The Caribbean with Simon Reeve Part 1

 The Caribbean with Simon Reeve Part 1

    Simon Reeve heads to the island of Hispanola as well as Puerto Rico and sees a side of the island most tourists don't see. In working with the local Police Reeve gets a first-hand look at how gritty drug interdiction is in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is the more affluent nation on the island of Hispanola in comparison to Haiti but is obviously no paradise. Sometimes it seems like the Dominican Republic is a paradise but that clearly isn't the case. The Dominican Republic surprisingly finds itself in a drug war you've never heard of. Combine that with drive-thru margarita bars and a drinking and driving problem that makes driving in the Dominican Republic more dangerous then anywhere else in the world the country appears to be thinly gilded only by vacation brochures. Move over to Haiti save the clear income disparity, the only thing that seems to separate the two nations is their presentation. 

    Haiti and the Dominican Republic are the same at their core, they share the same island separated only by an arbitrary border and are made up of people that shared the same struggle of slavery in the past. Ethnic groups may vary, but the struggle is common wars on drugs and poverty run through both nations Haiti just carries more stigma's and has a greater income disparity and is therefore treated like a black sheep. Reeve goes to a Voodoo ceremony and speaks to members of the religion to find that they are a peaceful group while their traditions may be considered strange by western standards. A local goes on to say "people fear what they don't understand" and I can't think of any better way to put it. People fear the unknown, people fear what is different, and fear leads to anger and resentment and as a result, Haiti has gotten a bad reputation for years. I think that if people grow to understand what the residents of Haiti are really about the nation won't carry as many stigmas. Granted the nation is severely impoverished and and at the time of filming 5 years following a hurricane still made up of shantytowns, so it's a given that it won't be held in the same regard as the Dominican Republic. There is bad blood between the two nations and there is a divide, but it is one that can be gapped if the people of both nations realize that they are not that different at their core.

Reeve goes to Puerto Rico and finds a US territory nothing like actual US states. He meets a man who's wife is "paid 3 times more" in Florida then in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico doesn't suffer from poverty in the capacity that Haiti does but they still struggle and are not representative of the United States mentality of being a "shining city on a hill". I think people of the US should be upset that an island that carries our name as a territory is in such a dilapidated state. Puerto Rico was struggling back when this documentary was made but this was also before the 2017 hurricane that left the nation in shantytowns and thousands dead. The relief effort for Puerto Rico has been sub-par as current US national leadership doesn't see Puerto Rico as a priority. Hopefully one day Puerto Rico can grow and be a place more representative of US states.

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