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Tuesday, November 21
More on Harold Priego: The Battle of March 30, 1844
by
Rene
on Tue 21 Nov 2006 11:23 PM EST
On March 30, 1844, Dominican troops led by General José María Imbert, Francisco Antonio Salcedo, Fernando Valerio and other officers, fought and won a battle for Independence against Haitian troops led by General Pierrot.
The following is another of Harold Priego's works. It was published on Diario Libre on March 30, 2006, a hundred and sixty-two (162) years later after the historic Battle of March 30, 1844:
Here is a translation of the captions: -Boquechivo (on the left): "But Diógenes, this is only an interpretation of the Battle of March 30, fought against the Haitians... What the hell are you doing with that missile-launcher? We are in 1844...!" -Diógenes (replies): "... it is only a surrealist wish". (Translated by R.V.)
This sort of belligerent statement by the Diógenes character is not uncommon among hardliners who advocate for further militarization of the Haitian-Dominican topic claiming vague reasons of national security.
Harold Priego has clearly expressed in a dreamlike fashion the state of mind of one of the characters (Diógenes), which one way or another is a product of his own imagination and an extension of his persona and opinion as a political and social cartoonist.
This very low-resolution reproduction has been made in order to provide a fair illustration of Harold Priego’s work in the context of criticism.
Thursday, November 16
Trujillo & Leonel: side-by-side
by
Rene
on Thu 16 Nov 2006 05:47 PM EST
I believe this was published on Diario Libre, October 31, 2005. It seems to represent a Haitian teacher telling his Haitian students that Rafael Leónidas Trujillo -at the left- was "very bad" whereas Leonel Fernandez is to be considered "good, good".
The banner mocks Haitians' accent and use of the Spanish language. Also mocks Leonel Fernandez and his so-called 'soft-hand' policy towards Haiti and people of Haitian origin in the Dominican Republic.
Reality is that under Leonel Fernandez's presidential rule, thousands of Dominican children of Haitian origin do not have access to an official birth registration and their nationality rights are hindered in disregard of the Dominican Constitution. Just imagine what other human rights are jeopardized.
Given the context, Harold Priego-the author, has depicted caricatures of Haitians, instead of Haitian characters; he has frequently done so in banners published on a newspaper in the Dominican Republic (Diario Libre). Luckily, I am a free person and have the right to use this digital reproduction to criticize his work.
Friday, November 10
Bernardo Vega: El antihaitianismo trujillista
by
Rene
on Fri 10 Nov 2006 11:58 PM EST
* This post is a translation from the Spanish version; if you'd like to read the original, you will find it right here.
Mr. Bernardo Vega is a historian, economist and writer. He served as director of the newspaper El Caribe, Ambassador in Washington and Governor of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. I am used to reading his writings published at Clave
Digital.
Today I noticed that he shared with his readers this article, of historic interest, with respect to Anti-Haitianism during the Trujillo Era. I have chosen the following fragment for criticism purposes:
(An English translation will follow)
"El dominicano
generalmente cree que durante los treinta y un años
de la dictadura de Trujillo la política oficial fue propagar el
antihaitianismo.
En realidad eso [-RV: la política oficial de propagar el
antihaitianismo-] sólo ocurrió entre 1942 y 1946 coincidiendo con y
debido al odio que Trujillo desarrolló contra su antiguo amigo y
protegido, Elie Lescot, quien devino presidente de Haití en 1941. Ni
antes ni después de ese período de cuatro años permitió Trujillo que se
publicaran argumentos anti-haitianos."
-English translation by RV:
"A Dominican generally believes that during the thirty-one years of the Trujillo dictatorship the official policy was to propagate Anti-Haitianism.
In reality, that [-RV: official policy to propagate Anti-Haitianism-] only ocurred between 1942 and 1946 overlapping with and due to the hatred that Trujillo developed against his former friend and protégé, Elie Lescot, who became president of Haiti in 1941. Not before or after this period of four years did Trujillo allow for the publishing of Anti-Haitian statements."
I find, on one account, that Vega has limited the time of propagation of Anti-Haitianism as an official policy of the Trujillo dictatorship, reducing it to a period of only four years, found within the decade of the 40’s; this arouses my curiosity and even a healthy feeling of doubt, since at the end of the decade of the 30’s a massacre of Haitians took place with some trujilloist-state backing, be it for the promotion, execution, concealment or denial.
Another account is that, when acknowledging what sort of media was used to propagate the official policy of Anti-Haitianism during the Trujillo Era, it seems that Vega has focused only on publication, which on the context of the whole article is understood on a strict sense, as the production of issues of writings printed on paper. I ask myself if the trujilloist-state propaganda related to Anti-Haitianism had other kind of media for divulgation.
If I could hold a conversation with the historian relating to his article, I would respectfully ask him to further develop on my observations. In general, I believe in the integrity of Mr. Vega and that if there is enough merit for a rectification, he would gladly review his opinions.
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