On July 25, a call signed by writers, artists, and intellectuals, among many others, asking not to participate in the Santo Domingo Book Fair (FILSD), rejecting “the racist and homophobic censorship practiced by the Dominican cultural authorities during last year’s edition of the fair” and the fact that the event will be dedicated to “the Israeli apartheid regime that oppresses the Palestinian people.” Those opposed to this year’s edition of the fair, also protest against the recent arbitrary detention of the young Haitian writer Jhak Valcourt. Hundreds of people from literature and the arts in the Dominican Republic and other countries have said publicly that they will not participate in the event.

Here are excerpts from “Reject racist persecution by the Dominican government” by Dominican writers and activists (Tempest Magazine). Also see a variety of related articles in Spanish—see links below.

Dominican writers and activists have initiated an international call to condemn the racist repression of Haitian migrants—and also to boycott a book fair that is set to honor to apartheid Israel.

Last November, President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic (DR) stepped up the detention and deportation of thousands of refugees fleeing the social and economic instability in neighboring Haiti. Abinader is constructing a fence to separate the two countries, and activists say that the repression has stoked racism against all darker-skinned people in the DR. Haitian migrants have long been concentrated in low-wage work in construction and agriculture—and have served Dominican politicians as scapegoats for crime and poverty.

The statement below was initiated by Dominican writers and activists, who are calling for supporters to sign it online. Besides protesting the racist repression of Haitians, the signatories also call for a boycott in August of an annual international book fair in Santo Domingo, which this year is set up as a tribute to apartheid Israel. Leftists in the DR authored the original BDS call for a boycott.

We reject the racist persecution by the Dominican Government and call for a boycott of the 2023 Santo Domingo International Book Fair, dedicated to Israel.

The undersigned artists, writers, intellectuals and activists express solidarity with the Haitian writer Jhak Valcourt, who was arrested on the morning of July 13 by police agents and taken to two police headquarters in the city of Santo Domingo, before being transferred to the Haina [immigrant] detention center, despite having his immigration papers in order. Valcourt has lived in the Dominican Republic for 11 years and during all these years he has forged collaborative ties with Dominican writers. His case illustrates how the policy of mass deportation against Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic is based on racial profiling and discrimination, with a de facto state of exception where no legal or constitutional guarantee is respected.

Faced with the ongoing barbaric persecution, which is reflected in thousands of weekly arrests, warrantless raids, extortion, confinement in overcrowded places without access to water and food, among other abuses, we raise our voices in repudiation of this racist, xenophobic anti-Haitian witch hunt by the Dominican government under President Luis Abinader. Following on the same footsteps of [right-wing] peledeísta 1 and balaguerista 2 governments in the past, President Abinader has followed point by point the script of the most reactionary sectors of the ruling class, giving free rein to the propagation of racial hatred, while the powerful local and foreign capitalists enrich themselves on the backs of working-class Dominicans and immigrants.

We strongly reject the discriminatory immigration policy of the Dominican State, which in recent months has intensified its violence. We also reject cooperation between neo-fascist groups and the authorities, for example with the “patriotic marches” organized by an official institution, the Instituto Duartiano as well as the recent induction of the genocidal general Ramiro Matos to the Dominican Academy of History. All these facts, together with the legalization of a Trujillist party,3 mark the accelerated anti-democratic deterioration of the country.

Within this framework of racist violence, persecution, mass deportations and abuse of power, the Dominican State is organizing the Santo Domingo International Book Fair (FILSD), scheduled for the end of August, and dedicated to the apartheid regime of Israel. The 2022 edition of the same book fair was the scene of acts of censorship for reasons of homophobia and racism. Both the Culture Minister Milagros Germán and the General Director of Books and Reading within the Ministry of Culture Ángela Hernández have refused to guarantee that there will be freedom of expression and protection for the safety of writers and artists at the book fair after cultural organizations made such a request in January of this year. Faced with this very serious situation, we call on writers, artists, editors, publishers and cultural workers around the world not to attend the next Santo Domingo International Book Fair in 2023, and to continue demanding that the Dominican government respect human rights and democratic freedoms. [. . .]

For full article and links to footnotes, see https://www.tempestmag.org/2023/07/reject-racist-persecution-by-the-dominican-government/

Related articles in Spanish: https://acento.com.do/amp/cultura/escritores-y-activistas-acusan-al-gobierno-de-persecucion-racista-y-llaman-a-boicot-contra-la-feria-del-libro-dedicada-a-israel-9228089.html, https://acento.com.do/cultura/el-costo-de-boicots-culturales-nos-llenan-de-verguenza-como-acontecio-con-pablo-neruda-9230817.html, and https://acento.com.do/amp/cultura/tenemos-derecho-a-no-participar-en-el-homenaje-al-estado-genocida-de-israel-en-la-feria-del-libro-9230340.html