Special envoy to the Dominican Republic
There is a strange and precarious calm on the bridge spanning the Massacre River which marks the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Some 200 to 300 Haitians are waiting for authorization to cross the border. Most are traders coming to buy supplies from the binational market, closely monitored by the police who prevent any incursion into Dominican territory. In the bed of the river, women are doing laundry and their children are having fun splashing themselves. The river has had this name since the 18th century, when Spanish colonists massacred several dozen French buccaneers who were hunting their herds. The place witnessed another massacre, which echoes contemporary unrest: refusing to obey the order of the dictator Trujillo, 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians were murdered by Dominican law enforcement in 1937 and thrown in this river. In
The Goat Party
, Mario Vargas Llosa says…
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