Santo Domingo.- Despite a series of attacks and incidents motivated by race, the United States on Thursday denounced "discrimination" against Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Dominican Republic as the "most serious" violation of human rights in that country in 2014.
The accusation in the annual US State Dept. report released yesterday puts Washington at the head of Dominican Republic bashers, and cites the “controversial” Dominican Constitutional Court ruling handed down September 2013, on citizenship requirements. "The ruling states that the descendants of individuals considered illegal in the country, many of whom are of Haitian descent, have no right to Dominican nationality."
In the Dominican Republic meanwhile, three-time CY Young award winner and Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez heeded the call on Major League Baseball players to step up to the plate and defend their country, and rebuked New York mayor Bill de Blasio’s accusation of the National Plan of racism, asking, "wouldn’t he better if he would mediate in the relationship of the two countries?"
"if Mayor de Blasio is in fact so concerned about the situation between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, he should go to those countries to provide solutions," Martinez told local media.