Hispaniola Caribbean Republic
Sharing the island of Hispaniola with the Republic of Haiti, this Caribbean nation has experienced over 500 years prosperity and turmoil that give way to the longest and culturally richest historical records of any of the other country in the Western hemisphere. The first European settlement in the Americas occurred in the Dominican Republic as it became the focal point of colonization for explorers from Europe. He named it the Spanish Island in 1492, Christopher Columbus set foot on its shores and few years later the city of Santo Domingo became the Spanish center of the New World, and because of its position in the trade winds, it also became the golden opportunity of the Caribbean.
The science, art, and business of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock describe the Dominican economy in many ways. Agriculture is the primary occupation for the majority with almost 30% of the total land area suitable for crop production and about 17% of the labor force engaged in farming. Only being compared to Cuba, the Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean producer of sugarcane, the nation's most important commercial crop. The State Sugar Council operates 12 sugar mills accounting for more than half of total production, while other large producers are the privately owned. Simple and sweet is how I think of sugar and had never imaged the horrific means to which the product traveled to reach our supermarkets. Some 500 years ago slavery came to the Americas and its early roots took hold on the island of Hispaniola where it survives today. In preparation for the upcoming sugar harvest the Dominican government contracts recruiters to round up Haitian workers and at times the Haitians are gathered by force, while other times under false deception of accessible work. The Haitians lose their identification as they are driven, in open trucks to the work camps on the edge of sugar plantations. They become known as cane cutters that have no legal rights and are simply handed a machete to begin harvesting the raw sugar for up to 14 hours each day. Seven to eight people are forced to exist within spaces of a few square feet without electricity, water, toilet, school, or health facility. Cane cutters are not paid for the first three months and many accept these circumstances fearing arrest on the grounds of illegal residency. Cane cutters are also commonly paid with tokens which can be converted into coupons only to be used at the plantation shop, where prices are inflated. Output of sugar has declined annually since 1982, and land is gradually being taken out of sugar production and switched to food crops. Another leading cash crop is coffee that is very sweet and extremely strong, strong enough to make your eyeballs pop out if you have not acquired immunity. Coffee is the Dominican national non-alcoholic drink and everybody drinks it as to refuse an offer is seen as ungracious at best or even downright unpatriotic. Switching from sugar cane to coffee isn't the only surge to the future for the ideals of organic production have expanded and are now important components to the agricultural sector. Production of organic consumable materials has contributed to the total agricultural exports and the high global presence of organic products has come from the Dominican. The potential for increased production of all crops and diversification is enormous as there is already a trend to increase the product range. Major hurdles to overcome have been the need to produce sufficient high quality products to gratify demand, the incidence of inadequate technical support for farmers, and the difficult acquisition of affordable credit. In just over a decade, the expansion of organically produced materials has become a momentous part of the national economy. The private sector coupled with companies requesting these products for export, has played a huge role in the success, along with the clear demand for organic produce. The market for organic produce continues to grow and the scope for expansion of production is therefore great (Haest, 2000; Sauvé, 2000). The United States in conjunction with Canada, Western Europe, and Japan have been the Dominican Republic's most influential trading partners.
During the 1970's and into the 1980's the Dominican tourist industry grew tremendously and by 1989 it boasted more than 18,000 hotel rooms, more than any other location in the Caribbean. The Dominican people have become the experts in providing tours and services for those that travel for pleasure. Tourism has replaced sugar as the country's leading money maker, demonstrating the changing tide of diversity that swings in any complex economy. The number of tourists visiting the island has tripled from 1975 to 1985 and in 1987 the number of vacationers surpassed 1 million for the first time. Many of the traditional Caribbean tourist spots had been located on the islands of Bermuda, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the United States Virgin Islands, but now the Dominican Republic had become a huge contender in the tourism trade. The historic island offered a number of attractions to tourists, not least among them, its bargain rates and liberal divorce laws, and as a consequence of numerous devaluations of the peso in the 1980s, the country was the least expensive Caribbean resort. Vacation hot spots exist in the cities of La Romana, the capital of Santo Domingo, and the northern city of Puerto Plata, but new resorts in the east and southwest will become attractive destinations for travelers in the future. A strong domestically owned component to development has set the country apart from many other Caribbean countries and although some foreign owned hotels have taken up shop, the industry's advance was primarily made achievable by domestic investors. With expansion to achieve economic growth, also comes the expansion of negative issues that can manipulate the public view into believing a major problem exists. With the struggle to maintain appropriate conditions for foreign travelers, water and power shortages have become common place for resorts as well as surrounding residential areas and the environment is faced with increased pollution that is beginning to threaten tourism. Among the most negative impacts of tourism has been the intensification of prostitution as an extremely large amount of the population is involved in sex work and the country is now associated with Thailand and the Philippines as the site of an exploitative sex industry. With the absence of an adult male in many households and forced by low income earning jobs like hotel housekeepers or factory workers, women find it much easier to earn the money needed for their families to survive by turning to the streets. Tourism is contributing to important changes in social and gender relations. What you notice first about the Dominican Republic is its size. This is not just another tiny Caribbean island with a beach and a straw market. Instead, it's a big country with spectacularly varied scenery that includes the tallest mountains in the region, stretches of white sand that run unbroken for miles/kilometers and the Caribbean's oldest and -- some claim -- most cosmopolitan city, Santo Domingo
The island of Hispaniola, of which the Dominican Republic forms the eastern two-thirds and Haiti the remainder, was originally occupied by Tainos, an Arawak-speaking people. The Tainos welcomed Columbus in his first voyage in 1492, but subsequent colonizers were brutal, reducing the Taino population from about 1 million to about 500 in 50 years. Tourism (the leading foreign exchange earner), telecommunications, and free-trade-zone manufacturing are the most important sectors, although agriculture is still a major part of the economy. The Dominican Republic owed much of its success to the adoption of sound macroeconomic policies in the early 1990s and greater opening to foreign investment. The U.S. has a strong interest in a democratic, stable, and economically healthy Dominican Republic. The country's standing as the largest Caribbean economy, second-largest country in terms of population and land mass, with large bilateral trade with the United States, and its proximity to the United States and other smaller Caribbean nations make the Dominican Republic an important partner in hemispheric affairs. The Embassy estimates that 60,000 U.S. citizens live in the Dominican Republic; many are dual nationals. An important element of the relationship between the two countries is the fact that more than 1 million individuals of Dominican origin reside in the United States, most of them in the metropolitan Northeast and some in Florida. Although the economy continues to grow at a respectable rate, high unemployment and inflation remain important challenges.
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