Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, announced on Wednesday, 26 March 2025 that security in the Bavaro area known as El Hoyo de Friusa has been strengthened with the deployment of over 100 personnel from the Armed Forces and the National Police, who are now patrolling the area as part of a permanent operation, as reported in Noticias SIN.
Fernández Onofre emphasized: “We will ensure that the march scheduled for Sunday, 30 March 2025, takes place peacefully and without incidents. Everything is coordinated to prevent any problems.”
He further stated: “All security units in the area have been reinforced, including Sutran, Comipol, and Politur, as well as ongoing support for the Migration Agency.” He added: “The security presence in Friusa has been increased with over 100 additional Armed Forces and Police personnel, and this increase will be sustained over time.”
The security contingent includes members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, alongside National Police officers and specialized units such as the Transport System (Sutran), the Military and Police Commission (Comipol), and the Tourist Police (Politur). Additionally, he said the Migration Agency continues its routine operations, with support from the Armed Forces.
The Antigua Orden Dominicana, an extremist nationalist group, has called for a peaceful march through the main streets of El Hoyo de Friusa in central Bavaro for Sunday, 30 March 2025. The organizer, Angelo Vasquez says it is time to make the point that El Hoyo de Friusa and Mata Mosquito are not Haitian territory.
Meanwhile, the government is patrolling the area, while word is out for participation in the peaceful walk as a symbolic way of saying to the Haitians that control the area that they are in the Dominican Republic and not Haiti.
As reported, the Army early this week sent troops to patrol El Hoyo de Friusa, the township in the center of Punta Cana, where thousands of Haitians who first came to the area to work in the construction of resorts have relocated and live with their families. Creole is the most spoken language in this area, mostly inhabited by Haitians, most of whom are undocumented.
The town is known as the largest concentration of Haitians outside of Haiti, and it is a place where restaurants, barber shops, food vendors, clothes vendors and transporters are Haitians.
Media reports are that the Migration authorities for years have looked the other way, allowing thousands of undocumented persons to live in the community. Now several locals are protesting the violation by the resort contractors of the Labor Law that allows for 20% foreigners and 80% Dominicans to be employed. The violation of the law is one of the reasons for the populating of El Hoyo de Friusa and Mata Mosquito with undocumented Haitians.
The contracting of large contingents of Haitian workers has come about because the investors and hotel owners have demanded low-cost constructions and the contractors then cannot afford to hire Dominican workers that would require minimum adequate working conditions and better wages. The Haitians instead accept living in barracks with minimal conditions and lower wages. Thousands of workers have relocated to the Punta Cana area where they have found jobs initially in construction, most of these then bring their families and have not returned to Haiti. El Hoyo de Friusa has become the most densely occupied by Haitian nationals in the entire country.
One Haitian, inhabitant of Friusa, Ezequiel Pierre told Somos Pueblo during an interview with Ricardo Ripoll and Eduardo Sanchez Tolentino (El Piro) that Friusa never sleeps, and it is almost like you are in Haiti. The culture is that of Haiti, the music and the characters one meets. He said Friusa and Mata Mosquito are under the control of Haitians, with local authorities rarely entering.
Pierre says there is the concern that Haitians who have nothing to lose could provoke a situation affecting the Haitians who are making a living in the area. “The problem does not come by Dominicans that have always carried out peaceful marches, but two or three Haitians could try to provoke a situation,” Pierre said in the interview with Somos Pueblo.
Pierre considers that the Dominican government will never be able to control until the government resumes making available visas for Haitians to legally come to the country. “In my country you can’t live. The mafia on the border is more in control because there are no visas for legal travel,” he says. The reality, nevertheless, is that most of the workers in the Dominican Republic are undocumented, given that the Haitian government does not issue the documents to make them legal or for these to legalize their situation in the country.
Another Youtuber, Edward Soriano (Chulo Wey TV) took a way through El Hoyo de Friusa and Mata Mosquito on an early morning to talk to different people about the march. The video shows a depressed area, reflecting the hard-working nature of most of the inhabitants. He shows footage of the vandalized Friusa community center.
Soriano interviewed another Youtuber, “Gabi y sus ocurrencies”, who explained that he was a motorcycle taxi transporter, but had to become an influencer to make a living. He explained he could not compete with the lower fares offered by the Haitian motorcyclists. Gabi said that Friusa and Mata Mosquito are controlled by Haiti, with only 5% Dominicans in the area. He said that the lower cost of the Haitians that accept to work for much less has displaced Dominicans.
Diario Libre reports that, since the early hours of Tuesday, a group of military personnel has been patrolling the Hoyo de Friusa area in the province of La Altagracia.
The troops, who belong to various branches of the armed forces, are present in the area four days ahead of a march organized by an extreme-right group.
As of early, Wednesday, there have been reports that approximately 60 military members—including senior officers, subordinates, and enlisted personnel—from the Dominican Republic’s Armed Forces, Army, and Navy, had been deployed to secure the area and protect the safety and property of local residents. Over 15 vehicles, including motorcycles and trucks, have been seen patrolling the sector, drawing the attention of the local community.
Additionally, on Tuesday, the installation of cameras from the National Emergency System 9-1-1 was observed at key points throughout Hoyo de Friusa.
Follow the story:
Noticias SIN
Diario Libre
El Nuevo Diario
Somos Pueblo
Chulo Wey TV blogger walk of Friusa and Mata Mosquito
27 March 2025