Do you know who the Fanjul brothers are. Have you ever heart about the abuse and illicit deal that they did with local politician to acquire all the land that these tow sob took from people in the east. These two have many bateyes in their land where people live in the same condition as the Vicinni family bateyes.
Have you heart about them being charged with any human right violation. Why the Vicini family only?
The Fanjul are not responsible for the acquisition of land for the Central Romana. That sugar cane plantation/company started as the American owned South Porto Rico Company when they needed to expand from Puerto Rico. They settle in La Romana and from there they bought land to create their plantation. Once the U.S. invasion of 1916, with the country's sovereignty being suspended and marshall law imposed (the press was not allowed to write anything against the American forces, U.S. companies were allowed to settle and import their products while bankrupting Dominican companies, the country was turned into a fiefdom for the yankees); that's when the South Porto Rico Company (and later under the Gulf and Western Corporation) managed to get the massive amount of land to create their plantation. At that time is when they forcibly removed the few poor Dominican countrymen from their conucos, many were removed while being pointed by a U.S. Army rifle, with no compensation for their land. Hey, its marshall law in some random island in the Caribbean, the "principles" the U.S. goes by at home simply don't apply.
The Fanjul family bought the Central Romana along with Casa de Campo from the Bludorhn family (one of them even married a prominent Dominican PRD politician and to this day spend their times between their Santo Domingo, Casa de Campo, and Manhattan homes). The Fanjul have simply improved the productivity of the Central Romana, they haven't acquired more land. They don't even lend their corporate jet to the President of the Republic as Gulf and Western used to do with Balaguer.
Now, as for why they were not targeted. The Fanjul are Cubans living in Miami. They are well connected in Washington being quite "charitable" with the republican
and democrat parties. They also have large landholdings in Florida, including sugar plantations in South Florida. Even though they have a win win situation regarding the preferential treatment the U.S. gives Dominican sugar and the subsidies the U.S. government gives to its own sugar producers; they are the biggest winners in the industry. With people so powerful in Uncle Sam's side of the fence, you just don't go around smearing their names. Agh, God forbid.
As for the bateyes in the Vicini plantations, they have always been among the best kept. The roads were always maintained, their homes were well maintained and painted, during the off season in bateyes in Vicini plantations was pretty much the only places where Haitian braceros were allowed to produce food in tiny plots right on the bateyes. They had schools, they were overall and continue to be better than bateyes in either Central Romana or in the state-owned fields. The improvements being seen now is nothing new, they've been doing improvements in those plantations for many years, especially from 1994 onwards.
Christopher Hartley is a liar, a coward, an anti-Dominican, and a false "priest." He says he left the DR after supposedly receiving death threats, that is FALSE! He left after the Catholic Church asked him to leave. He never got along with other priests, he even attacked NGO groups that were once doing good honorable work in bateyes in San Pedro de Macoris. Some of those NGO groups left the country because of him, to the detriment of the Haitian receiving such benefits. In his movie, there are over 50 lies and exaggerations, a journalist from South Florida once said (on anonymity - I don't know why would someone choose to be anonymous in this) that parts of the movie were sensationalize to get more "reaction" from the audience. Hartley makes claims in the movie without proof, like the part when he points to a mound claiming that it was an unmarked grave of a Haitian that was beaten to death by orders of the Vicini's and then he admits that he is not sure if the person died from being beaten or simply from a natural cause. He tried to flee in Paris when in one press conference a group of HAITIANS denounced him for his lies and he attempted to hastily leave the conference. Why the nervousness? Why not face the other side of the story?
There is more and more to this.
He is the most disgusting abomination to have ever walked this earth. Going around saying he was threatened, when everyone knows he is related to the royal family of Spain, the very same family that is quite close with many upper class Dominican families like the Vicini's, along with the relationships maintained with members of the Monaco monarchy, the Netherlands monarchy, and the Luxembourg monarchy. Do you really think a family acquainted with the Spanish aristocracy will actually kill one of their members and ruin the relationship?
He is a good for nothing disgrace abusing his position of "priesthood" to dupe people left and right!
Thank goodness there are plenty of people that can see through him and thank goodness his defamation attempt has been a complete FLOP!
The DR government has denounced him, the Haitian government has denounced him, many Haitians and Dominicans have also denounced him, and many non-Hispaniolans have also denounced him. He is good for nothing smearing the name of a family that was responsible for the rebuilding of the DR post Trujillo. Without families like the Vicini's, the DR today would be NOTHING! No universities, no major companies, no community developments, no NOTHING! Those very same Haitians in the bateyes would be dying in Haiti and they know it. The DR would had been perhaps another Haiti.
-NALs
. Just two well received films that take place in the Dominican Republic and have come out in the last 12 months.