The government was patrolling the Hoyo de Friusa since early last week, seeking to ensure the safety of those called to the protest nationalistic walk by the Antigua Orden Dominicana that demanded the authorities comply with migration and labor laws. El Dia reports that “hundreds” showed up for the march. Friusa was chosen because it is the township said to be the largest where undocumented Haitians live. All the attention is that Friusa is a mostly-Haitian settlement in the Punta Cana area, the largest tourism destination in the Caribbean.
The Antigua Orden Dominicana’s peaceful walk called for Sunday, 30 March 2025 was impacted when supposed infiltrators sought to detour the protestors from the area authorized by the Ministry of Interior & Police. The march had been called from 2 to 6pm on Sunday in the area of Friusa, the commercial area that is adjacent to a slum where thousands of Haitians who work in Punta Cana live. Haitians came to live in Punta Cana, an scantly populated area, to build hundreds of hotel accommodations since the 1980s.
The day coincided with the celebration of the battle of 30 March 1844, the date when Haitian troops and Dominican troops clashed in Santiago, just shortly after the proclamation of independence on 27 February of that year in Santo Domingo. That battle marked a major step forward for Dominican independence from Haitian domination. Indeed, on Sunday, President Luis Abinader and Vice President Raquel Peña were in Santiago for the traditional 30 March commemorations.
When notifying the Ministry of Interior and Police of the peaceful walk, the Antigua Orden Dominicana had stated the purpose of the walk was to “Commemorate the battle of March 30th and promote solidarity with the Dominican people, as both the Dominican authorities, through the Migration Agency, and the Dominican population, continue to maintain control over the Friusa territory.”
In an explanation on the interrupting of the Sunday protest, Homero Figueroa, spokesman for the Presidency said: “We authorized the march because we remember that our government emerged from the democratic demonstration of the citizens,” said Homero Figueroa, spokesman for the Presidency when explaining the outcome of the walk. Nevertheless, he pointed out the authorities dispersed the march when “a group of infiltrators, seeking to call attention, went beyond the established limits, disrupting order and forcing police intervention to restore normalcy and prevent further incidents,” as reported in Noticias SIN. The disrupting individuals wore face masks. The authorities used water trucks and tear gas to disperse the troublemakers.
“We entered Friusa, and it was proven that it’s not as many politicians in our country or the president of the Senate say, claiming that Friusa is off-limits. There was a situation where several Dominicans tried to enter Mata Mosquito, but we did not request permission to proceed further, and there was a scuffle intended to provoke the authorities. We need to see what happened there. In reality, we only reached the area where we had requested authorization, which was up to Hoyo de Friusa,” the walk organizer Angelo Vásquez, president of the Antigua Orden Dominicana said during an interview with Noticias SIN.
Diario Libre, in its report on the protest walk, says that influencer Santiago Matías, better known as Alofoke, was mentioned by witnesses and journalists as the person responsible for causing the disturbances. Diario Libre reported that according to multiple versions, Matias went ahead of the walk and entered an area where the walk was not authorized, which led the government security forces to use water tanks, police and tear gas to act. The area off limits would be Matamosquitos, that was not included in the path authorized for the protest walk.
Somos Pueblo, whose Ricardo Ripoll and Eduardo Sanchez Tolentino (El Piro) were at the walk reported that during the march, a group of Dominicans attempted to move toward Matamosquitos, which led to a scuffle with authorities, as they did not have authorization to proceed in that direction. As reported in Somos Pueblo, the incidents occurred just 30 minutes after the protest walk had begun. The organizer Angelo Vasquez said that the infiltrators sought to provoke trouble. There were arrests, but no injuries announced.
Somos Pueblo reported that when asked if the alleged aggression came from the authorities, Angelo Vasquez refrained from making direct accusations and stressed that an investigation would be needed to analyze what happened. He reiterated that the march reached the previously agreed-upon point with the authorities at El Hoyo de Friusa, without the group advancing beyond the allowed area.
On Saturday, 29 March 2025, Nuria Piera in her Saturday evening investigative report had interviewed Angelo Vasquez to find out who he was. Vasquez acknowledged he did not graduate from high school, leaving when he was a junior. He said he has not had time to graduate because he is dedicated to his cause.
He also confirmed he had registered the Antigua Orden Dominicana with the Trademarks Office (Onapi), but has not yet formalized the organization. The organization has a website and social media and takes donations from the general public. Vasquez said he was not aware he had to formalize his organization. He spoke of Santiago Matias (Alofoke), the leading influencer as his main donator. For the Friusa march, he said Matias was paying for the transport costs of four busses to take protestors to Friusa.
Vasquez says he wants the government to comply with the law. He said he created the organization to “give the people a cause.” He describes the Antigua Orden Dominicana as a nationalist movement. The members dress in pseudo-military attire, but are not related to the military.
Vasquez said he was the president of the AOD. He said the entity has 13,000 members, of which around 1,500 live abroad.
When asked about his parents, he said his father is living and backs him. He said his family makes a living from house rentals and he rents motorcycles for people to taxi.
During the interview, he said he visited Friusa for three hours with eight other members before deciding to carry out the Sunday walk there calling for the government to comply with the laws.
The Hoyo de Friusa is an area of around 4km2. While there is a large commercial area, there are also areas where thousands of impoverished Haitians live, many without potable water. The area is impoverished and there are many areas without potable water where the Haitians live.
Read more:
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Somos Pueblo
Somos Pueblo
Nuria Piera Investiga
Listin Diario
El Dia
Hoy
El Dia
31 March 2025