchmen were to return to their side of the Pyrenees in Europe and Spanish Santo Domingo was to be ceded to France. This period called the Era de Francia, lasted until 1809 until being recaptured by the Dominican general Juan Sanchez Ramirez in the reconquest of Santo Domingo.
1821–1844
On 9 November 1821 the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo was overthrown by a group of rebels at the command of José Núñez de Cáceres, the colony's former administrator, as they proclaimed independence from the Spanish crown on 1 December 1821.
Santo Domingo was regionally divided with many rival and competing provincial leaders. During this period in time the Spanish crown wielded little to no influence in the colony. Some wealthy cattle ranchers had become rulers, and sought to bring control and order in the southeast of the colony where the "law of machete" ruled the land. On 9 November 1821, the former Captain general in charge of the colony, José Núñez de Cáceres, influenced by all the Revolutions that were going on around him, finally decided to overthrow the Spanish government and declared independence from Spanish rule, this would usher in an Ephemeral Independence that was abolished by Haiti.
A group of Dominican politicians and military officers in the frontier region had expressed interest in uniting the entire island, while they sought power with military support from Haitian officials against their enemies.
Haiti's president, Jean-Pierre Boyer, a mulatto who was seen as an ally promised his full support to the frontier governors. Boyer had also made a concession with the French, and agreed to pay France for the lost territory of Haiti. Boyer agreed to pay a sum of 150 million Francs (nearly twice what France had charged the United States for the much larger Louisiana territory in 1803) in exchange for the recognition of Haiti's independence.
Eventually, the Boyer dictatorship became extremely unpopular throughout the island. The Dominican population grew increasingly impatient with Boyer's poor management and perceived incompetence, the suppression of Dominican culture, and the heavy taxation that was imposed on their side. The island was hit with a severe economic crisis after being forced to pay a huge indemnity to France.
Attempts to redistribute land conflicted with the Dominican system of communal land tenure (terrenos comuneros), which had arisen with the ranching economy, while the Haitian peasants also resented being forced to grow cash crops under Boyer's Code Rural.Terrenos comuneros arose because of "scarce population and the difficulty of dividing up the ranch in such a way that each would receive a share of the grasslands, forests, streams, palm groves, and small agricultural plots that, only when combined, made possible the exploitation of the ranch." (Hoetink, The Dominican People: Notes for a Historical Sociology transl. Stephen Ault Pg. 83 (Johns Hopkins Press: Baltimore, 1982) In rural areas, the Haitian administration was usually too inefficient to enforce its own laws. It was in the city of Santo Domingo that the effects of the occupation were most acutely felt, and it was there that the movement for independence originated.
In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte, an educated nationalist, founded a resistance movement called La Trinitaria ("The Trinity") along with Ramón Matías Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez. It was so named because its original nine members had organized themselves into cells of three. The cells went on to recruit as separate organizations, maintaining strict secrecy.
In 1843, Haitian conspirators made a breakthrough as they overthrew President Jean-Pierre Boyer, while placing another mulatto Charles Rivière-Hérard in charge. Hérard, faced a rebellion by blacks in Port-au-Prince. The two regiments of Dominicans were among those used by Hérard to suppress the uprising. Dominican nationalists decided to take action with the leadership of Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Ramón Matías Mella, and Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle-rancher from El Seibo who commanded a private army who worked on his estates.
On 27 February 1844, some 100 Dominicans seized the fortress of Puerta del Conde in the city of Santo Domingo, and the following day the Haitian garrison surrendered. As these Haitian troops withdrew to the west side of the island, they pillaged, burned and massacred Dominican civilians. In retaliation, Dominican gunboats bombarded Haitian ports.
Dominican War of Independence (1844–1856)
Haitian Commander, Charles Rivière-Hérard, sent three columns totaling 30,000 men to try and stop the Dominican uprising. The Battle of Fuente del Rodeo was the first major armed encounter against Haiti in the war. A force of Dominican troops defeated an outnumbering force of the Haitian Army led by Hérard.Caamaño Grullón, Claudio (2007). Caamaño: Guerra Civil 1965. Tomo I. Mediabyte, pp. 10. .Romero, Santo (2008). Raíces étnico-culturales y divisiones territoriales de nuestra isla. Búho. .