The Dominican Republic’s destiny is currently inseparable from the fate of democracy in the republic of Haiti!
While the Dominican Republic is very busy with its primary tasks, which are to establish objectives and consolidate achievements such as macroeconomic stability, economic growth, technological advances, e-learning advances, modernization and reorganization of the country’s civil service, the updating of its laws, the modernization and expansion of its physical capital, etc., Haiti continues down the same disastrous road that has created a system of obsolete, counterproductive policies and an inefficient and ineffective administration with a stagnant economy, thus generating more poverty, more disintegration, more deforestation, more draining of the country’s productive apparatus, more crime and more insecurity.
But the supposed collapse of Haiti is not really the collapse of the Haitian people, because just over a half century ago the world’s leading international institution, the United Nations, made up of the leading international citizens, was given the task of investigating and issuing a report on the Haitian situation. That report was produced in June 1949 and in its point No. 5 it concluded that the best solution was to urge Haitian governments to encourage the permanent, mass displacement of their nationals – in the form of entire families – to other, less-populated regions of the Caribbean.
It is with prejudice engendered by what for some was conditioning and for others a pretext that the world as a whole has looked at my country ever since. If it is true that science and technology are not static, it is not because prior to 1949 the Haitian people would not have been able to find the solution suggested by the great international leaders, influenced by the big countries, nor simply that the great international leaders would not have been able to understand the problems of that nation at that time. At present, the new Haitians and the new great international leaders, with so many opportunities provided by developments in all the spheres of science, technology and communication, have a global awareness about the need to look at the small countries with different criteria. Because before 1949 the mechanisms for generating wealth were not the same as today and products that at that time were of little significance now have immense value. The great international leaders of today are different from those of that time.
Faced with this reality, which is the disaster that the application of that external solution has caused, we’ve seen in those organizations and the big countries that policy be elevated to the presidency of Haiti, which seeks to convince them of the need for the emigration of more Haitians – no matter the methods, all different types of violations, murder, corruption, deceit and trickery against the less populated countries of the Caribbean. “Anything goes” under the global model of asking for things without assuming the cost. The Dominican Republic, because of its proximity, has been sacrificed and is the victim of what has been a confluence of circumstances that is exceptional in the history of humanity: a mix of disasters, difficulties, provocations and defamatory and slanderous attacks, each in its own way constituting a tremendous challenge for any country.
Two attitudes are possible, the first of which is to react with dismay and assume that these are natural occurrences in life that are out of our control and that nothing can be done but wait for nature to be more merciful one day. The second attitude, which is truly optimistic and the one I choose to adopt, is to consider that every problem has a solution and to face up to these phenomena with rationality and with political firmness. From an academic point of view, such a political commitment already resolves part of the problem. There’s no time to continue with insipid and evasive discourse; those who today think or say there is no solution for my country, Haiti, are condemning the Dominican Republic as well.
The Dominican woods lie before the Haitian man and the desert trails behind! This environmental reality gives the Dominican Republic a legitimate right to knock on every door and demand explanations for more than one reason. In Africa, it has been reported that the desert advances more than 10 km. to the south each year; if desertification here were to expand even just 1 km per year it would be too much. There is time and there are ways of conquering the desert; there is economic exploitation of the desert. We just need to begin marching in that direction and we’ll find the solution that is truly compatible with our reality.
I think it’s high time for the leaders of the Dominican Republic to begin seeking out authentic Haitians with a real willingness to address the situation and create a mixed crisis committee that focuses on reaching a solution to the different problems. Dominicans as a people, because they are also victims of the same events, should understand that their Haitian brothers are going through a very difficult time that requires a much greater effort to solve than what has been seen thus far. We Haitians, meanwhile, must stop letting ourselves be manipulated; they are now forcing us to play Russian roulette with our Dominican brothers, who represent our only and most trustworthy source of subsistence. We should teach the big countries of the world and the great international leaders that that 1949 report is obsolete and that, even though we are small, we are a country that is rich in understanding, charity and humanity and are capable of attaining and preserving peace, the only weapon with which tranquility, serenity and prosperity can be achieved and the only way to build a future.
Imagine the transformation of life in Haiti if my compatriots discovered that, beyond the personal aspirations of each individual, the entire political class could unite around an ideal of unity and development. We would witness the birth of a new force: the pre-eminence of the national interest above all other motives. Breaking with the past, since the meagerness of the victories can no longer hide the reality of the crisis when the government’s actions are incompatible with the people’s works. It’s time to seek out a new paradigm, to offer the people new horizons. In reality, the only enemy to defeat today is the poverty that our country suffers and the only victory is the development of this very generous country, something that will not be obtained by confronting anyone, but with the entire Haitian citizenry acting as soldiers in a government of national unity. It is by synchronizing the grandeur of the ideas of the Haitian elite with the talents of the entire people that we will find the profound qualities of fraternity and unity that will unveil the true greatness of Haiti and guarantee a better future.
Today Haiti needs all of its children, even its most humble, to sacrifice to the extent possible because it’s time for each one of us – beyond profits and losses or feelings of regret and rancor – to leave behind all partisan positions and make the intellectual leap that leads to rationality, which is essential. It’s time to recognize the urgent need to unify the will of all responsible Haitian men and women, of all sectors of the country, of all citizens around a single reality, to remove the country from this unbearable cycle of repression, provocation and disintegration that serves to exacerbate the crisis while eliminating all hope of investment and development. There is time, because we haven’t yet arrived at the point of no return.
By Jean Bertin
While the Dominican Republic is very busy with its primary tasks, which are to establish objectives and consolidate achievements such as macroeconomic stability, economic growth, technological advances, e-learning advances, modernization and reorganization of the country’s civil service, the updating of its laws, the modernization and expansion of its physical capital, etc., Haiti continues down the same disastrous road that has created a system of obsolete, counterproductive policies and an inefficient and ineffective administration with a stagnant economy, thus generating more poverty, more disintegration, more deforestation, more draining of the country’s productive apparatus, more crime and more insecurity.
But the supposed collapse of Haiti is not really the collapse of the Haitian people, because just over a half century ago the world’s leading international institution, the United Nations, made up of the leading international citizens, was given the task of investigating and issuing a report on the Haitian situation. That report was produced in June 1949 and in its point No. 5 it concluded that the best solution was to urge Haitian governments to encourage the permanent, mass displacement of their nationals – in the form of entire families – to other, less-populated regions of the Caribbean.
It is with prejudice engendered by what for some was conditioning and for others a pretext that the world as a whole has looked at my country ever since. If it is true that science and technology are not static, it is not because prior to 1949 the Haitian people would not have been able to find the solution suggested by the great international leaders, influenced by the big countries, nor simply that the great international leaders would not have been able to understand the problems of that nation at that time. At present, the new Haitians and the new great international leaders, with so many opportunities provided by developments in all the spheres of science, technology and communication, have a global awareness about the need to look at the small countries with different criteria. Because before 1949 the mechanisms for generating wealth were not the same as today and products that at that time were of little significance now have immense value. The great international leaders of today are different from those of that time.
Faced with this reality, which is the disaster that the application of that external solution has caused, we’ve seen in those organizations and the big countries that policy be elevated to the presidency of Haiti, which seeks to convince them of the need for the emigration of more Haitians – no matter the methods, all different types of violations, murder, corruption, deceit and trickery against the less populated countries of the Caribbean. “Anything goes” under the global model of asking for things without assuming the cost. The Dominican Republic, because of its proximity, has been sacrificed and is the victim of what has been a confluence of circumstances that is exceptional in the history of humanity: a mix of disasters, difficulties, provocations and defamatory and slanderous attacks, each in its own way constituting a tremendous challenge for any country.
Two attitudes are possible, the first of which is to react with dismay and assume that these are natural occurrences in life that are out of our control and that nothing can be done but wait for nature to be more merciful one day. The second attitude, which is truly optimistic and the one I choose to adopt, is to consider that every problem has a solution and to face up to these phenomena with rationality and with political firmness. From an academic point of view, such a political commitment already resolves part of the problem. There’s no time to continue with insipid and evasive discourse; those who today think or say there is no solution for my country, Haiti, are condemning the Dominican Republic as well.
The Dominican woods lie before the Haitian man and the desert trails behind! This environmental reality gives the Dominican Republic a legitimate right to knock on every door and demand explanations for more than one reason. In Africa, it has been reported that the desert advances more than 10 km. to the south each year; if desertification here were to expand even just 1 km per year it would be too much. There is time and there are ways of conquering the desert; there is economic exploitation of the desert. We just need to begin marching in that direction and we’ll find the solution that is truly compatible with our reality.
I think it’s high time for the leaders of the Dominican Republic to begin seeking out authentic Haitians with a real willingness to address the situation and create a mixed crisis committee that focuses on reaching a solution to the different problems. Dominicans as a people, because they are also victims of the same events, should understand that their Haitian brothers are going through a very difficult time that requires a much greater effort to solve than what has been seen thus far. We Haitians, meanwhile, must stop letting ourselves be manipulated; they are now forcing us to play Russian roulette with our Dominican brothers, who represent our only and most trustworthy source of subsistence. We should teach the big countries of the world and the great international leaders that that 1949 report is obsolete and that, even though we are small, we are a country that is rich in understanding, charity and humanity and are capable of attaining and preserving peace, the only weapon with which tranquility, serenity and prosperity can be achieved and the only way to build a future.
Imagine the transformation of life in Haiti if my compatriots discovered that, beyond the personal aspirations of each individual, the entire political class could unite around an ideal of unity and development. We would witness the birth of a new force: the pre-eminence of the national interest above all other motives. Breaking with the past, since the meagerness of the victories can no longer hide the reality of the crisis when the government’s actions are incompatible with the people’s works. It’s time to seek out a new paradigm, to offer the people new horizons. In reality, the only enemy to defeat today is the poverty that our country suffers and the only victory is the development of this very generous country, something that will not be obtained by confronting anyone, but with the entire Haitian citizenry acting as soldiers in a government of national unity. It is by synchronizing the grandeur of the ideas of the Haitian elite with the talents of the entire people that we will find the profound qualities of fraternity and unity that will unveil the true greatness of Haiti and guarantee a better future.
Today Haiti needs all of its children, even its most humble, to sacrifice to the extent possible because it’s time for each one of us – beyond profits and losses or feelings of regret and rancor – to leave behind all partisan positions and make the intellectual leap that leads to rationality, which is essential. It’s time to recognize the urgent need to unify the will of all responsible Haitian men and women, of all sectors of the country, of all citizens around a single reality, to remove the country from this unbearable cycle of repression, provocation and disintegration that serves to exacerbate the crisis while eliminating all hope of investment and development. There is time, because we haven’t yet arrived at the point of no return.
By Jean Bertin
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