This might be true but somehow Washington forgot to include itself in the annual report, with their Wet-foot/Dry-Foot immigration regulation. when Cubans make it to U.S. shores, they are welcomed with open arms(I have nothing against Cubans by the way). When Jean-Paul from Port-de-Paix, Haiti makes it to U.S. shores, his a** is on the next plan back to Port-au-Prince.

This quote gives a little more of favor of the "2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" of the US State Department than the DT's piece above.

"Although the government's human rights record improved somewhat, serious problems remained: unlawful killings; beatings and other abuse of suspects, detainees, and prisoners; poor to harsh prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention of suspects; a large number of functionally stateless persons; widespread corruption; harassment of human rights groups; violence and discrimination against women; child prostitution and other abuse of children; trafficking in persons; severe discrimination against Haitian migrants and their descendants; and disregard of fundamental labor rights."
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100637.htm

The body of the report is worse than this summary.

Either the US imperialists conveniently overlooked the USA or no human rights violations worth mentioning happened in 2007 in the USA.

Since it is talking about an important political ally and a bourgeois democracy, the report is most polite, dismissive, and trivializing about slavery or, if you like, forced labor, a practice that gives joy and attracts many foreign bourgeois who prefer the "investment climate" in the DR.

oooo

"c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

"The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, but there were reports of trafficking in children within the country. Mandatory overtime, a common practice, was sometimes enforced through locked doors or loss of pay or employment for those who refused."
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100637.htm

0000

Oh dear, so polite, civil, gentile, and well-mannered.

Everything is splendid.

So, they "removed 8,449 children" and "prevented 16,990." The report doesn't say a word about how many remained or how many went in.

The US imperialists felt "What not emphasize the 'improvements?' " After all, it's a free market. What do you expect?

The US imperialists are distancing themselves from these practices, but they are the ones who profit the most from them.

The 2007 documentary film "The Price of Sugar" SHOWED its not just children and not just Haitians.

Now, get a load of this.

"While the law prohibits employment of children younger than 14 years of age and places restrictions on the employment of children under the age of 16, child labor remained a serious problem, although there was evidence it lessened during the year. One NGO program reported that it successfully removed 8,449 children from exploitive labor conditions and prevented 16,990 children from entering the labor force. Regulations limited working hours of those between the ages of 14 and 16 to six hours per day, prohibited employment of those under the age of 18 in hazardous occupations or in establishments serving alcohol, and limited night work. Fines and legal sanctions may be applied to firms employing underage children. While the government effectively enforced these regulations in the formal sector, child labor was largely a problem in the informal sector beyond regulatory reach."
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100637.htm

"Informal," huh?

I totally agree with you, mr. jemesouviens. Somehow, they "conveniently" forgot to mention the US gulags (or concentration camps, if you like) in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and Eastern Europe, among others, or how the majority of the population in US prisons is of African American extraction, etc., etc., etc., and more etc. As a famous dominican saying goes: "look at the jackass talking to the rabbit about ears" (mira al burro hablarle al conejo sobre orejas).

People only fear and hate what they dont understand. When you take the time to know a person's home, story, trials, tribulations, and go through all this experience together, you will come to find out that you are not that much different from each other. when you open youself up to be more hospitable, miracles will occur.

"O Cristo redentor"

Yup Lautaro, I have no problem with the U.S. releasing an article bashing other nations human right records....Just as long as they acknowledge that they have a bad one also. Just this past week, the "Devil" whose is running my country (USA), just vetoed a bill that would outlaw the use of "Waterboarding". Waterboarding is a tortue technique that involves the use of a very wet cloth/towel in which you tie it around a person's face. This give you the feeling of drowning in a pool of water. How digusting is that. "Home of the free, Land of the brave".

Waterboarding is torture and only savage US reactionaries who enjoy torturing people deny it is torture.

And torture violates human rights as sane people understand such rights.

But get a load of this.

If the ban on waterboarding passes ... which is unlikely in either theory or practice.

Forms of torture other than waterboarding are OK even if they are more brutal, for the proposed ban applies only to forms of torture listed in the ban.

The Geneva Convention bans torture ... PERIOD. Although the Convention is US law after the 1958 ratification by the United States, Bush refuses to enforce this US law, like he refuses to enforce many other US laws. Indeed, Bush has attached signing statements to over 2000 US law, saying he won't enforce them unless he wants to.

The scum of USA argue "We, as patriots, should support our "president," not the rule of law that our Constitution mandates."

"Bush don't sign the bill that bans torture" McCain advises publicly

US TROOP OR US MERCENARY (AKA "CONTRACTOR') AT US CONCENTRATION CAMP:

"Corporal, pass that boy over here, I need to torture him, too."

CORPORAL: "I ain't through yet, Sir."

US TROOP OR US MERCENARY: "What's taking you so long?"

CORPORAL: Faith and the Second Coming of our Lord.

Would the DR be better off if all Ameiricans stopped buying land, visiting our tourist spots, etc?? And would the DR be better off if we could not come to the States to work and raise our children here? I have been really looking at our lack of appreciation to the States...I used to think the States and all it's people are Imperialists and to some degree it is true almost by nature...BUT we have a sense of responsibility ourselves...we take and take and instead being grateful, we expect more.

But you have to consider, mrs. whitechick, that the US, as any other imperial power in the history of the world, have traditionally taken more resources from their colonies than what they have given them in return. That have been the logic behind colonialism and imperialism and nobody will ever change that. If you don't believe this, then please feel free to check the history of the infamous United Fruit Company on the countries of Central America and the Caribbean, and see for yourself the classic case of imperial exploitation (they even tried to recreate the colonial plantations on Haiti, only to end up in failure, due to the refusal of the haitians to be enslaved again).

Lautaro, no hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver. Many people believe that one can't function without americans. Indeed the american tourism has helped the DR but there were already europeans tourist coming down before the average american knew where to find the island on a map. I think the dominican people are thankful for the great american investment but one has the right to criticise the hypocrasy of the american government regarding this topic and also it's history toward the mistreatment of everyone south of the border. We wouldn't be making a big deal of this if everyone south of the border resembled the americans northern neighbours. A country were a person of hue can't run for the presidential elections without mentioning colour & gender. I am sure many people think just like G. Ferraro.

The fact that is has been only on the present day that people like Obama or Hillary have been able to make a bid for the presidency speaks volumes about that society "unopenness" of that society, mr. jabao, and their chances will depend on how much they're capable of accommodating the different interest groups vying for political power on the lobbies of DC.