The Dominican Republic made headlines about it’s beaches this week-- and it wasn’t for it’s miles of pristine tropical white-sand beaches. It was for waves upon waves of trash that had engulfed Montesinos Beach in the capital, Santo Domingo. The government deployed hundreds of city workers with help from volunteers to tackle the ecological mess.
As Venezuela steps further away from its democratic institutions, President Maduro and opposition leaders may begin to take steps toward a solution to the political and economic turmoil in the country. Both government and opposition leaders have accepted the invitation of the Dominican Republic to make plans to begin talks to deal with the nation’s problems. Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Dominican Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas invited the groups and hours later on state television President Maduro declared his intention to send a delegation.
When one thinks of sports in Latin America, soccer normally comes to mind, with fans going crazy. But another sport dominates in certain countries: baseball. In the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba, among others, baseball is extremely popular. So popular, in fact, that many beisbolistas from these countries have come to play in U.S. Major League Baseball. There is a lot of history behind this modern trend.
On Tuesday, January 7th, officials from the Haiti and the Dominican Republic met in Ouanaminthe, a Haitian town close to the border shared by Hispaniola’s only inhabitants.
For 50,000 Haitians and Dominicans, the pronunciation of the letter “r” was the difference between life and death.
The lives of factory workers, who produce collegiate shirts and pants, are polar opposite from those of the students who wear the collegiate apparel. While this gap may not be shrinking, the ability for factory workers to earn living wages an hour north of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is, and it depends on the university students buying their products.
