The Dominican Situation

At 1 PM on August 2, 2024, a fairly large, angry crowd in black uniforms belonging to an ultraconservative organization known as the Old Dominican Order (Antigua Orden Dominicana, AOD) marched in the capital of the Dominican Republic. Having instigated outrage by claiming that Haitian immigrants are "occupying" the country's schools (despite official numbers stating that roughly 92% of the student population is of Dominican nationality^[1]), the AOD planned the march to "protect the share of Dominicans in schools"^[2].

Upon reaching the headquarters of the Ministry of Education, the crowd began loudly yelling, "If Dominicans can't study, neither should Haitians!"^[3]

There was no opposition to the march.

On the 23rd of September, a much smaller crowd from the Recognized Movement (Movimiento Reconocido), a group fighting for the rights of ethnic Haitians, held a demonstration outside the National Palace^[4]. The cause was 11-year anniversary of a court ruling that rendered several thousand descendants of Haitian immigrants stateless^[5].

On the 27th of September, the AOD marched once again^[6] to protest "the massive replacement of the Dominican people"^[7]. The rhetoric of an immigrant invasion, a great replacement, and a complicit elite should sound familiar to anyone who has had to deal with far-right groups in the Global North.

As fascistic groups like the AOD gain prominence, the state pushes through increasingly harsh laws that marginalize Haitian immigrants, LGBT people, and women with barely any opposition in the streets or the halls of power. Despite all major political groups claiming to be left-wing, it is as if the left doesn't exist at all.

How did we get here? How can we improve?

Cold War Dictators
The 20th century was a tumultuous time for the Dominican Republic. Shortly after an American occupation, Rafael Trujillo seized power in a sham election that followed a coup. In the 31 years that followed, Trujillo became an exceptionally cruel and sadistic dictator.

Trujillo's fascist rule was propped up by the oligarchy and the USA. Gigantic plantations the size of small towns (latifundios), owned by local oligarchs as well as American businessmen, became increasingly widespread. Many industries, of which the timber industry was the most famous, became controlled by monopolies owned by his allies. Trade unionists and leftists were ruthlessly hunted down, tortured, and executed.

The fever pitch of his dictatorship was the Parsley Massacre of 1937, a genocide of ethnic Haitians along the border. This was punished by a light slap on the wrist by the Americans.

Following the Cuban Revolution, Trujillo became a liability for the USA, as his extreme brutality made a communist revolution a likely possibility. In 1961, the CIA supplied a group of Dominican soldiers with weaponry, which they used to assassinate Trujillo.

Following the death of Trujillo and a brief transitional period, the country elected Juan Bosch, an opposition activist and long-time exile, as its president.

Bosch was a moderate social democrat who enjoyed broad support from the peasantry and proletariat. During his first months in office, he broke up the latifundios, instituted land reform, improved labour laws, limited the military's power, and secularized the country.

This deeply angered the bourgeoisie, the military, and the Catholic Church. As a consequence, they organized a coup and instituted a military junta.

The junta was extremely unpopular and soon a revolution to reinstate Bosch began, embroiling the country in a civil war. The United States, convinced that the rebels were communist, invaded the country and assured the rebels' defeat^[8].

In the aftermath, an election was called. The main candidates were Juan Bosch and Joaquin Balaguer, the former right-hand man of Trujillo. Due to widespread voter intimidation, violence against members of Bosch's party, and claims by the Catholic Church that Bosch was a communist, all of which was ignored by the US armed forces tasked with protecting election integrity, Balaguer won.

Following the elections, Balaguer ruled as a much more moderate dictator for twelve years. During this period, he employed a paramilitary group known as the Democratic Anticommunist and Antiterrorist Front, better known by the nickname Banda Colorá, which continued the Trujillist tradition of murdering leftists and trade unionists.

Meanwhile, Bosch's party, the PRD, became increasingly moderate and conservative. This frustrated Bosch, who left and founded the PLD, which eventually became moderate and conservative too. By the end of Balaguer's rule, both parties became typical Latin American neoliberal parties. They acted in the interests of the bourgeoisie, conducted massive amounts of privatization, and sought closer ties to the Catholic Church. These parties have since both splintered once again, creating the PRM and the FP, which are roughly the same as their predecessors.

Because of the country's history, several factors have emerged that prevent the growth of left-wing and anarchist movements. Among them is the immense influence of the Catholic Church and more recently its evangelical counterparts, the nigh-hegemonic conservative mindset that arose during the 20th century and continues to be reproduced by the country's cultural institutions, the decimation of the Old Left during the civil war, the failure of the New Left to develop due to the Balaguer dictatorship, and neocolonial material conditions which not only handicap the country's economic development, but the social development of its populace too.

The Power of the Church
Religious authorities continue to exercise a great deal of power. While religious establishments are powerful throughout the region, they are uncommonly influential in the Dominican Republic.

The country remains bound to a concordat signed in 1954 by Trujillo. As a consequence, a significant portion of public funds goes towards funding the Catholic Church, priests are present in orphanages, and every public school has a class dedicated to religious indoctrination.

The Dominican Constitution is supposed to guarantee both freedom and equality of religious beliefs. However, the judges, most of whom are Catholics, have repeatedly ruled the concordat to be constitutional^[9].

The Church's main source of control, however, has always been soft power. As in the rest of the world, the mouths of priests are among the best propaganda outlets that the right wing has.

In recent years, the evangelicals and other related fundamentalist groups have been rapidly gaining ground by preying on poor communities. They are, for the most part, a reflection of the American missionaries who brought the belief to the island. The Catholic Church almost seems tolerant by comparison.

Apart from being especially heinous in their reactionary beliefs, the Evangelicalism brought by missionaries are particularly harmful towards the spread of left-wing thought. Evangelicalism finds the most desperate of the lower classes and promises them a paradise if they continue to be submissive little sheep here on Earth.

Conservative Mentality
The 20th century has left a scar on the Dominican psyche. The civil war and the two dictatorships had eradicated all left-wing and progressive movements from the country for most of the previous century, leaving behind only a few Leninist sects and the aforementioned moderate parties. This absolute control led to a conservative hegemony, strengthened by the atmosphere of the Cold War and the Catholic Church.

As a consequence, conservatism is the default world-view, which the ruling classes are happy to exploit. Blaming various social problems, especially crime, on Haitian immigrants is normalized. Feminists are reviled. Being openly gay is dangerous. This pushes alternative perspectives into obscure corners, reinforcing the hegemony.

Material Conditions
The Dominican Republic is on the periphery of the world economic system. The national economy is built in large part on tourism, especially in resorts. Historically, the economy depended on the export of raw goods and the import of oil, processed goods, and capital goods, which made it highly dependent on more developed countries. While no longer the largest part of the economy, the country's foreign trade is still important, and continues to follow this pattern, leading to dependence and a large trade deficit^[11].

The manufacturing sector has been and continues to be underdeveloped due to the country's colonial past and its reinforcement during the US occupation. Only recently has the sector begun expanding, though this development is primarily led by foreign conglomerates operating in tax-exempt free trade zones, which contributes little to the country^[12].

This has largely stifled the rise of the traditional industrial bourgeoisie and their proletarian counterpart. In its place, the power is largely held by the foreign bourgeoisie, centred in the USA, and large landowners that control plantations. It also keeps the country perpetually poor and subservient to US interests.

The agricultural sector is of particular interest to socialists in general and anarchists in particular. The most common type of agricultural business in the country is the plantation staffed by illegal Haitian immigrants in conditions not much better than slavery.

The horrific conditions in Haiti force thousands of people to move to the East in order to not starve^[13]. If they are lucky, they are able to do so legally. Given the poor condition of Haitian infrastructure and the danger posed by the gangs in major cities, this is not always a possibility.

Many if not most of these immigrants are forced to work in plantations in the frontier area, as they are often the only places with jobs available for them. These jobs pay barely enough for the workers to pay for food and accommodations, preventing them from accumulating any wealth^[10]. As a consequence of their lack of wealth, they cannot improve their situation or move to find better work. This also causes difficulty in terms of affording travel and a vacation. As government institutions are far away from plantations, this often means that their documents expire and those who migrated legally end up becoming illegal anyway.

The towns formed around plantations are known as bateyes, and are primarily built on company land^[14]. Most of the issues with the historical company towns of countries such as the USA exist here as well. Fortunately there are no scrips.

This precarious position opens up the Haitian workers to extreme exploitation and abuse. An illegal immigrant cannot file a complaint regarding violations of labour laws. An illegal immigrant cannot sue over sub-minimum wages. Illegal immigrants cannot legally form a union.

To further worsen matters, the state has ruled that all those who descend from illegal immigrants do not have a right to birthright citizenship. The ruling was applied retroactively, causing thousands to become stateless^[15].

The marginalization of immigrants has fomented racism against them, which is encouraged by local demagogues. This is a classic trick of the right wing, with parallels in the demonization of Latin American immigrants in the USA or the demonization of Arab immigrants in Europe. This helps justify their mistreatment and misdirect the frustration of the lower classes.

Tourism is currently one of the main driving forces of the economy. Unfortunately, most tourists stay at resorts and do not venture outside of them, which has many unfortunate side effects. Very little of the money goes to the world beyond the resort walls. The prices of goods and especially land increase dramatically, while the wages of hotel workers stay low. They are also almost always ecologically damaging ^[16].

Current Movements
While small and relatively weak, progressive and socialist movements and organizations do in fact exist. Most do not have much of a physical presence in Dominican society and far too many activists have gone down the road to electoralism. There are a few seeds of a better future, however. Depending on what happens in the next few years, there is potential for a new libertarian socialist movement to spring from them.

Minor Left-Wing Parties
The country has a few notable left-wing and progressive parties. The most notable are the Broad Front (Frente Amplio, FA), the Country Alliance (Alianza País, AP), and the Democratic Option (Opción Democrática, OD).

Of these parties, the most relevant is Democratic Option. While they predictably have had little electoral success, they are sincere social democrats and have become involved in feminist street politics.

In many ways, OD is in the position that the PRD was early on and the position that the social-democratic parties of Europe were in during the 19th century. Charting their history illustrates OD's predicted course.

The archetypal social-democratic party is Germany's SPD. In its early years, it was a radical socialist party that built off militant worker movements and attempted to be that movement's political wing. Over time, however, the pressures of having to secure more funding and broader support forced the party to moderate their positions. Then, once the party's politicians gained positions of authority, their wealth and power became dependent on maintaining the system they controlled and keeping the country's treasury full. Thus, they began cracking down on strikes and other forms of militancy. This culminated in the SPD and other social-democratic parties voting for war credits and supporting WW1.

This pattern repeated in Germany with the Greens, in Greece with Syriza, and in the Dominican Republic with the PRD. There is no reason to think OD will not follow it too.

Given the sincerity of the activists that make up the rank and file of the progressive parties, it is possible to persuade quite a few of them to abandon electoralism, thus growing mass movements capable of real social change and decoupling these movements from parties.

Leninist Sects
There are a few small and ineffective Leninist groups present in the country. With a few exceptions, they mostly limit themselves to participating in the FA or posting on Twitter.

The same authoritarian tendencies that makes countries run by Leninists unpleasant to live in also make them dismally bad at achieving any meaningful growth or progress. They almost invariably turn into insular cults that only interact with outsiders for the sake of recruitment.

At the moment, they can mostly be discounted. However, if the left grows in the Dominican Republic, they can be expected to try to co-opt the movement and divert hopeful radicals into their ranks. At best, their members will be useless. At worst they will enter into conflict with the libertarian sections of the socialist movement as they attempt to replace the company boards with their party's central committee.

Authoritarian groups thrive almost exclusively by convincing people that they are the only alternative to contemporary capitalism. The spread of anarchist and other libertarian socialist ideas is the most effective inoculation against their growth.

The Dim Hope of Feminism
The most prominent force of social progress in the country is feminism. This relative strength derives from necessity: the Dominican state is transparently against women's interests. The most visible manifestation of this is also the main rallying point of feminist activity: the complete prohibition of abortion. Even in the most conservative countries, abortion is permitted in the event that the mother's life is at risk. Not so in the Dominican Republic, where even in cases of ectopic pregnancies (where the fetus is unviable and the only way to ensure the mother doesn't die is an abortion) the mother is forced to carry the fetus and die in the process.

The prevailing conservative attitude has unfortunately made the feminist groups' demands quite modest: legalization of abortion in cases of rape, incest, and threats to the mothers life. These are referred to as the three causes.

Even these modest demands have inspired immense hostility. The belief that feminists are an existential threat against morals and civilization is quite prevalent among the conservative masses, which is reflected in their occasionally violent reactions to feminist organizing. The AOD is particularly notable for harassing feminists.

A working-class consciousness is very prominent in the movement, which is a source of optimism. A common theme in discussions of abortion among local activists is that rich people get them anyway, whether through connections or by flying abroad; it is the poor people that must carry rape babies to term.

The history of other countries has shown that the success of feminism depends very little on getting widespread acceptance. It depends on militancy, which leads to structural changes, which in turn eventually becomes reflected in societal attitudes. Thus, the feminist movement in the Dominican Republic must become more radical and disruptive. It must also become more intersectional. Feminism is intrinsically linked to the struggle for gay rights, which are practically non-existent in the country. Luckily, these are both processes which have already begun.

The process of spreading radical ideas among Dominican feminists goes hand-in-hand with decoupling it from the OD.

Plantation Labour and Migrant Rights
The previously mentioned conditions in the agricultural industry, in particular the sugar industry, have resulted in it being the focal point of labour action.

The state has, predictably, fought alongside the bosses in labour struggles. The police have shot at striking plantation workers^[17]. It is also the owner of one of the largest sugarcane companies: the CEA. This, together with the undocumented status of many workers, which forces them to forgo traditional union structures, gives the struggle an anarchistic character. It is crucial that anarchists support the plantation workers in their struggles, and participate if possible.

Ecology and Gold
A huge chunk of the country's wealth unfortunately comes from the extraction and export of gold. The most important source of it is the Pueblo Viejo mine, which is owned by Barrick Gold and Newmont, a Canadian and an American corporation respectively.

Unfortunately, the mine is poisoning the water and soil around it^[18]. The mine uses huge amounts of cyanide, which necessitates building huge tailings dams full of toxic waste. Even with these dams, the waste leaks, poisoning the surroundings. The residents of the region are overwhelmingly poor farmers who, besides having their water supply rendered undrinkable and their health ruined, have also lost most of their livelihoods. Their crops are dying^[19].

The locals have organized a grass-roots resistance campaign against the expansion and continued operation of the mine, as well as pleaded to be relocated to a safer place. So far they have been unsuccessful, but they have not given up.

The tailings dams are practically guaranteed to fail eventually^[20]. Once that happens, the dams storing waste from Pueblo Viejo have the potential to contaminate the Ozama river^[21]. The Ozama river is among the most important in the country. If waste from the dam contaminate it, the results would be catastrophic. This threat can be leveraged to develop widespread support and solidarity with those currently being affected.

The Hospitality Industry
As it stands, there is no action whatsoever being taken regarding issues with tourism and hospitality. In the short term, the best strategy would probably be the unionisation of workers in the industry and resistance against further resort expansion. In the longer term, cheaper accommodations that are better integrated into with the community, such as inns, must be created and run along cooperative lines.

The Remains of an Anarchist Social Center
There are only about 20 or 30 anarchists in the Dominican Republic, of which only about 12 are politically active. The only anarchist organization is Cibao Libertario. Historically, the organization ran a social centre in Santiago de Caballeros, where they occasionally screened movies and baked bread. Unfortunately, after many members either left the country or became busy with family life, the centre had to be closed.

Following the closure of the centre, the group decided to host film screenings for the purpose of reaching out to the public. This ended when Cibao Libertario screened V for Vendetta (2005). No one outside the group came. This greatly demoralised the members. As a consequence, the group remained dormant until very recently.

The organization once again became active in August, when they decided to host a meeting to discuss Anarchy by Errico Malatesta. This was significantly more successful, as roughly half of the meeting's attendance consisted of non-anarchist OD members, who left the meeting much more sympathetic to our views. There are plans to continue hosting literature discussion sessions.

Conclusion
The Dominican left is incredibly small, and the anarchist left is almost non-existent. However, there are ways of moving forward. If Cibao Libertario and similar groups play their cards right, the struggle of the oppressed and destitute shall finally rise from its current dormancy, the ideas of libertarian socialism will guide it, and we will march down the path towards a truly free and egalitarian society.

Alexander Rakhmetov
Alexander is an anarchist militant currently based in Western Europe, though he has lived in Latin America for most of his life.
He is available on Mastadon at @rakhmetov@kolektiva.social

Bibliography

1. Estadísticas Educativas del Año Lectivo 2022-2023. Dominican Ministry of Education. https://archive.org/details/65562ac-7d-1d-52495314280

2. Severino, M. (2024). “Si los dominicanos no estudian, los haitianos tampoco”. El Avance.https://elavancemedia.com/nacionales/si-los-dominicanos-no-estudian-los-haitianos-tampoco/

3. @elavancemedia (2024). Twitter. https://x.com/elavancemedia/status/1819462491807592784.

4. Luna, R. (2024). Movimiento Reconocido: “Si no somos dominicanos, Abinader tampoco”. listindiario.com. https://listindiario.com/la-republica/20240923/movimiento-reconocido-pide-nacionalizado-dominicano-nacidos-pais_826721.html

5. Ibid.

6. Mo, A. (2024). Multitud exige paren inmigración ilegal haitiana en República Dominicana. Ensegundos República Dominicana. Ensegundos.do. https://ensegundos.do/2024/09/28/multitud-exige-paren-inmigracion-ilegal-haitiana-en-republica-dominicana/

7. @AntiguaOrden_RD (2024). Twitter. https://x.com/AntiguaOrden_RD/status/1833215120106745980

8. Fanning, R. (2015). LBJ’s Other War. The Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2015/04/dominican-republic-occupation-united-states-1965/

9. Molina, T. (2024). El Concordato, 70 años de múltiples privilegios. Diario Libre. https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/nacional/2024/02/20/concordato-en-rd-70-anos-de-multiples-privilegios/2618487

10. Dominican Republic (DOM) exports, imports, and trade partners. The Observatory of Economic Complexity. https://oec.world/en/profile/country/dom

11. Ramcharran, H. (2016). Foreign direct investment in the Dominican Republic: consequences and recommendations for sustainable growth. Journal of Economics and Finance, 41(3), 610-629. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12197-016-9361-y

12. Coto, D. (2021). Dominican Republic expels, mistreats Haitians, activists say. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/dominican-republic-haiti-migrants-deported-crackdown-fb0b796b645e6c418094fe3f28298ea5

13. Ashly, J. (2021). Haitian Sugarcane Cutters Work as Indentured Servants in the Dominican Republic. The Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2021/10/haitian-dominican-republic-sugarcane-immigration-poverty-rights

14. Ibid.

15. Guittard, R. (2017). What does it Take to Solve a Statelessness Crisis?. IPS. https://www.ipsnews.net/2017/05/what-does-it-take-to-solve-a-statelessness-crisis/

16. Wielenga, B., & Postma, A. (2015). Ethical issues of all inclusive tourism. European Tourism Futures Institute. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310367225_Ethical_issues_of_all_inclusive_tourism

17. The #HaitianosRD Collective (2024). Colectivo #HaitianosRD se solidariza con trabajadores del Consorcio Azucarero Central ante la represión ilegal y pide detener expulsiones de víctimas. Espacio de Comunicación Insular. https://espacinsular.org/index.php/opinion/11037-colectivo-haitianosrd-se-solidariza-con-trabajadores-del-consorcio-azucarero-central-ante-la-represion-ilegal-y-pide-detener-expulsiones-de-victimas

18. Ashly, J. (2021). The Canadian Mining Company Dominicans Call “Worse Than Columbus”. The Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2021/07/canadian-mining-company-barrick-gold-dominican-republic-pollution-health-crisis

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.