where we work.

history of the Bateyes

Sugar production began to develop into an industry in the Dominican Republic (DR) in the 1870s. When world sugar prices dropped in the 1880’s and laborers left, the industry began relying heavily on seasonal, migrant labor, brought first from the Lesser Antilles islands and later Haiti. Communities of Haitian migrant workers became known as bateyes, meaning “sugar plantations.” From their founding the bateyes lacked basic necessities such as clean water, latrines and electricity. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo came into power by force in 1930, and began a tireless campaign to “whiten” the population of the Dominican Republic. Towards that end, in 1937, he slaughtered all Haitians found outside the sugar plantations. (5)

Beginning in 1952, with Trujillo still in power, Haiti and the DR entered into a series of bilateral agreements to ensure the supply of seasonal cane cutters from Haiti to the Dominican cane fields. To manage the sugar mills and contract Haitian labor, the Dominican government created the State Sugar Council (Consejo Estatal del Azúcar, or CEA). It was the job of the CEA to recruit the necessary cane cutters for each harvest. At the same time, Dominican authorities engaged in large-scale deportations of recruited seasonal workers at the end of the sugar harvest. (5)

Falling sugar prices in the late 1980s and decreases in US quotas designed to protect US farmers led to a severe decline in the sugar industry. In 1999, sugar mills were leased to private companies in contracts lasting 30 years, which has so far led to a corporate focus on meeting production goals with little investment in the estates and factories, leaving them in severe decline. This transition has contributed to increasing unemployment, poverty and joblessness in the bateyes. (6) (9)