Boycott Dominican tourism campaign on the Web could backfire

New York.- A US-based campaign launched Tuesday night on Facebook aims to boycott Dominican Republic’s tourism, opening with "Why I Cancelled My DR Trip" could backfire, as many users of the space also call out its attempt to smear the Caribbean nation.

The campaign by the Massachusetts-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti draws many users who post comments decrying it as malicious and remind Facebook fans of the thousands of Haitians whose livelihood depends on Dominican Republic’s tourism sector.

"This is a great space to uncover all the lies some people are telling to the world, since our government apparently is failing to argue and address properly the issue. With this post I don’t want to put the Dominican Republic, as Haitian politicians do, in a petty position,” writes used Ray Villeta.

For Alex Jimenez another user, “so many attacks against the Dominican Republic is making us stronger.”

Likes

The Facebook site set up just a few days ago already has 1,204 ‘likes’ and urges frequent travelers and potential tourists to cancel their trips to the Dominican Republic, alleging that thousands of children born in Dominican territory of Haitian parents face "a climate of racism, violation of human rights and denial of nationality."

The campaign also reports on Dominican Republic’s program to regularize foreigners, with statements by personalities, officials, celebrities and organizations which support Haitians, as well as visitors’ comments.