First Dominican Constitution marks 170 tortuous years

Santo Domingo.- Today, Nov. 6, marks the 170th anniversary of the signing of the Dominican Republic’s first Constitution, in the heels of yet another historic moment; the Constitutional Court’s rejection of the Inter-American Human Rights Court ruling (IACHR).

The IACHR ruled to condemn the country on alleged massive deportations of undocumented Haitians, which many Dominicans and many sectors of society also rebuked as baseless.

Throughout its tortuous history, the Constitution has withstood more than 40 reforms, mostly by despots such as Ulises Hereaux (Lili) and Rafael Trujillo to tighten their grip on power.