Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
More of the Same
Familiar faces reappear again and again in Dominican politics and Fernández returned to
the national stage by handily defeating Mejía in the 2004 presidential elections. In 2005, to
the consternation of many, the Dominican Supreme Court ruled that the children of visitors
'in transit' were not afforded citizenship. This ruling defined illegal immigrants, which vir-
tually all Haitian workers are, as 'in transit', meaning that even those Haitians who were
born in the DR and lived their entire lives there were denied citizenship. And on the border,
by the end of 2007 there were 200 UN soldiers, mostly from other Caribbean countries,
helping to buttress the DR army's attempts to stop the flow of drugs and arms across the
Haitian border. In early 2008 tensions flared again along the border over accusations of
cattle rustling and reprisals, and Dominican chickens being turned away because of fears
over avian flu.
In May 2008, with the US and world economies faltering and continued conflict with
Haiti, Fernández was reelected to another presidential term. He avoided a runoff despite
mounting questions about the logic of spending US$700 million on Santo Domingo's sub-
way system, rising gas prices, the fact that the DR still had one of the highest rates of in-
come inequality in Latin America and the government's less-than-stellar response to the
devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Noel in late October 2007. Over 66,000 people
were displaced from their homes by the storm and around 100 communities were com-
pletely isolated, some for over two weeks, because of damaged roads and bridges. There
were massive layoffs in the agricultural industry after crop production took a major hit.
Why the Cocks Fight
, by Michele Wucker, examines Dominican-Haitian relations through the
metaphor of cockfighting.
Though considered competent and by some even forward-thinking, it's still common to
hear people talk about Fernández unenthusiastically as the typical politician beholden to
special interests. The more cynical observers claim that the Fernández administration was
allied with corrupt business and government officials that perpetuated a patronage system
different from Trujillo's rule in name only.
The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa
, by Shawn Levy, tells the life story of the DR's
most famous womanizer and Trujillo intimate.