There's one thing I will always agree with her. The fact that Haitians are not declared Dominicans on birth in the DR I find it to be a coward solution to the immigration problem in the DR. Any kid born in the DR should be Dominican period. But that's my POV.
Considering that the sons/daughters born to
legal Haitian migrants
are officially declared Dominican upon birth with no qualms what-so-ever, the issue is not that they're Haitians, but rather illegals.
I know many people have done a tremendous job in attempting to confuse the public with this (Solange was a prominent proponent of this confusion), but lets not continue to assume that things are the way they're not. To this day, children born on Dominican soil to foreign diplomats are not given Dominican citizenship and neither do the children of illegal immigrants or of those not permanently living in the country.
Regarding her death, I'm rather indifferent about this.
She did fought for what she believed to be right and that's commendable but, she went about this completely the wrong way and that is definitely NOT commendable.
The main problem I had with her was that at times she would make you feel bad for her and her cause since it would appear as if she truly meant what she said, but then you will see signs related to her that simply confirmed what has been suspected all along.
I'll give three examples:
1. Whenever she wanted to challenge any aspect of Dominican laws regarding citizenship, she went through the local judicial system, which was the correct way. Her case would reach the Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the Dominican judiciary and what is decided at that level is FINAL, it's the law of the land. You can't try to go beyond the Supreme Court whether is in the DR, the US or anywhere. But, the Supreme Court would rule in a way that she was not satisfied and then she went to supranational institutions with half-truths, all in attempts to annul the final say of the Dominican Supreme Court on an issue that pertains to Dominican laws on Dominican soil. That is an attempt against the sovereignty and independence of ANY nation, and was and continues to be completely unacceptable. What the Supreme Court decides is what's final, whomever likes it or not, and that should had been the end of the issue.
Los trapos sucios se lavan en casa.
2. She often claimed that she was against the children of (illegal, albeit she never mentioned this word) Haitians born in the DR being stateless. Lets ignore the fact that the Dominican constitution and the Haitian constitution do, in fact, complement each other; since the Dominican constitution states that the sons/daughters of illegals must be given the citizenship of their parents and the Haitian constitution states that the sons/daughters of any Haitian born anywhere in the world is automatically entitled to Haitian citizenship. As such, the rise of "stateless" children was due to careless parents than with any legal complications, since the laws on both side of the island have always been crystal clear.
But lets assume ignorance on that 'minor' aspect. One would had thought that she was truly against the existence of stateless children. I even began to believe that until the
Libro de extranjer?a, also known as the Pink Book, was created to register all newborns of illegal immigrants and have them receive the proper documentation from their country of origin (aka, jus sanguinis).
Why did I lost faith in her suppose 'worry for the stateless kids?'
As soon as the
Libro de extranjer?a was made public by Dominican authorities
and the Haitian authorities even praised the creation of such as a positive sign toward resolving the issue, she and her like strongly condemned the move! They opposed the creation of the
Libro de extranjer?a and that reaction made it very clear that they were not as much interested in eliminating the issue of the stateless children, but were simply interesting in overriding the law the Supreme Court had already cleared up regarding the prerequisites for being granted Dominican citizenship upon birth. Solange didn't care that the stateless kids would no longer be stateless, she didn't wanted the Haitian kids of illegal Haitian immigrants being given Haitian citizenship, despite being completely legal based on both, the Haitian and Dominican constitution, and being praised by the Haitian government.
3. Several months after the earthquake in Haiti (I believe it was October or November of that year), I saw an interview that was done to her for which I don't even remember what position she was taking regarding the issue of both, Haitians in Haiti after the earthquake and the whole illegal immigration problem (although I repeat once more, she NEVER ever mentioned the words illegal immigration in any of her interviews, a set of words which are fundamental to her 'battles') in the DR.
What distracted me so much that prevented me from putting attention to the interview?
She was sitting behind a desk, I guess it was done in her office, and in the background there was a small pole with a flag on it. It was one of those small poles that you would put on a desk, in this case it was on top of a small bookshelf.
What flag was on that pole?
The Haitian flag. I spent the rest of the interview searching for a Dominican symbol, whether it was the flag, the coat of arms, a map, a picture of either Duarte or Mella or S?nchez or even Luper?n. There was nothing, absolutely nothing! Just the flag of Haiti.
I don't know why she did that, because she had to be conscious the impact symbols, especially in the background on a televised interview that would also be seen by thousands, perhaps millions, of Dominicans, would have on the overall message of the interview.
Was it to irritate Dominicans? Was it to show her support to Haiti? What caused her to do that? Was it simply a detail she overlooked, but then we have to wonder why she would have to be conscious of putting a Dominican symbol to be seen in a televised interview?
That was the issue I had with her. One moment she would claim one thing and make you feel sorry for her, but then she would do things that were subtle and almost always only a Dominican would notice, and those things contradicted whatever she claimed before to be fighting for. It almost played quite well into the inherent suspicion that most Dominicans have towards this issue, particularly when it related to her and her suppose cause.
She was a hero to the Haitian community in the DR, there's no question about that.
She probably meant well, there are few questions about that.
But she decided to take the longest, windiest, most bothersome path in an attempt of achieving her goals, which only her knew exactly what they were. She would claim one thing with her mouth and then her actions would show something else.
A part of me wants to wish her a nice final farewell, but another part of me does not; hence my indifference.
