| コロンブスが世界中でここより美しい島はないと言ったHispaniola島に思いを馳せてみた。 いつか必ず訪れてみたいものだ。 Basic Facts of the Dominican Republic ドミニカ共和国についての基礎的事項 翻訳： 善家 迪彦 The Dominican Republic, with a total population of almost 8 million, is the most populous country in the Caribbean. The great majority (75%) of its citizens are mulattoes, a mixture of Europeans, Africans and Amer-Indians. as for the remaining, 15% are whites who are mainly descended from the original Spanish settlers. Blacks make up virtually all of the balance (10%). There have not been any pure Amer-Indians remaining on the island for the past three centuries. There are also a fairly large number of Haitians living and working in the country, doing mainly heavy manual labour and less remunerative work. The country has a very high birth rate, with about half of the population is under 15 years old, while only 3% are over the age of 65. The main religion for more than 95% of its citizens is Roman Catholic.  人口８００万のドミニカ共和国はカリブ海にある良く知られた国である。７５％がヨーロッパとアフリカとアメリカインデアンの混血である。１５％はスペインから来た人々の子孫である。そして１０％が黒人である。過去３百年間に純粋なアメリカインデアンはいなくなった。又かなりな数のハイチ人が住んで重労働で収益の低い仕事をしている。この国は大変出生率が高く、人口の半分は１５歳以下である。６５才以上は３％に過ぎない。人口の９５％以上の宗教はローマカソリックである。 The Dominican Republic, with an area of 48,482 square kilometres, occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with its neighbour Haiti to the west. Cuba is the only larger country within the Caribbean and the greater Antilles region. Hispaniola is strategically located directly in the heart of the region. (When Christopher Columbus saw the island on his first voyage in 1492, he couldn't stop raving about its natural beauty, insisting that "There is no more beautiful island in the world.") The Windward Passage separates western Hispaniola from Cuba. To the east of the D.R., across the Mona Passage, lies Puerto Rico only 54 miles away.
History of the Dominican Republic
Paintings by John Lewis, a locally well known Dominican painter whom Hispaniola.com commissiond to draw snapshots of the Dominican history. Christopher Columbus がアメリカを発見するまで少なくとも５０００年間は、彼によりHispaniolaと名付けられたこの島はアメリカインデアンが住んでいた。人類学者は２回移民が押し寄せた事を突き止めている。１回は西の中央アメリカ（たぶんユカタン半島）からで２回目は南のアマゾンに住んでいたアラワカンインデアンの子孫でベネズエラのオリノッコ渓谷を超えて来ている。この２回目の移住者の子孫のタイノインデアンがChristopher Columbus の初航海を迎えた人々であった。タイノとは彼らの言葉で良いとか高貴なとか言う意味である。インデアンは平和で寛大に歓迎したばかりか、スペインの年代編纂者が言っているがスペイン人は彼らが喧嘩をしているのを一度も見たことが無かったという。１５世紀の終わりにタイノ族は５つの部族に分かれて文明化して中央政府を作っている。最近の推測では当時２０万人のタイノ族が島に住んでいたとされている。 When Columbus crossed the Atlantic with his crew of Spaniards, he first came to islands in the Bahamas and then Cuba before landing on the island of Hispaniola. But this was the place that really got them excited for several reasons. First, his journal is full of descriptions indicating how beautiful was this island paradise he had discovered, with high forested mountains and large river valleys. Furthermore, the inhabitants were very peaceful and docile, and even though they were very generous and cooperative, the Europeans quickly realized that with their lack of iron weapons and European technology, the Indians could easily be conquered and put to work for them. But, more important than anything else, they found out that there were gold deposits in the rivers. Many of the Indians they met, especially the chiefs, had gold ornaments and jewellry. So after a month or so of feasting and exploring the northern coast, Columbus rushed back to Spain to announce his success.
Not being used to such hard work, and unable
to take the time to engage in agricultural
activities so as to obtain enough food to
feed themselves adequately, the Indians became
demoralized and began to die off in large
numbers. To escape from the Spaniards, they
adopted the tactic of abandoning their villages
and burning their crops. This later backfired
on them by causing widespread famine. Completely
discouraged by their plight, many Indians
committed mass suicide. When the disease
of smallpox was introduced to the colony
in 1518, the native population was ravished
almost overnight, so that within 25 years
of the arrival of the Spaniards there were
less than 50,000 Tainos remaining on the
island. Within less than a century, they
were literally totally wiped out. Some modern
historians have classified the Spanish acts
as genocide. One of the Indian chiefs named Hatuey escaped
to Cuba, where he was involved in organizing
armed resistance to the Spanish invaders.
But after a brave but uneven struggle,
he
was captured and tortured to death.
The only
successful resistance against the Spaniards
took place in the 1820s, after the
Tainos
had been almost completely decimated.
Several
thousand Indians escaped their captivity
and followed their leader Enriquillo
to the
mountains of Bahoruca in the southeast
near
the present border with Haiti, where
after
defeating the Spanish raids in the
high mountain
passes, an uneasy truce was negotiated.
By 1515 the Spaniards realized that the gold
deposits of Hispaniola were becoming
exhausted.
Shortly afterwards Cortez and his small
retinue
of soldiers made their astonishing
conquest
of Mexico, with its fabulous riches
of silver.
Almost overnight the colony of Santo
Domingo
was abandoned, and only a few thousand
Spanish
settlers remained behind. Columbus
had also
introduced cattle and pigs to the island,
and these multiplied rapidly. The inhabitants
who stayed behind were involved primarily
in raising livestock to supply the
Spanish
ships passing by the island on their
way
to the richer colonies on the American
mainland,
and the colony's importance became
increasingly
minimized. During the middle of the 17th century the
island of Tortuga located to the west
of
Cap Haitien was settled by smugglers,
run-away
indentured servants and members of
ships'
crew of various European nationalities,
who
were for the most part a gang of lawless
rifraff. Most earned their living by
capturing
animals to sell for their leather,
or roasting
the meal over smoking (boucan, in French) fires, and so came to be called
buccaneers. Tortuga later became the headquarters
of the pirates of the Caribbean who raided
the Spanish treasure ships, and was a recruitment
centre for expeditions mounted by many notorious
scoundrals including the British pirate Henry
Morgan. Later the French who were jealous of Spanish possession of the island sent colonists to settle Tortuga. In order to domesticate the pirates, they supplied them with women taken from prisons who had been prostitutes and thieves. The western third of the island became a French possession in 1697, and over the next century developed Saint-Domingue into what became by far the richest colony in the world. The wealth of this colony was based primarily on sugar, large plantations of which were worked by hundreds of thousands of black slaves who were imported from Africa and brutally treated. Inspired by momentous events taking place in France during the French Revolution, and by the disputes between the different classes of whites and mulattos, a slave revolt broke out in the French colony in 1791 and soon came to be led by Toussaint Louverture. In danger of completely losing their colony, France abolished slavery in 1794. Toussaint's soldiers and the French easily overwhelmed the Spanish part of the island which surrendered the next year. Although Toussaint succeeded in re-establishing order and stability and renewing the economy which had been badly devastated by the slave revolt, the new leader in France, Napoleon Bonaparte, could not accept having France's richest colony governed by a black man. Succumbing to the complaints of former colonists who had lost their plantations, a large expedition was mounted whose ultimate purpose was to conquer the blacks and re-establish slavery. Led by Napoleon's brother-in-law, General Leclerc, the expedition turned into a disaster, and shortly after the black army definitively defeated the French, the blacks declared their independence and established the republic of Haiti on the western third of the island. The French retained control of the eastern side of the island until 1809 when it was returned to Spanish rule. The Spaniards not only re established slavery in their colony, but many of them also mounted raiding expeditions into Haiti to capture blacks and enslave them. Due to neglect of Spanish authorities, the colonists of Santo Domingo under the leadership of Jose Nunez de Caceres proclamed what came to be called the " Ephemeral Independence. But this was very shortlived because in 1822, fearful that the French would mount another expedition from Santo Domingo to re-establish slavery, as they had been threatening to do, Haiti sent an army to invade the eastern portion of the island. Haiti once again abolished slavery, and incorporated Santo Domingo into the Black Republic. 後にフランスが島のスペイン所有を妬み移植者をTortugaに送った。海賊達を懐柔するために売春婦や泥棒であった獄中の女を彼らに与えた。島の西３分の１が１６９７年にフランス領となり、Santo Domingoは１００年以上に渡り世界中で最も裕福な植民地となった。この植民地の富は砂糖によるもので、大きな農場ではアフリカから連れてこられひどい扱いにされていた何万もの黒人奴隷が働かされていた。フランス革命中のフランスで起こった重大な出来事や白人各層と白人と黒人の混血との間の論争に刺激されて、１７９１年にフランス植民地で奴隷の反乱が勃発しToussaint Louverture（ハイチ人奴隷解放者でナポレオン派遣軍を撃退している）がそれを率いていた。植民地を失いそうになり、１７９４年にフランスは奴隷制を廃止した。Toussaint軍とフランス軍は島の東のスペイン領部分を攻撃し翌年征服している。Toussaintは社会の秩序と安定を取り戻し奴隷の反乱によりメチャメチャになっていた経済を立て直したが、フランスの新リーダーのナポレオンボナパルトはフランスの裕福な植民地が黒人により統治されるのは受け入れることができなかった。自分の農場を失った先の移植者の不満に屈して大探検隊が造られ彼らの最終目的は黒人を征服し奴隷制を又確立する事であった。ナポレオンの義理の兄弟のLeclerc将軍に率いられた探検隊は悲惨な結果になり、黒人軍が完璧にフランス軍を打ちのめし、後黒人達は独立を宣言し島の西３分の１にハイチ共和国を創った。フランスは島の東側をスペインに帰す１８０９年まで統治した。スペイン人は植民地に奴隷制を再確立したばかりか、ハイチへの襲撃隊を組織して黒人を捕らえて奴隷にしていた。スペイン当局の無視により、Jose Nunez de Caceres に率いられたSanto Domingoの移植者達ははかない独立と呼ばれている独立を宣言している。しかしこれはほんの短期間であった。と言うのも１８２２年に以前から脅威であった事であるが、フランスがSanto Domingoで奴隷制を再確立するためもう一度探検隊を送ってくることを恐れて、ハイチが島の東側に軍隊を送り込んだためである。ハイチが再度奴隷制を廃止して、Santo Domingoを黒人共和国に併合した。the next 22 years the whole island came under Haitian control and domination. Because of their loss of political and economic control, this occupation was deeply resented by the former Spanish ruling class. During the late 1830s an underground resistance group called La Trinitaria was organized under the leadership of Juan Pablo Duarte. After several attacks on the Haitian army, and due to internal discord, the Haitians retreated. Independence of the eastern side of the island was officially declared on February 27, 1844, and the name of Dominican Republic was adopted.  The La Trinitaria leaders almost immediately
encountered political opposition from within
their own country, and within 6 months were
ousted from power. From this time onward
the Dominican Republic was almost always
under the rule of caudilos, or strong leaders who usually ruled the
country as if it were their personal
feif.
During the next 70 years, the history
of
the Dominican Republic was characterized
by regular outbreaks of civil war,
political
instability and economic chaos. For
nearly
the next quarter of a century the leadership
seesawed between that of General Pedro
Santana
and General Buenaventura Baez, whose
armies
continuously fought each other for
control
over the government. In their efforts
to
maintain control, the 2 military leaders
and their disciples resorted to outside
assistance.
In 1861 General Santana invited the
Spanish
to return and take over control of
their
former colony. But after a short period
of
mis-management, the Dominicans quickly
realized
their mistake and forced the Spanish
out.
Apparently not learning their lesson,
another
group begged the United States to come
in
and take over a decade later. Although
US
President Grant supported the move,
the plan
was defeated by the US Congress and
then
abandoned. During the 19th century
the country's
economy shifted from primarily livedstock
grazing to other sources of revenue.
In the
south-western region, a new industry
arose
in cutting down and exporting precious
woods
such as mahogany, oak and guaiacum.
In the
northern plains and valleys around
Santiago,
the emphasis was focused on growing
tobacco
for production of some of the world's
best
cigars. Throughout the country another
important
crop was coffee. それからの２２年は島全体がハイチの統治下になった。政治経済の統御が出来ずに、この占領は以前のスペイン統治時の連中に憤慨を買った。１８３０年代にLa Trinitariaと呼ばれた地下抵抗組織がJuan Pablo Duarteに率いられ組織された。数回のハイチ軍に対する攻撃の後、内部崩壊も手伝い、ハイチ人は撤退した。１８４４年２月２７日に島の東側の部分の独立が宣言されドミニカ共和国が出来た。The La Trinitariaのリーダー達は直ぐに国の中からの政治的対立に直面し六ヶ月そこそこで権力の座から退いた。この時からドミニカ共和国はほとんどいつもcaudilos又は強いリーダー があたかも個人の所有物のように国を支配する様になった。その後７０年間はドミニカ共和国の歴史は規則的に起こる市民戦争と政治的混乱と経済の恐慌に特長づけられている。次の２５年間はPedro Santana将軍とBuenaventura Baez将軍の権力争いのシーソーゲームで、両軍が政府を支配するためにいつもお互いに戦っていた。統制を維持する試みの中で、この２つの軍の長と手下達は外部からの応援を求めた。１８６１年には Santana将軍はスペインに再度占領統治を要請した。しかし短期間の失政でドミニカ人は彼らの過ちを認めスペインを追い出した。１０年後には明らかにこの失敗に懲りずに他の集団がアメリカに統治を要請している。米国大統領のGrantはその動きを支持したが、議会に反対されお流れになった。１９世紀中に国の経済は主に放牧から他の収入源に移行した。南西地域ではマホガニーや樫やGuaiacumの木などの貴重な木材の伐採と輸出の新しい産業が興り、北の平原とSantigo周辺の峡谷ではタバコの生産を行い世界で一番良い葉巻たばこを生産するようになった。国中でもう一つ重要な作物はコーヒーであった。 Another strongman who came to power in 1882
was General Ulysses Heureux. A brutal dictator
whose corrupt regime was maintained in power
by violent repression of his opponents, Heureux
handled internal affairs of the country so
poorly, and so mis-managed the economic situation
that the country was regularly rocked back
and forth between economic crises and currency
devaluations. Following his assassination
in 1899, several individuals came to power
only to be rapidly overthrown by their political
opponents, and the country's internal situation
continuously degenerated into chaos. Overall, the situation in the Dominican Republic
for the first 70 years following its
independence
can be characterized as having been
a series
of civil wars interrupted by brief
periods
of peace before being disrupted again
by
politically-motivated strife and violence
generated by power hungry followers
of regional
strongmen. These attacked their opponents
with charges of corruption and lack
of patriotism
and made promises to carry out reforms.
But
as soon as they had the opportunity
to take
office, they all forgot about their
promises
and proceeded to place their friends
and
relatives in positions of prominence
and
to raid the country's treasury as if
it were
a family fortune that was there for
them
to loot and squander. Around the turn of the century, the sugar
industry was revived, and so many American
businessmen came to invest and buy
plantations
that they came to dominate this vital
sector
of the economy. With the advent of
the First
World War, and using the excuse that
political
instability was creating a situation
whereby
a European power (Germany) might be
able
to take advantage of the country"
s
weakness - whereas the real reason
was to
expand American influence over the
Dominican
economy - the United States sent in
its Marines
to occupy the Dominican Republic in
1916.
Only a few months earlier, the Americans
had also used the same argument as
a pretext
to occupy neighboring Haiti. The US occupation in the Dominican Republic
lasted 8 years (it went on for 19 years
in
Haiti), and from the beginning the
Americans
quickly took over complete control.
It ordered
the disbanding of the Dominican army
and
the competing rival strongman armies
and
forced the population to disarm. The
puppet
government that was installed was obliged
to obey the orders generated by the
occupying
force commanders. Among the changes
made
was the re-modeling of the legal structure
in order to benefit American investors,
who
took over greater sectors of the economy
and to remove all customs and import
barriers
for American products brought to the
country.
The results of the heavy penetration
of the
local economy by American investors
was that
many small Dominican businessmen and
entrepreneurs
were forced out of business. The changes,
however, were not all negative, because
during
this period the former patten of political
violence was eliminated, and many improvements
in infrastucture and the educational
system
were introduced.
After Trujilo's untimely death, he was succeeded by his vice-president, Dr. Joachim Balaguer. A year and a half later, Juan Bosch of the Dominican Revolutionary Party was elected president. However his socialistic program was judged to be too extreme by both the United States, then paranoid about the possible spread of Communism in the Caribbean after Fidel Castro's successful revolution in Cuba, and the army who had maintained Trujilo in power. The army's proponents manoeuvered to block every of Bosch's legislative endeavors, and only 9 months later engineered a coup d" etat to oust him from the presidency. The next 2 years were the scene of political and economic chaos, which culminated when the dissatisfied working classes rose in rebellion, and allied with a dissident army faction, took action to re-establish constitutional order on April 24, 1965. President Lyndon Johnson then ordered the US Marines to occupy the Dominican Republic under pretext that communists were in control of the political uprising. A year later, Dr. Joachim Ballaguer, one of Trujilo" s former trusted lieutenants, was elected president again in what was acknowledged by all observers to have been a rigged election. Ballaguer remained in power during this time for a continuous period of 12 years, winning re-election in 1970 and 1974. In both instances the opposition parties maintained that the elections were rigged, so they did not nominate candidates to participate in the electoral races. Wanting a change, in 1978 Dominicans went to the polls and elected Antonio Guzman of the Dominican Revolutionary Party. Unwilling to cede defeat, when Balaguer" s supporters became aware that the results were moving in the direction of a victory for Guzman, they attempted to put an end to the vote counting to maintain Balaguer in the presidency. But under international pressure, particularly Jimmy Carter" s government in the United States, Balaguer was forced to give in and admit to defeat. Just before his 4-year term ended in 1982, Guzman allegedly committed suicide after becoming aware that close family members were involved in massive corruption and embezzlement of government funds. He was replaced by Salvador Blanco of the D.R.P. Blanco continued in the time honored tradition of rewarding family members, close friends and political supporters with lucrative governmental posts. His term in the Dominican presidency was in the end marred by allegations of massive corruption and mis-appropriation of government funds. He was later found guilty and convicted to 20 years in prison on charges of corruption. Trujiloの時ならぬ死後、彼のあとを副大統領のDr. Joachim Balaguerが引き継いだ。一年半後にドミニカ改革党のJuan Boschが大統領に選ばれた。しかしかれの社会主義はあまりに極端であると米国とTrujiloを支えた軍に判断された。それはFidel Castroのキューバ革命の成功によりカリブ地域に共産主義が拡がると言う幻想であった。軍の発議者はBoschの行政努力の全てを妨害しわずか９ヶ月後にクーデターを起こして大統領を排斥した。その後２年間は政治経済の混沌状態で不満な労働者が反乱を起こした頃は頂点に達し、不満軍分子と同盟し１９６５年に憲法を再確立した。米国大統領Lyndon Johnsonは共産主義者が政治混乱を指揮しているとの口実のもとにドミニカ共和国を占拠するために海兵隊を派遣した。１年後に先のTrujiloの信頼された副官であったDr. Joachim Balaguerがみんなご存じのごまかし選挙で又大統領になった。Ballaquerはこの間１２年間に渡り政権を維持し、１９７０年と１９７４年には再選されている。二回の再選はごまかしと対立党は述べているが選挙戦に候補者をたてることが出来なかった。変化を望むドミニカ人は１９７８年に投票しドミニカ改革党のAntonio Guzmanを大統領に選んだ。Balaquerの支持者達は結果がGuzmanの勝利になりそうになると負けるのを認めがたく、Balaquerを大統領に持続するため投票の集計を中断させた。しかし国際的な圧力や米国大統領Jimmy Carterにより、Balaquerは諦めさされ負けを認めた。大統領に成って４年後の１９８２年にGuzmanは申し立てに寄れば親類の者が大量の汚職と政府基金の着服をしたことが発覚し自殺をしている。同党のSalvador Blancoが彼の代わりに大統領に成った。Blancoは長年続いている家族や親友や政治的支持者への金になる政府要職を報酬として与える伝統を持続した。彼の大統領の期間は大量の汚職と政府基金の着服の申し立てにより終わりその罪で２０年の投獄になった。 Thoroughly disallusioned by the mis-rule of the leaders of the D.R.P., Dominicans returned to the polls in 1986 to opt for the former dictator, Dr. Joachim Ballaguer, who to this day (April 1996), at age 90, almost completely blind and partially deaf, remains in the post of President of the Dominican Republic. He was successful in winning the election in 1990 against divided and disorganized opposition parties. Within the past decade the Dominican government was condemned by the international community for the exploitation of Haitian braceros (or sugar cane workers). It was alleged that thousands of these workers were forced to labor at back-breaking work for long hours under the hot sun under the supervision of armed guards. International observers reported that they were obliged to survive in deplorable living conditions, were kept virtually as prisoners and were not permitted to leave their places of employment, and were paid only pennies for their toil, conditions that were likened to that of slavery. Finally bowing to international pressure, in June 1991 all of the Haitian workers were deported. It is uncertain if such conditions continue to exist today, but there are still thousands of Haitians in the Dominican Republic at present, doing mainly heavy manual and low-paying jobs in the construction and agricultural industries that are usually scorned by the bulk of the Dominicans. The year 1992 was marked by the 500-year anniversary celebration of Columbus' discovery of America. In honor of the event, a massive concrete momument, the Faro de Colon (Columbus" Lighthouse) was erected on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. The celebration events were somewhat diminished by international criticism of the massive spending required to pay for this structure when millions of Ballaguer's countrymen were suffering from living in conditions of poverty. ドミニカ共和国の指導者の失政で完全に失望したドミニカ人は１９８６年に選挙で先の独裁者Dr. Joachim Ballaguerを再選し今日まで（１９９６年の４月）９０才で目も見えず耳も聞こえない状態でドミニカ共和国の大統領に座っている。彼は１９９０年の選挙で分裂し組織が解体した対抗党にうまく勝利した。過去１０年間、ドミニカ共和国は世界からハイチのサトウキビ労働者からの搾取行為に対し非難されている。何千ものこれらの労働者は軍監視のもと日照りの中で腰を痛める重労働に従事させられている。国際調査団は悲惨な生活状態におかれ囚人の如くに扱われ仕事場から離れることを許されていない。そしてその骨折り仕事に２〜３ペニイしか支払われず奴隷の様な状態である。ついに国際的な圧力に屈して１９９１年６月に全てのハイチの労働者は解放された。その様な状態が今日まで続いているかどうか確かではないが、未だに何千人ものハイチ人がドミニカ共和国に存在し多くのドミニカ人には卑下される建設や農業など主に重労働で低賃金の仕事をしている。１９９２年はコロンブスがアメリカ大陸を発見して５００年の記念すべき年であった。それを記念して巨大なコンクリートの記念塔であるthe Faro de Colon (Columbus" Lighthouse)がSanto Domingoの郊外に建てられた。祝賀行事は国民が皆貧乏な折り、この建物に費やされた浪費に対する国際的な非難により幾分減少した。 Progress Towards Reform In 1994 Balaguer again declared victory in an election which O.A.S. and other international observers unanimously agreed was rigged. The names of thousands of voters were removed who were known to be supporters of his main opponent, the former mayor of Santo Domingo, Jose Francisco Pena Gomez of the D.R.P. In a bid to avoid a major outbreak of violence, Balaguer and Pena Gomez met and negotiated an agreement whereby Balaguer promised to remain in power no longer than 2 years, and not to run for re-election the next time around. Run-off elections were then scheduled for May, 1996 and early returns showed Pena Gomez holding a plurality. On July 2, 1996 Leonel Fernandez of the Partia Libertad Democratica (P.L.D.) edged out Gomez in the run-offs. Balaguer gave his support to help Fernandez come from behind to win. Leonel finished in July with 51% of the vote compared with 49% for Pena Gomez. Dominicans seemed to accept the vote with little protest, but most people are waiting to see if he can accomplish significant reforms. According to international observatory organizations the election was declared clean.Part of Leonel's anticipated reforms depended on his party gaining a majority in the National Assembly, which held elections in May 1998. A few weeks before the elections, Pena Gomez died from cancer. The country declared a two day period of mourning to honor the politician who many believed would have been president had past elections not been tampered with. Election results in the National Assembly gave a majority to the opposing Pena Gomez party and many Dominicans feel that Leonel will have difficulties passing his proposed legislation. However, this kind of political debate is now more representative of a true democracy in which divided elections are the result of the people's shifting opinions. 改革への歩み1994年Balaquerは国際監視団が一致してごまかしと認めた選挙にまた勝利した。彼の対抗者で先のSanto Domingo市長のJose Francisco Pena Gomez（ドミニカ改革党）を支持する何千もの投票者の名前が除去された。暴動が勃発する事を避けるためにBalaquer とPena Gomezは会談交渉しBalaquerが２年以上職を勤めず次回選挙には立候補しない事を合意した。期限切れ選挙は１９９６年５月に予定されPena Gomezが大勝しそうであった。１９９６年７月２日自由民主党の Leonel Fernandez が期限切れ選挙でGomezを破った。BalaquerはFernandezが勝利するよう支持した。Leonelは7月に投票数の51%を得、 49% のPena Gomezを破った。ドミニカ人はほとんど抵抗せず投票を受け入れたが大部分の人は彼が目覚ましい改革をするかどうか見守っている。国際監視団によれば、選挙は公正であったとされている。Leonelの期待される改革の部分は国会で自分の党が大多数を占める事に頼っていた。その選挙は１９９８年５月に行われた。選挙の２〜３週間前にPena Gomezはガンで亡くなった。過去の選挙がもし弄くられていなかったら誰もが大統領になるであろうと思った政治家に敬意を表し、国は２日間の喪に服する事にした。国会議員の選挙は対立するPena Gomez党が勝利し、多くのドミニカ人はLeonelが約束した法案を通す事は難しいだろうと感じている。しかしこの種の政治的議論はいまや真の民主主義を示しており、別々の選挙は人々の移りゆく意見の結果である。 Outlook Today the Dominican Republic is progressing as a free and Democratic nation. Political demonstrations take place openly and freely in the main streets and politicians are able to campaign without being censored. Dominicans are involved in the political arena and newspapers provide a comparatively free and open flow of information for the people. Even with these advancements, the country is still watched over by the police and the army who act in the interests of the politicians who hold power. This along with continual problems with corruption need to be overcome before the Dominican Republic can truly move into the 21st century as a true and developed democracy. Standing before the new elections which will happen in May 2000, it appears that all leading parties are committed in continuing along this road to a full fletched democracy. 情勢今日ドミニカ共和国は自由で民主的な国家として進んでいる。政治の活動は目抜き通りで開かれて自由に行われ、政治家は検閲されることなく選挙運動を行える。ドミニカ人は政治活動に引き込まれ新聞はかなり自由で開かれた情報を人々に流している。このように進歩しても、国は未だに権力を有する政治家の顔色を伺う警察や軍に監視されている。これは長い間続いた汚職の問題と供にドミニカ共和国が真の発展した民主国家として本当に２１世紀に移行する前に克服されねばならない。2000年５月に予定されている新選挙を前に全ての指導的党は完全な民主主義を目指して進んで行かなければならない。 Presidents since 1966: １９６６年以来の大統領1966 - 1978 Dr. Joaquin Balaguer Geography of the Dominican Republic 
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For the bulk of the people the economic
situation is relatively poor, with
an average
wage of approximately RD$ 2000 (about
US$
150) per month, but slowly improving.
Tourism
accounts for the greatest portion of
foreign
exchange entering the country and also
for
employment in many of the coastal regions,
particularly in the Puerto Plata-Sosua-Cabarete
and La Romana areas.The official language
of the Dominican Republic is Spanish.
Around
the main areas where tourists are concentrated,
many Dominicans also speak some English
and
German, and quite a few may also speak
French
and Italian. However, in some areas
of the
country, particularly within the interior,
the local residents usually speak only
Spanish
and nothing more, so it can be quite
helpful
to know a few basic words or commonly
used
phrases of this language if you are
planning
to move around on your own. The dominican PESO is the national currency.
)
Just before their departure, during the night
of Christmas Eve 1492, after returning from
2 days of partying with their Indian hosts,
Columbus' flagship, the Santa Maria, ran
afoul on a reef and was wrecked a few miles
east of present-day Cap Haitien after the
crew all fell asleep. Although with the help
of the Indians they were able to salvage
all the valuables, the ship was lost. So
Columbus was obliged to found a small settlement
that he named Navidad, and left behind a
small group of 39 Spaniards when he departed
for Spain. Within a short time of his departure, these
settlers began fighting among themselves,
with some of them getting killed. They
also
offended the natives by forcibly taking
3
or 4 of their wives or sisters each,
and
forcing them to work as their servants.
After
several months of these abuses, a tribal
chief named Caonabo attacked the settlement
and killed the remaining Spaniards.
So when
Columbus returned to the island the
next
spring with a large expedition, he
and the
Spaniards were shocked to find that
the settlement
they had left behind was empty and
had been
burned to the ground. 
The first permanent European settlement was
founded in 1493 at Isabella, on the north
coast of the island not far east of Puerto
Plata. From there the invaders could readily
exploit the gold in the Cibao river a short
distance away in the interior. The Spaniards
brought with them horses and dogs, and combined
with their armor and iron weapons, the Indians
were unable to resist them. An expeditionary
force was sent to capture Caonabo, which
was accomplished by trickery. From the beginning
the Indians were forced to work at hard labor
panning for gold under conditions that were
repressive and deplorable, and many began
to die off. During this time the first black
slaves were also brought over to work as
servants of the Spanish. Most of these later
escaped to live in the wild mountain valleys.
Bartholomew Columbus was appointed governor
while his brother Christopher continued his
explorations in the Caribbean region, and
after the discovery of gold in the Ozama
river valley in the south, founded the city
of Santo Domingo in 1496. The Spaniards were
jealous of being under the leadership of
the Italian brothers and lodged so many false
complaints that eventually they were accused
of mismanagement and relieved of their positions.
Both were brought back to chains in Spain,
where they were released when it became evident
that most of the accusations were grossly
exagerrated. 
Their successor as governor of the new colony,
Nicholas de Ovando, decided to take action
to domesticate the Indians once and for all.
He arranged for the widely respected Indian
princess Anacoana, the widow of Caonabo,
to organize a feast that was supposedly intended
to welcome the new governor to the island.
When all of the 80-plus of the island's chiefs
were assembled in one large house, the Spanish
soldiers surrounded it, then set it on fire.
Those who were not killed immediately were
brutally tortured to death. After a mock
trial, Anacaona was also hanged. With no
remaining leaders, future resistance from
the Indians was eliminated. 
One of Trujilo's most notorious acts was
committed against his island neighbor, Haiti.
For centuries the lack of clear definition
of the location of the border between the
two countries had been a source of aggrevation
and conflict between the two countries. Not
only had the border areas always been a thorn
from incessent smuggling activities, but
many thousands of Haitians had also been
increasingly settling on lands around the
border. Trujilo had always made it clear
that he held racist ideas and considered
the black-skinned Haitians to be inferior.
In 1937 he took action to resolve this problematic
issue by giving the order to his army to
massacre all Haitians found to be in the
Dominican Republic. Estimates of as many
as 17,000 unarmed Haitian men, women and
children were slaughtered in a bloodbath
of violence, particularly around the border
region of the town of Dajabon and the aptly
named Massacre River. To attempt to deflect international criticism
of this notorious scandal, Trujilo
offered
to accept to the Dominican Republic
as many
as 100,000 refugees from the scourge
of Nazi-Germany
in Europe. But when it came to action,
only
about 600 Jewish families were offered
refuge
in 1942, and came to settle in what
is known
today as the 
The geography of the country is greatly diverse,
ranging from arid semi-desert plains to luxuriant
valleys of tropical rain forests, which results
in a wide variety of vegetation. Most of
the tourists who come to visit are initially
attracted to its magnificent golden sandy
beaches that extend over one-third of its
870-mile coastal regions that define three-quarters
of its borders. This is particularly true
of the northern Atlantic side of the country.
It is thus in this region that the majority
of tourist attractions, 
Further to the north where it begins by stretching
along the Atlantic coast, the Cordillera
Septentrionale reaches from Monte Cristi
near the Haitian border to San Francisco
de Macoris. This mountain range divides the
Atlantic coast and the fertile valley of
the Cibao, where were formerly located the
gold mines which brought Christopher Columbus
and the Spaniards rushing back to the island
after his initial "discovery" of
America. Tourists in the north (Puerto Plata
region) should not miss an exploratory day-trip
into the magical valleys of Cordillera Septentrionale,
especially around Jarabacoa, a region called
locally the "Dominican Alps. The Cordillera Oriental, in the east of the
country is the smallest of the three main
mountain ranges. Two more mountain ranges
are Neiba Sierra and Sierra de Bohoruco both
in the southwest of the country. These ranges
partially surround the unusual inland saltwater
Lake Enriquillo, the lowest point in the
Caribbean at 27 meters below sea level. 
The Southeast region of the island, including
the area surrounding the capital city
of
Santo Domingo, is mostly covered with
rolling
plains. To the west, along the northern
two-thirds
of the border with Haiti, the land
is quite
arid where typically the vegetation
is of
dry thorn shrubs and some varieties
of cactus
plants. This latter region is sparsely
populated.
As in most of the islands of the Caribean,
there are no large wild animals, no
poisonous
snakes, spiders nor insects whose bite
or
sting is life-thretening to humans.
There
are some spiders whose sting can be
painful
but these are rare.