6092: HT/DR news: recognition, funds, frontier, beggars, labor, etc. (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Yacine Khelladi <yacine@aacr.net>


> DR1 Daily News -- Thursday, 30 November 2000
> 2. DR to recognize government of Aristide
> The Dominican government will recognize the government of Jean
> Bertrand Aristide as soon as the Haitian Provisional Electoral Council
> makes official his victory in last Sunday’s election in Haiti, said
> Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp. Tolentino Dipp said
> that DR was in favor of the participation of the Organization of
> American States team in the Haitian election. But he emphasized that
> the DR respects the sovereignty of the Haitian government and will not
> issue a judgment on the election since it is regarded as part of
> Haiti’s internal affairs.
> 
> 3. Focus on Haitian beggars
> Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp denounced the
> existence of an organized human trafficking ring that takes advantage
> of the circumstances to bring Haitian mothers and their children to
> work as beggars on the streets in Santo Domingo and other major
> cities.
> He called the problem to the attention of the Department of Migration.
> "I do not think that the mothers that come from Haiti do so
> spontaneously; I believe, given the way the mothers and children show
> up on select days on street corners, that it does not happen
> spontaneously," he said. He speculated that someone is profiting from
> the human contraband.
> "I believe that this is part of the same trafficking that brings
> Haitian journeymen to the DR," he said.
> He commented that the traffickers determine the timing of the delivery
> of immigrants based on specific political and social events.
> He requested that Migration pay attention to the matter.
> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 28 November 2000
> ********************************************************************

> 5. Government moves on Hispaniolan Fund proposal
> The Ministry of Foreign Relations created a board to help the
> government present a proposal for the DR and Haiti to use bilateral
> debt with the US for frontier development. The Ministry will give form
> to the idea for the creation of the Hispaniolan International Fund,
> which would be funded by condoned DR and Haitian debt with the United
> States. Lawyer Luis Heredia Bonetti who has lobbied in Washington, D.
> C. for its passing promotes the fund. The proposal has the support of
> the US Ambassador in the DR, Charles Manatt. Heredia Bonetti said that
> contacts are being made with Haitian businessmen in order to present a
> joint proposal for the fund. The primary focus of the fund is to
> improve conditions for Haitians. Dominicans support the effort,
> because what helps Haiti means a reduction in Haitian demands on
> employment and social services in the DR and increases Haitian buyer
> power for Dominican goods. For background information on the fund, see
> http://www.dr1.com/daily/news092800.shtml
> http://www.dr1.com/daily/news072800.shtml
>

> DR1 Daily News -- Thursday, 23 November 2000
> ********************************************************************
> 
> 11. US Ambassadors favors condoning debt for use on frontier projects
> US Ambassador Charles Manatt said yesterday that he will back efforts
> of the present government to seek the condoning of the DR and Haitian
> foreign debt with the US. The funds would then be used for development
> projects along the DR-Haitian frontier. Lawyer Luis Heredia Bonetti
> promoted the proposal with US State Department officials during the
> Dominican Week activities in Washington, D.C.
> Manatt said that for this to be possible, the requirement for the
> country to sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund
> would have to be repealed. He suggested that Dominicans take their
> case to Hillary Clinton,  the newly elected Senator of New York, who
> could be effective in lobbying on behalf of the DR.
> 

> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 20 November 2000
> 
> 3. DR reaffirms massive Haitian migration hurts
> President Hipólito Mejía stressed the plight of Haiti and the burden
> carried by the Dominican Republic that has already admitted more than
> one million indigent Haitians. As political matters worsen in the
> neighboring country, illegal Haitian migration to the DR increases.
> Mejía again urged the assistance of the international community to
> help Haiti, and thus reduce migration. "Independently of whether they
> cut or do not cut sugar cane, Haitian migration creates major
> difficulties for our health, education, housing, nutrition and
> environmental policies," said Mejía during the Iberoamerican Summit.
> In addition to Haiti migration, President Mejía said that the DR
> economy is also affected by the present high fuel prices and the low
> prices for traditional exports.
>
> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News - Monday, 23 October 2000
> ********************************************************************
> 
> 2. Seven involved in Haitian coup attempt await Mejia decision
> President Hipolito Mejia stated that he will await the return of his
> Foreign Affairs Minister before taking a position on the request for
> political asylum by seven Haitian police officers who attempted a coup
> d’etat against the government of President Rene Preval. The seven were
> assisted in finding refuge by Dominican military personnel in the
> border cities of Dajabon and Monte Cristi, and are now said to be in
> custody in an unnamed military installation in Santo Domingo. Because
> Tolentino Dipp has been away from the country since before last week’s
> failed coup, Mejia has not had an opportunity to review the situation
> with him.
> 
> Mejia met Preval at the Caracas summit last week but the subject of
> the seven officers was not brought up, the President said. All seven
> have petitioned to be allowed to remain in the Dominican Republic or
> be sent to Ecuador. Several treaties - some dating from the
> mid-nineteenth century - govern extradition between the neighbor
> nations of Hispaniola. The 1874 “Treaty of Peace, Friendship,
> Commerce, Navigation and Extradition” states that “it will not be
> permitted or tolerated in their respective territories, the presence
> of any individual, group, or party whose purpose has been to disturb
> in any way the current order of things in the neighbor state.” The
> Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already received the formal petition
> of Haiti for the return of the seven.

> 4. Labor Ministry will modernize Haitian employment procedures
> The Minister of Labor, Milton Ray Guevara, announced that the
> Dominican Republic and Haiti are on the verge of concluding an
> agreement that would “normalize” the employment of Haitian
> cane-cutters and other agricultural workers. Together with his Haitian
> counterpart, the Minister has worked out the general outline of a
> treaty to be ratified by each country’s foreign ministry in the near
> future.
> 
> Most cane cutting, and much farm labor is performed by Haitians who
> are contracted en masse by employment brokers, who obtain temporary
> residence visas for them. However, the task of sorting out transient
> labor from permanent Haitian residents and illegal aliens has become
> extremely difficult. The new measures are intended to provide for
> easier initial entry and better tracking of seasonal employees.
>