Everyone knows the tension ongoing in Hispaniola Island, that small island in the Caribbean shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. For the past century or so, the people of the two nations have been hostile against each other, openly criticizing and complaining against the other. It's funny how a conflict that happened more than a century ago can still have repercussions in modern Hispaniola. It's funny how the occupants of a small island can still bother to get angsty about each other.
The tensions even rose up even to policy levels, with the Dominican Republic putting heavy fines and punishments on illegal Haitian immigrants, making the Haitian political class extremely suspicious of the Dominicans. For their part, the Dominicans still resent the two-decade annexation that Haitians had done a century ago.
Come the Haiti earthquake, we already saw how much help the Dominican Republic has become the leader in concentrating and directing efforts in aiding Haiti. In fact, Haitian government officials were also allowed to stay in the Dominican Republic while reconstruction efforts are underway. Visa requirements have been also waived for Haitians in need of emergency medical care. Sure, two weeks certainly cannot erase the bitter relationship of the past century, but the picture of thousands of Dominican workers in Haiti, helping those in need, can do a lot towards reconciliation between the two nations.
In truth, it isn't only the Dominican Republic and Haiti's relationships that seem to be getting less tensed. Seeing Israelis and Palestinians, Indians and Pakistanis, working together is already enough to believe that there's a bright future ahead for this planet--though, of course, we can still bet that there are interests involved.
Dominican Republic may try to stabilize Haiti as soon as possible if it does not want a mass influx of Haitians towards their borders. Another is that they are poised to benefit greatly from an economic viewpoint if Haiti starts reconstruction already.
Vested interests or not, it's always nice to help somebody.
