Educational Media Reviews Online

The island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea is home to two independent countries, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The physical border between the countries is the Massacre River, and the ominous name testifies to a dark moment in relations between the two countries in 1937, when Dominican President Rafael Trujillo, upset at the numbers of Haitians on the Dominican border, orchestrated a campaign in which thousands of Haitians were killed.

The video Frontiers looks at the current status of relations and the growing disparity in economic conditions between the two countries. Haiti has long been known as one of the world’s poorest countries. The Dominican Republic, as the video points out, is seeing its economic fortunes move in the opposite direction, as tourism enriches the country’s coffers and the general standard of living improves. Many Haitians are crossing the Dominican border to get work.

The video shows Haitians lining up at the Massacre River bridge each day awaiting the 9 am opening of the bridge. A stiff border tax must be paid to cross. There is also a large contingent that crosses illegally, going under the bridge. The Dominican border patrol, which numbers 25,000, allows these illegal crossings, after shaking down the Haitians for what amount to bribes.

Some of the Haitians get work on farms, while others try to sell goods (bought on the Haitian black market) at Dominican open-air markets. Since those crossing usually do not have passports or work permits, they are actually illegal workers in the Dominican Republic. This puts the Haitians at the mercy of the Dominican border guards. As Haitians interviewed in the video relate, the guards harass, beat, and even kill them. Goods intended for sale are sometimes confiscated by the guards, and the Haitians have to pay more money to the guards as they cross back to Haiti at the end of the day.

There is little chance for the Haitians to get the paperwork necessary for them to work legally in the Dominican Republic. The video states that passports are very expensive for the average Haitian, and the Dominican government is stingy with work permits. Dominicans interviewed talk about the virtues of having an open border and free movement between the two countries, and they have no problems crossing into Haiti and back to the Dominican Republic. It’s actually in their interest to keep the Haitians as illegal workers. They can pay them less than Dominican workers, and the Dominican government can use them as scapegoats for any problems.

This video was apparently produced as part of a series called Frontières for French television. All of the credits are in French, but an uncredited English-language narrator and translation voiceovers for the Haitian Creole and Spanish speakers have been added by the U.S. distributor. This video is recommended for all libraries with an interest in Latin American and Caribbean Area studies.