Azucar Amarga on Primer Impacto

[deelt]

Narcosis,
These are gov't run operations. The few privates have incestous gov't relationships. But despite it all, it will soon not matter.

Regardless what any of us thinks re: child/slave labor in this industry, it is not going to be an issue for much longer (at least not in the as is extent ) since the sugar industry will disappear thanks to the all-mighty Free Market capitalist forces.

Maybe a solution has been found after all. Back to work.
D
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Sugar industry hurting
Jimmy Garcia Savinon, vice president of the Central Azucarero Consuelo, the company that took on the administration of the capitalized State Sugar Council government mills, says that they are not making it. Garcia says that prices of inputs, fuel and spare parts of machinery have not gone down with the appreciation of the peso. He also complained about the 13% exchange tax. He sees a bleak future ahead, especially with the imminence of the signing of the free trade agreement with the United States. He says that at the present costs, the country can only export making a profit to the preferential market of the United States. He also complained of the high lease cost of the state sugar mills, considering the investments that they have to make to stay in business.
Consorcio Canabrava, under Julio Hazim, also has complained of high cost of inputs. The Montellano sugar mill has announced the suspension of work, given that its production has not yielded a profit.
The sugar producers have requested that the government redefine its policy towards the companies that have taken on the operation of the state sugar mills.

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Originally Posted by Narcosis

I think everyone can agree that conditions in the bateyes are deplorable, no one is denying this fact not even the government, nonetheless to say that slavery exists would open up a debate to what your definition of this is, because it seems people have different opinions about this.

As Nals mentioned if conditions in DR bateyes are categorized as slavery than it is also present in the US. The only difference is that the actual structures workers live in the US are made of more modern materials than in the bateyes, but the conditions are similar; no healthcare, no schools, in many cases no electricity or heating for winter months.

I have seen workers camps in Georgia and these rural camps that are too far from the city exclude the workers from any sort of state protection even to the point where crimes go un-reported.

Why is this of any relevance when we are talking about the DR? it is simple.
small, poor countries such as the DR are easy targets and don't have the means to protect themselves from this negative propaganda which is perpetuated in many cases to be used against us in negotiations at the WTO or UN.

The problem does exist and people DO care about it, but as in the US and elsewhere solutions are much more difficult than just wanting them to be solved. Globalization is a tough game that needs to be played with clear rules applied to all not only to the weakest links. Until this happens things will only get worse.

[FuegoAzul21]

Originally Posted by deelt

Narcosis,
These are gov't run operations. The few privates have incestous gov't relationships. But despite it all, it will soon not matter.

Regardless what any of us thinks re: child/slave labor in this industry, it is not going to be an issue for much longer (at least not in the as is extent ) since the sugar industry will disappear thanks to the all-mighty Free Market capitalist forces.

Maybe a solution has been found after all. Back to work.
D
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sugar industry hurting
Jimmy Garcia Savinon, vice president of the Central Azucarero Consuelo, the company that took on the administration of the capitalized State Sugar Council government mills, says that they are not making it. Garcia says that prices of inputs, fuel and spare parts of machinery have not gone down with the appreciation of the peso. He also complained about the 13% exchange tax. He sees a bleak future ahead, especially with the imminence of the signing of the free trade agreement with the United States. He says that at the present costs, the country can only export making a profit to the preferential market of the United States. He also complained of the high lease cost of the state sugar mills, considering the investments that they have to make to stay in business.
Consorcio Canabrava, under Julio Hazim, also has complained of high cost of inputs. The Montellano sugar mill has announced the suspension of work, given that its production has not yielded a profit.
The sugar producers have requested that the government redefine its policy towards the companies that have taken on the operation of the state sugar mills.

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Im glad that the suger industy is callin it quits .Its about time.The sugar industry has been good to the rich folk of Dr ,but bad to the farmers .These big companys take land away from these people to make these huge cane feilds ,which look horrible (at least to me) . i hope this suger land is given back to the ranchers .Suger was never our thing to begin with ,we've never actually been as successful at it like Haiti,Cuba, and Brazil used to be .I think we should go back to our roots and invest more in the cattle industry . Its been our thing since columbus came here .We have the right land , environment,and the expertise to do so. I dont think the Haitians in Dr are not gonna like it,this would mean that most of them would be out of jobs, hence more poverty, but it also gives them less reason to come to dr ,so its a good thing.Haiti was the true suger country , but i guess bad management,bad environemt,and neglect put an end to that.However i think its something that Haiti should get back into considering their past success.This will be a great economic source for them .I think Dr can help them by withdrawing from the suger market and giving haiti more room to grow . This would also have most cane cutting Haitians going back to Haiti,which would be better for them .Not only will they have a job waiting for them , they will also return to thier beloved homeland ,where they will not be discriminated against , exploited , abused ,deported, harassed by police for being Haitian .

[Pib]

FuegoAzul, you are very misinformed about the history of the sugar cane industry.

BTW, do you people know who owns Central Romana?

[Marianopolita]

Fuegoazul,

What are you talking about? Where exactly do you get your information (in general not only in this thread)?

BTW did you read the whole thread? This initiated from a three part documentary that showed the EXPLOITATION of Haitians who are being brought to the DR on a false ideal. They are brought under the notion that they would work in hotels but they are forced to work in deplorable conditions for peanuts or as I define it "modern day slavery". As per the focus of the documentary they are not there voluntarily. Your post is a glorified version of a situation that needs immediate attention, cessation and resolution. Pib said it best "you are very misinformed".


-Lesley D-

Originally Posted by FuegoAzul21

Im glad that the suger industy is callin it quits .Its about time.The sugar industry has been good to the rich folk of Dr ,but bad to the farmers .These big companys take land away from these people to make these huge cane feilds ,which look horrible (at least to me) . i hope this suger land is given back to the ranchers .Suger was never our thing to begin with ,we've never actually been as successful at it like Haiti,Cuba, and Brazil used to be .I think we should go back to our roots and invest more in the cattle industry . Its been our thing since columbus came here .We have the right land , environment,and the expertise to do so. I dont think the Haitians in Dr are not gonna like it,this would mean that most of them would be out of jobs, hence more poverty, but it also gives them less reason to come to dr ,so its a good thing.Haiti was the true suger country , but i guess bad management,bad environemt,and neglect put an end to that.However i think its something that Haiti should get back into considering their past success.This will be a great economic source for them .I think Dr can help them by withdrawing from the suger market and giving haiti more room to grow . This would also have most cane cutting Haitians going back to Haiti,which would be better for them .Not only will they have a job waiting for them , they will also return to thier beloved homeland ,where they will not be discriminated against , exploited , abused ,deported, harassed by police for being Haitian .

[FuegoAzul21]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

Fuegoazul,

What are you talking about? Where exactly do you get your information (in general not only in this thread)?

BTW did you read the whole thread? This initiated from a three part documentary that showed the EXPLOITATION of Haitians who are being brought to the DR on a false ideal. They are brought under the notion that they would work in hotels but they are forced to work in deplorable conditions for peanuts or as I define it "modern day slavery". As per the focus of the documentary they are not there voluntarily. Your post is a glorified version of a situation that needs immediate attention, cessation and resolution. Pib said it best "you are very misinformed".


-Lesley D-

ok here we go , the thread was about the documentary and how haitians are exploited , payed extremely low wages, and live in horrble conditions,right? .This then lead into the economics of the issue, where many posters disscused over the matter and is the true issue(if they were gettin paid good wages ,the documentary would have never been filmed). Later posted a recent news snip from DR1 on how the suger industry is lagging and might not make it,hence implying that these people would not have to suffer in the bateys for too long .I then threw in my 2 cents . respondig to dealts post not the original topic,even though what i said had alot to do with it

[FuegoAzul21]

Originally Posted by Pib

FuegoAzul, you are very misinformed about the history of the sugar cane industry.

BTW, do you people know who owns Central Romana?

well im not a scholar , but i ve done my homework and i ve gotten to know a bit about it.I do know about Hispaniola's suger history .I do know that Haiti was once one of the richest colonies . if not,the richest colony in the world at one time .I know that thier prime export and the reason behind thier riches was sugar,hence the reason there were so many african slaves there.The Spanish side of the island(DR) for the first 250 years was not a sugar cane economy ,it was a cattle and ranching economy,the island would be used as a stepping stone for the spanish settlers going to other colonies.The inhabitants were small cattle farmers who would sell their products to these people,hence the amount of slaves was very small compared to Haiti. It wasnt until the Haitian occupation and the later parts of the 1800's did sugar cane establish itself in Dr. Even then Dr did not have much of luck with it . With Cuba goin red .It did help the industry however it was still no match for India, Brazil or some other places where suger cane is grown.Till this day dr is not a big dawg in it,even though it has been made famous for it.Also, its not even originally from this region , so its a foriegn crop and could contribute to environment loss of native plants

[Marianopolita]

In light of Fuegoazul’s posts about the sugar cane industry I entertained what was said for 24 hours until I had a chance to pull out my notes from several Latin American history courses that I have taken. In all fairness to the people here at DR1 I just want to ensure that what you read is correct and makes sense to those who have subject matter knowledge or expertise.

Cuba

Cuba was the most economically prosperous country as a result of the sugar cane industry. *By 1860 Cuba was producing nearly 1/3 of the world's entire sugar supply. The boom was fuelled by human power or better known as the African slave trade. Although Cuba experienced great prosperity because of its efficient sugar producing capabilities its economic development relied solely on monoculture and as a result it was always vulnerable to market demand or falling world prices. If demand was low the Cuban economy was directly impacted. In brief by the 1930's the Cuban sugar economy slowly began to weaken and progressively throughout the years ended its reign of dominance.

* Modern Latin American History, 4th edition, pg.263

Haiti

Haiti was never a contender at the same comparable time when Cuba emerged as a dominant exporter. Large sugar estates were destroyed by the Wars of Independence. * Sugar estates were replaced by a large number of small holdings and production decreased drastically. Small farms were not apt to accommodate modern sugar technology which led to their inability to match the "economic innovations" of Cuba at the turn of the century.

* Modern Latin American History, 4th edition, pg. 302

Brazil

As for Brazil historically Brazil's economy depended on the exportation of different products at different times in its history. *The repeated pattern of boom-and-bust made it difficult to achieve sustained growth. Sugar however, was its top export as compared to its own output in the eighteenth century. * Between 1821-1830 sugar accounted for thirty percent of Brazilian exports. However, as competition mounted in the Caribbean (i.e. Cuba) production and profitability declined and Brazil produced only five percent of the world's supply by 1900.

* Modern Latin American History, 4th edition, pg. 156


Regards,

-Lesley D-