The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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the contribution of immigrant workers; those from the Canary Islands were preferred, because they could set-

tle in the country for four years. Immigrants took advantage of the incentives offered to promote commercial

agriculture: they paid little for the land; undeveloped land was abundant; and social stratification

occurred

within a population of merely 200,000 inhabitants and population density of only 7.7 inhabitants per square

mile.

Because he did not believe in the viability of an independent and sovereign republic, the

caudillo

Pedro

Santana handed dominion over the Dominican Republic to Spain merely seventeen years after the Separation

from Haiti, an act that was rejected by producers, merchants, and the general population. As a consequence,

in the period of occupation (1861 to 1865), there were no economic advances, and agricultural production

remained perilous in the midst of political turmoil. Thus, there was no formation of a prosperous class of land-

owners at a time when agrarian property was of little relevance as a criterion for social stratification.

Due to social pressure caused by opposition to the occupation, and to the strong rejection by the people of

the tax initiatives of the occupying government, the economy grew only 0.67% per year in the 1860s.

The period from 1844 to 1870 in political terms was marked by the campaigns of the Haitian army in

Dominican territory; turmoil caused by the

caudillismo

of Pedro Santana and Buenaventura Báez, who shared

power, as well as 24 administrative changes; and the inability to establish a stable government with a strong

constitutional foundation.

As a consequence of all of the above, the economy grew at an average annual rate of only 0.68%, and due

to increased immigration, the Dominicans’ per capita income grew by an annual rate of -2.7%.

Italian Investment during the First Decades of a Modern Economy (1870 - 1900)

As political leaders failed to fulfill their obligation to establish conditions for a government system based on

respect for the Constitution of the Republic,

agricultural activities—from the Separation of Haiti until 1869—

were characterized as high risk, with backward technologies

and very low labor productivity.

The change in land ownership and imposition of liberal economic measures, such as those in force in

European countries, were necessary conditions for a positive flow of foreign direct investment to take place,

which in turn would contribute to the introduction of cutting-edge productive technology, sustained growth,

and job creation.

Although liberal economic doctrine arrived in the Dominican Republic in the last quarter of the nine-

teenth century, somewhat later than elsewhere, the founder of the Republic, Juan Pablo Duarte y Diez, along

with Pedro Francisco Bonó and Ulises Francisco Espaillat—the greatest exponents of market liberalism in the

country—began to make small strides in its implementation.

Beginning in 1870, with the rise to power of the Blue or Liberal Party,

liberal economic policies and ini-

tiatives aimed at political stability, and based on respect for the postulates of the constitution,

were put into

practice, measures that proved to be fundamental for agriculture to make the transition from subsistence

farming to commercial profitability, thus requiring more workers. These qualitative and quantitative changes

took place during the years of the Second Industrial Revolution, from 1860 until the start of the First World

War in 1914.

According to liberal economic doctrine, it was necessary to boost agricultural worker productivity in order

to increase output and meet higher demand in the international market, a formula that also required private

capital investment. Based on this postulate, the Dominican economy began to incrementally and progres-

sively enter into the arena of international trade, a development that was reflected in GDP, which grew at an

average annual rate of 4.9% from 1870 to 1899.

When these twenty-nine years are analyzed by decade, the importance of the use of new technologies in

the sugar industry becomes palpable; since the GDP accelerated, the economy increased at an average annual

rate of 3.3%. In the 1870s, between 100 and 200 sugar mills were constructed in the vicinity of Azua, along

Opening page:

New drying

techniques,

equipment, and

materials developed

in collaboration with

Italian companies and

universities, and put

into practice by the

Rizek Group, have

allowed the substantial

improvement and

standardization of this

delicate part of the

cacao cycle.