Former President Leonel Fernandez speaking in New York stated that the Dominican Republic cannot be the sole foreign government to address the problems in Haiti. Fernandez argued that due to the anticipated population increases in both halves of the island, by 2100, the Dominicans could lose their national identity if measures are not taken now. Fernandez said that by 2050 the national identity would begin to be eroded and by 2100 “our history, our culture and our identity, will have been lost”.
In his speech, entitled “Democracy, Modernity and Progress”, given at the Union League Club, Fernandez cited the case of the late Juliana Deguis, who criticized the Dominican Republic on the international stage, saying that the country was racist, anti-Haitian and that there were 300,000 Haitians born in the country but who were denied Dominican birth certificates.
He explained that although Deguis talked about the statelessness of the Haitians born in the Dominican Republic, it was an incorrect argument as no Dominican was ever stateless as the Constitution provides that children of Dominicans are Dominican, wherever they are born, jus sanguinis, the same as the Constitution of Haiti which establishes automatic Haitian citizenship for Haitians born abroad.
Fernandez warned that the international community had to take responsibility for Haiti as the DR could not do it alone, and that the country was not going to sink alongside Haiti. He went on to say that the Dominican Republic has a population of almost 12 million, which was the same population figure in Haiti. By 2050, the population may well double in both countries.
Leonel stated that we understood that Haiti was a noble country with a great history and that the Dominican Republic was not racist and on the contrary was the most loving country in the world as it was a combination of black and white that gives the Dominican people the brown color of skin.
Finally he stated that the 300,000 Haitians born in the country should get their birth certificates from the Haitian consul.
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Diario Libre
2 May 2017
