The Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean. It is half of the island of Hispaniola (the other half being Haiti). Many parts of the Dominican Republic are now seen as popular vacation spots (Puerto Plata and Punta Cana). The Dominican Republic has the most visitors in the Caribbean. The country is beautiful; with breathtakingly gorgeous beaches and unique geography. Not only is the geography diverse, but the people are as well. Dominican people come in all different races. The beauty of the Dominican Republic’s county is apparent. The history of this country however, was not always so beautiful. Like most Latin American countries, the Dominican Republic had a long line of aggressive leaders. From caudillos to dictators, Latin …show more content…
Her birthday landed on the anniversary of the Dominican Republic’s Independence Day, which is why her parent’s gave her the name Patria (meaning “fatherland” or homeland). Patria was the last of her sisters to join the efforts. She joined soon after she witnessed a massacre by Trujillo’s men. Patria was very supportive of her sister’s efforts against the Trujillo regime. Patria’s main concern was for the future her country and for the children who would become the future.
The Mirabal Sisters’ husbands also were anti-Trujillo and helped them form a group of supporters. Their group was called the Movement of the Fourteenth of June. It was named after the date of the massacre that Patria had witnessed. They wanted to spread knowledge of the disgusting things that Trujillo was doing to the people of the Dominican Republic that many people were blind to. They distributed pamphlets to the people and called themselves “Las Mariposas” (“the Butterflies”).
Trujillo did not take kindly to this revolt. He did what he could to quiet the sisters. He jailed them (and their husbands) took their property and made their life as difficult as he could. However the sisters never lost sight of their goal. They wanted to free their country of this government and nothing was going to stop them. Not even
Derby Lauren, The Dictator's Seduction: Gender and State Spectacle during the Trujillo Regime, Callaloo 23.3. Summer 2000, pp. 1112-1146.
It was quite fitting that the main base for the location setting of this story was in New Jersey, which is a quintessential destination for Dominican immigration. Many of the topics of Dominican society that were discussed in this
“Jaimito think its suicide. He told me that he will leave me if I get mixed up in those things”. Here is where Dede confesses the truth about her participation with the Mariposas. Although later on she claims to be leaving Jaimito. Dede knew that she needed to join her sisters this was the only way she was going to show her loyalty to the “Mariposas”. Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa husbands were all involved with the “Mariposas” movement. Could this be the reason why they were so committed and involved with the “Mariposas” movement? The support that all their husbands gave them through the journey guided them to influent the change, and to them it was very important. We all ask ourselves could this be another reason why Dede felt so strong about getting people to hear he story, to find the interest in it. Dede made her family home into a museum, this way people can see how they lived when it all began. There is also a monument that tourist or native Dominican that would like to know the story of the Mirabal Sisters. Why is this so important? Its known that a lot of Dominican or people all around the world do not know the story of the Mirabal sisters and what they died for; the truth behind the lies and the unrealistic story telling. Dede’s accomplishment was to let everyone now what happened to her sisters to her father and how Trujillo dictated
Throughout centuries man has witnessed some of this worlds greatest tragedies; the destruction caused by the bubonic plague, the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the Rwandan Genocide. However, none of these can compare to the devastation caused by world dictators. The lives taken at the hands of these tyrannical rulers is unbelievably distressing, and ex-Dominican president, Rafael Trujillo is no exception. Throughout his thirty year reign over the Dominican Republic he is thought to be responsible for the lives of over 50,000 innocent people, none of these devastating losses, however, compare to the tragedy of the Mirabal sisters; three honourable women who did nothing but have a voice. The level of political misconduct and unjustified action was unbelievable and lead the sisters to drastic measures, Patria saying "We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime, we have to fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, including my life if necessary.". In their efforts to try and overthrow the totalitarian they found themselves trapped in a situation where the lives of them and their families were constantly at risk, and in the end it was through their tragical ...
In the chapter One Island, Two Peoples, Two Histories: The Dominican Republic and Haiti the present day differences of Haiti and The Dominican Republic are explained through the political, social, and ecological history of both locations. The Dominican Republic, although it is still considered a developing country, is in a objectively worse state than Haiti. Haiti’s environmental policies failed so horrendously in the past that the area is in a visible state of disarray. With only 1% of the country still forested, not only is the visual draw of the country lessened, but the prospect of wood trading that the forests once offered is almost obsolete. This greatly effects the outside world’s image of Haiti which, given the financial gain tourism
The Dominican Republic or also known as La Republica Dominicana is a small island that is 18,816 square miles, located off the coast of Florida. The Dominicans of this land share their island with the Haitians. The island has a subtropical climate, mountains, rolling hills, and fertile river valleys. The economy is mainly dominated by sugar, which still earns much of the country's foreign exchange despite establishment of varied light industries and the development of nickel, mining and tourism. Coffee, cocoa, tobacco, and bananas are also a major export crop. But, despite their seemingly stable economy, and lush landscaping, a vast majority of the estimated 8,603,200 people that live there wish to migrate to the United States. This may be due to the fact that since the time the Dominican Republic was proclaimed in 1844 as a dictatorship, it has come under the attack of bad political leadership, and civil strife. In 1899 the country was bankrupted by civil strife after the murder of Ulises Heureaux, their dictator. Shortly after that the country came under U.S. control. Even under U.S. control the country still suffered from dictators with highly restrictive policies on leaving the island, and harsh economic conditions. These terrible economic conditions only worsened and caused a gigantic influx of immigrants from the Dominican Republic to the United States in the early 80's and even more in the 90's (Hale-Benson, p. 97). The people came in groves to the United States seeking more opportunities and a better life, but they soon learned that they would face many of the same cultural, racial and ethnic barriers that other ethnic immigrants have faced when seeking a new life in a new land. In this paper I w...
They have faced having to be separated from family whether it was from their stillborn child or being separated behind prison walls. It was all justified since this showed the rest of the people how evil Trujillo’s heart was and the longing of family made the Mirabal sisters grow stronger. This sacrifice is also justified because it is inspiration for other people. The Mirabal sisters were also risking their family by joining the revolution and have been separated from them when sent to jail. One of the sisters, Maria Teresa felt that growth when she saw her sister being taken away for punishment in prison, “Then everyone was beating on the bars, calling out, ¡Viva la
The Dominican Republic[in the past]was a nightmare to live in[as the book puts it]because many people were afraid of doing anything that lead them to getting killing—if such act was infringing on one of his a laws. Trujillo’s immense power allowed him to do things to a person, whether they liked it or not. For example: his ability to “make people disappear.” The novel, Before We Were Free,”- Alvarez states, “ They go around investigating everyone and then making then disappearing them”(Alvarez 14). One of Trujillo’s many examples of oppression: make perpetrators disappear. This is a form of oppression because it prevents them from displaying any form of “free will.” The creation and enforcement of a law is to prevent citizens of such country to be civilized, but the difference here is that: no one is allowed sully Trujillo’s name—this restricts the Dominican people of their “freedom of speech”, which is a form of free will. During these times, voicing your opinions was considered “taboo” because it will ultimately lead to someone’s
The Mirabel sisters were 3 beautiful sisters, whom rebelled against the word of the president of the Dominican Republic at the time, Trujillo. The Sisters started a rebel called the 14th of June and protested against Trujillo and made It through his punishments surviving prison, the murder of their father, and torture. Unfortunately, one day they were lured into a sugar cane farm and beaten to death. But before they were the strong, courageous, and fearless women they were when they died, they weren't always like that. It took a few changes in the sisters to become they Mirabel sisters we know and love today. The purpose of this essay is to summarize the changes in the Mirabel sister's throughout the story "In the time of the butterflies.
Dominican Republic is a developing country that is located in North America. The climate in Dominican Republic is hot with tropical temperatures all year around with two rainy season (in May to August). Some natural resource that you could find in Dominican Republic is Nickel, Bauxite, Gold, Silver, Arable land. They have many industry for example they is Agriculture, Cement, Food Processing, Metal Refining, Mining, Petroleum Products, Textiles, Tobacco Products,Tourism. Their main nutritional items/ foods that they eat in the Republic are for example empanadas, flan, chicharron and concon. The general health in Dominican Republic there are prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic in 2011 that stood at approximately 0.7%, which is
Miguel Melendez’s book, “We Took the Streets” provides the reader with an insightful account into the activities of the Young Lords movement established in the latter years of the 1960s and remained active up until the early seventies. The book’s, which is essentially Melendez’s memoir, a recollection of the events, activities, and achievements of the Young Lords. The author effectively presents to the reader a fascinating account of the formation of the Young Lords which was a group of college students from Puerto Rico who came together in a bid to fight for some of the basic rights. As Melendez sums it up, “You either claim your history or lose authority over your future” (Melendez 23). The quote is in itself indicative of the book’s overall
During 1492, when Christopher Columbus first landed on Hispaniola, it created war and violence between the Tainos, who were native to their homeland and the Spanish who previously arrived there. It created a cruel, exploitative unbalanced society because the Spanish colony imposed restrictions on citizens. Then, Trujillo came to power and strictly enforced laws which people rebelled. He used the power of secret police to spy on citizens, and killed massacred Haitian immigrants. He dominated the power structure in Dominican society, which made everyone powerless and fearful. For years, people faced violence and instability due to the vicious treatment of Trujillo. The corruption still exists when Trujillo is in power, the Dominican society is cursed. This can be seen throughout the novel, The Brief and Wondrous life of Oscar Wao, because the fuku has taken over the lives Belicia, Lola, and Oscar’s lives due to the downfall they faced. Belicia did not have much guidance as a child, she was an Orphan who was destroyed emotionally and spiritually by men. Oscar on the other hand, was a nerd who had trouble communicating with girls who lacked affections for him.
In preparing for my second market entry report for the Dominican Republic, I found some key important research regarding their political, legal, and economic systems.
The Dominican Republic declared their independence from Haiti by the liberal thinker Juan Pablo Duarte in 1844. Before the island was named La Hispaniola and its habitants were the Taino. It was discover by the Italian but, working under the Spaniard Catholic Monarchs Christopher Columbus. La Hispaniola was made out of two countries we know today Haiti and Dominican Republic. While the country was declared under Spain power, the Taino got banish off the land, by the hard labor Spaniards made them do. Therefore, the Spanish speakers started to import slaves from Africa. Now there’s around 10,478,756 Dominicans with a population of 73% mix, 16% white, and 11% black. Today, the Dominican Republic is one of the most famous touristic places in the
Lately, the “Dominican Republic is Cracking Down on Sex Trafficking and Prostitution (2013), and those who use the services of prostitutes can be charged as accessories to pandering and face a sentence of 10-15 years in prison. The age of consent in the Dominican Republic is 15 years of age, regardless of gender or sexual orientation (Huffington Post, 2013)”. Through further research about this topic, the prostitution rate per capita in the Dominican Republic is considered very high. Additionally, the Dominican Republic is statistically the 4th largest exporter of prostitutes in the world behind Brazil, Thailand and the Philippines. The Dominican Republic received over two million visitors in 2000. European tourists accounted for 57 percent of visitors in 1998 to 30 percent from Canada and US (Ministry of Tourism Office, 1998).