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Dominican Republic FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Dominican Republic maintained very limited
relations with
most of the countries of Africa, Asia, the Middle East,
and
Eastern Europe. It had little commerce, tourist trade, or
diplomatic contact with most of these nations, and hence
little
reason for an embassy or mission. The Dominican Republic
was not
a global power with global responsibilities; nor, as a
poor
country, could it afford to maintain widespread diplomatic
representation.
The Dominican Republic concentrated its diplomatic
activities
in four critical arenas: the circum-Caribbean, Latin
America, the
United States, and Western Europe. It belonged to the
Organization of American States (OAS), the United Nations
(UN),
and other international bodies.
Although the Dominican Republic shares the island of
Hispaniola with Haiti, traditionally relations between the
two
countries have seldom been good. In the nineteenth
century, Haiti
repeatedly invaded, plundered, and occupied the Dominican
Republic. In addition, Dominicans tended to see Haiti as
black,
African, and uncivilized, in contrast to their own
country, which
they considered Hispanic and European.
When political troubles flared up in Haiti, Dominican
governments usually mobilized the armed forces and put
them on
alert. Haitian political exiles often settled in Santo
Domingo,
which they used as a springboard for their partisan
activities.
Numerous Dominican governments had also tried to influence
political events in Haiti. The border between the two
countries
had been closed on a number of occasions.
Over the years, higher salaries and better living
conditions
had induced many Haitians to settle in the Dominican
Republic
(see Dominican Republic - Migration
, ch. 7). Dominicans would express
resentment of
this Haitianization, but at the same time they depended on
Haitian labor. This was particularly true during the
cane-cutting
season, when thousands of Haitians were trucked in, kept
in
miserable labor camps, and then trucked back (although
some
remained behind, melding into the local population). The
practice
commonly gave rise to human rights abuses, and the term
"slavery"
was sometimes used when changes were raised in some
international
bodies.
Little trade or commerce existed between the Dominican
Republic and Haiti. Each eyed the other's politics warily
and
often tried to influence the outcome. Because of the
complex
racial, cultural, and social disparities between the two
nations,
it seemed doubtful that relations between the two
countries would
ever be friendly.
Dominican relations with the nearby island of Puerto
Rico
were quite good. A considerable amount of commercial
trade,
tourism, and investment activity took place between the
two
islands. Many Dominicans emigrated to Puerto Rico, where
they
generally enjoyed better jobs, salaries, and benefits. A
lively--
and dangerous--traffic existed in small boats that
traversed the
Mona Passage, by night, carrying illegal Dominican emigrés
to
Puerto Rican shores. Puerto Rico's links to the United
States
through its commonwealth status also facilitated the
migration of
Dominicans to the United States mainland.
Many Puerto Ricans had invested in the Dominican
Republic or
owned weekend cottages there. At the same time, the large
Dominican population in Puerto Rico was used by some as
evidence
to support the charge that Dominicans were taking jobs
away from
Puerto Ricans.
Despite a few minor points of contention, relations
between
the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico were generally
stable and
amiable. In contrast, the Dominicans had an uneasy, and
still
largely informal, relationship with Cuba. The Dominican
Republic
had broken diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1962; on
several
subsequent occasions, Cuba sought to promote revolution in
the
Dominican Republic. With the growth of the Dominican
economy in
the 1970s, however, the Dominican Republic surpassed Cuba
in per
capita gross domestic product
(GDP--see Glossary),
reversing the
two nations' traditional relative positions. By the late
1980s,
the Dominicans dealt with Cuba from a position of strength
rather
than weakness, but they remained wary of Cuban military
strength
and the possibilities of Cuban subversion.
During the 1980s, the contacts between Cuba and the
Dominican
Republic increased: there were both sports and cultural
exchanges. Most of these contacts were informal, but some
official contacts between government representatives of
the two
countries also took place. For Cuba these exchanges formed
part
of its hemispheric-wide efforts to break out of the
relative
diplomatic and commercial isolation in which it existed
after
1962 and to overcome the United States economic blockade.
For the
Dominican Republic, a flirtation with Cuba served to keep
the
domestic left from criticizing the government; it also put
pressure on the United States, which in the 1980s did not
favor
normalization of relations with Cuba. One major impediment
to
closer ties was the competition of the two island nations
in
world sugar markets, a situation hardly calculated to
encourage
cooperation.
By 1989 the Dominican Republic had become more closely
involved in the larger political and economic developments
of the
circum-Caribbean. It maintained close relations with
Venezuela,
with which it had important trade links. Its relations
with the
smaller, formerly British, Caribbean islands (including
Jamaica)
were also closer than they had been previously, and they
included
observer status in the Caribbean Community and Common
Market
(Caricom).
The Dominican Republic avoided too deep an involvement
in the
Central American imbroglios. It had offered its good
offices and
had served as an intermediary and peacemaker in some
facets of
the conflict. Not wanting to jeopardize its relations with
Mexico, the Central American nations, or the United
States,
however, it had stayed aloof from the more controversial
aspects
of the various Central American conflicts. Dominicans were
resentful when Nicaragua used its Soviet, East European,
and
"non-aligned" connections to beat out the Dominican
Republic for
a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
The Dominican Republic's most important relations were
with
the United States. Politically, economically, and
strategically,
the Dominican Republic was more dependent on the United
States
than it was on any other nation. The United States
maintained the
largest embassy, by far, in Santo Domingo, and the
Dominican
embassy in Washington was the country's most important.
Dominicans sometimes resented the large United States
presence in their country and the condescending and
patronizing
attitudes of some Americans. They also resented United
States
intervention in their internal affairs, particularly the
military
intervention of 1965. But most Dominicans strongly liked
and
admired the United States, wanted to travel or emigrate
there,
and had gotten used to the influence of the United States
embassy
in their country. Although Dominicans did not appreciate
United
States interference, they also feared United States
inaction in
regional affairs. Over the years, most Dominican
politicians had
determined that the prudent course was to make
accommodations
with the United States. In recent years, however, this
relationship of dependence had become more one of
bilateral
interdependence.
The Dominican Republic maintained good relations with
the
nations of Western Europe and tried to increase trade with
that
region as a way of diversifying its economic relations.
Cultural
and political links were also important. The leading West
European nations with interests in the Dominican Republic
were
the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), which
significantly increased its exchange programs during the
1980s;
Spain, for reasons of culture and language, as well as the
Spaniards' generally more visible and active foreign
policy in
Latin America; and France, because of cultural and
economic
relations.
Among Asian nations, Japan had become a significant
commercial presence in the 1980s, but it had little
interest in
political or strategic matters. The Republic of China
(Taiwan)
had extensive commercial and diplomatic relations.
Similarly,
Israel had provided aid and technical assistance and
maintained
some commercial, cultural, and diplomatic ties. In return,
the
Israelis often counted on the Dominican Republic to
support their
positions in international fora.
The Dominican Republic was a signatory to the Charter
of the
OAS, the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance
(the Rio
Treaty), the Pact of Bogotá, and all major inter-American
conventions. Historically, its ties to, and involvement
in, the
OAS had been stronger than its relations with the UN.
The Dominican Republic was a member of the UN, its
Economic
Commission for Latin America (ECLA), and its Education,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the
International
Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Health Organization
(WHO),
and the International Court of Justice. It subscribed to
the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF--see Glossary),
the World Bank (see Glossary),
the International Finance Corporation
(IFC), the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the
International
Development Association (IDA). It was a participant in the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the
Universal
Postal Union (UPU), and the International
Telecommunications
Union (ITU). It was also a member of the World
Meteorological
Organization (WMO), the Postal Union of the Americas and
Spain,
and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In the 1980s, the Dominicans have actively sought
leadership
roles in international organizations. This trend, along
with the
establishment of new diplomatic and economic ties,
prompted
debate throughout the country on issues of foreign policy
and
strategic relations. Such an awareness of world affairs
was
understandable in a country the identity, development, and
direction of which were, in considerable measure, the
result of
external influences.
***
An abundance of good books is available on the
government and
politics of the Dominican Republic. On the formative
Trujillo
era, see Jesús de Galíndez, The Era of Trujillo;
the
excellent biography by Robert Crassweller entitled
Trujillo; and Howard J. Wiarda, Dictatorship and
Development: The Methods of Control in Trujillo's
Dominican
Republic. Post-Trujillo developments are treated in
detail in
John Bartlow Martin, Overtaken by Events, and
Howard J.
Wiarda, Dictatorship, Development, and Disintegration:
Politics and Social Change in the Dominican Republic
(3
vols.), as well as Wiarda's briefer The Dominican
Republic:
Nation in Transition. The 1965 revolution and United
States
intervention are well covered in Piero Gleijeses, The
Dominican Crisis; Dan Kurzman, Santo Domingo:
Revolt of
the Damned; Abraham Lowenthal, The Dominican
Intervention; and Jerome Slater, Intervention and
Negotiation: The United States and the Dominican
Republic.
For the Balaguer era of the 1960s and the 1970s, see G.
Pope
Atkins, Arms and Politics in the Dominican
Republic; Ian
Bell, The Dominican Republic; and Howard J. Wiarda
and
Michael J. Kryzanek, The Dominican Republic: A
Caribbean
Crucible. More recent developments are analyzed in Jan
Knippers Black, The Dominican Republic: Politics and
Development in an Unsovereign State, and in Michael J.
Kryzanek and Howard J. Wiarda, The Politics of External
Influence in the Dominican Republic. (For further
information
and complete citations,
see Dominican Republic -
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1989
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