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Dominican Republic

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  • The Homelands Blog

    Cecilia Vaisman Teams with OSI on Statelessness Project

    Homelands co-founder, senior producer and current board president Cecilia Vaisman was part of a multimedia team working on the Open Society Institute’s initiative on statelessness. She conducted interviews with people of Haitian descent who are …

  • Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

    Vanishing Homelands

    Caribbean Dreams

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    Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

    Vanishing Homelands

    Caribbean Dreams

    Different sorts of dreams collide in the Dominican Republic, where industrial parks, sugar cane fields, and a posh resort all belong to a single U.S. corporation.

    To most Americans, a Caribbean holiday sounds like a dream. For many, the dreamiest of all is a stay at the Dominican Republic’s Casa de Campo, a place where people can, for up to $2,000 a night, luxuriate in the region’s poshest, most complete resort. Even the maids here are postcard perfect, dressed in kerchiefs, peasant skirts, and aprons designed by Oscar de la Renta.

    But outside the oasis of pleasure lies the rest of the Dominican Republic, one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, where, increasingly, the people who live and work there are seeing their own dreams dissolve.

    Narration is by Edward James Olmos, who hosted a series of 13 half-hour Vanishing Homelands specials.

    Date

    August 1992

    Outlets

    All Things Considered

    Tags

    Themes: Lives, Economy
    Regions: Caribbean
    Media: Audio
    Other Contributors: Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman
    Other Tags: Dominican Republic, Haiti, Sugar cane, tourism

  • Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

    Vanishing Homelands

    Celebrating the Discovery

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    Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

    Vanishing Homelands

    Celebrating the Discovery

    Preparations for the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas raise questions about the value of celebrating the event that led to the European conquest.

    For the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, the government of the Dominican Republic is throwing a gala party. They’ve spent millions of dollars to refurbish the capital city of Santo Domingo, which Columbus founded on his first journey in 1492.

    The centerpiece is a huge lighthouse, which officials say will be a beacon of culture for the Americas. Heads of state from around the world will attend its inauguration.

    But may Latin Americans object to the idea of celebrating the arrival of Europeans and the conquest that followed. Among those are more than 100,000 people who have been displaced for the construction of the Columbus lighthouse.

    Narration is by Edward James Olmos, who hosted a series of 13 half-hour Vanishing Homelands specials.

    Date

    October 14, 1991

    Outlets

    Morning Edition

    Tags

    Themes: Economy, Culture
    Regions: Caribbean
    Media: Audio
    Other Contributors: Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman
    Other Tags: Dominican Republic, Columbus, conquest

  • Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

    Vanishing Homelands

    Sugar and Sorrow in Hispaniola

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    Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman

    Vanishing Homelands

    Sugar and Sorrow in Hispaniola

    Haitian sugar cane workers in the Dominican Republic live in squalid conditions. Although the sugar they produce is exported to the United States, the U.S. government has declined to intervene.

    On his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus brought sugar cane to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Sugar is now the biggest industry in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island with its impoverished neighbor, Haiti.

    Early in the 20th century, and American company began importing Haitian field hands to work its Dominican sugar holdings. Every since, the backbreaking task of cutting cane in the Dominican Republic has belonged to migrant Haitians and their descendants.

    The cane cutters live in hundreds of rural ghettos known as bateys. The living conditions of these permanent labor camps are considered to be among the worst in the hemisphere.

    Recently, reports by human rights groups denouncing treatment of the cane cutters prompted the United States to review trade relations with the Dominican Republic. The U.S. concluded that workers’ conditions are improving and decided not to impose economic sanctions, thus preserving the Dominican Republic’s broad duty-free access to U.S. markets.

    But, in much of the country, little has changed.

    Narration is by Edward James Olmos, who hosted a series of 13 half-hour Vanishing Homelands specials.

    Date

    July 22, 1991

    Outlets

    All Things Considered

    Tags

    Themes: Lives, Economy
    Regions: Caribbean
    Media: Audio
    Other Contributors: Sandy Tolan, Alan Weisman
    Other Tags: Dominican Republic, Haiti, migrant workers