Dominican Republic v.2.0 - sugar cane

One of the major exports of the Dominican Republic is sugar. Once you get out of towns, sugar cane fields can be seen as far as the eye can see. Sugar cane grows as a tall plant with long leaves that spray outward towards the sky. As the plant begins to dry out and yellow, the field is set ablaze. The fire scorches away the foliage leaving stalks rising from the ground. Machetes are utilized to cut the stalks down. The stalks are then loaded onto train cars that transport the sugar cane to a processing facility on the island or to the United States for processing. The U.S. set up quite a bit of the processing here, owning a lot of the land as well.

The problem behind the scenes is this: Haitian immigrants often work the land, hoping to make the money needed to take back home with them. Or, even worse, Haitian illegals are detained and forced to stay and work the fields in a sort of indentured slavery. Our own trucks and vans often passed through police checkpoints without an issue in that we don't look like Haitians. The main reason for the checkpoints are to find Haitians and eventually ship them off to a batey and the fields. The rivalry/hatred between the two countries is so earnest that a child born of a Haitian and a Dominican is not recognized as a citizen of either country. Where are they to go? To one of the bateyes to be a tireless worker of sugar cane.

Something to think about when you tear open that little white packet for your coffee.