VZCZCXRO8033
RR RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHGR RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG
RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC
DE RUEHDG #0770/01 1402058
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 192058Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0744
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE 4821
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUCOWCV/CUSTOMS CARIBBEAN ATTACHE MIAMI FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEFHLC/HQS DHS WASHDC
RUEPINS/HQ BICE INTEL WASHINGTON DC
RUMISTA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 000770 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV SMIG MCAP HA DR
SUBJECT: CESFRONT - A PERSPECTIVE FROM PEDERNALES 
 
REF: 2007 SANTO DOMINGO 2722 
 
¶1. PolOff met with source who is a U.S. citizen currently 
residing in Pedernales, a border town in the south of the 
country, doing local development work.  Source, in the course 
of her duties, has regular contact with NGOs, local community 
leaders, and residents, including Dominicans, Haitians and 
Dominico-Haitians.  Source has been in the country for a year 
and six months.  During the meeting source gave PolOff her 
candid perspective on life in Pedernales regarding the 
Dominican Specialized Border Security Corps (CESFRONT). 
 
¶2. According to source, prior to the deployment of CESFRONT, 
cross-border trade and traffic between Anse-a-Pitre, Haiti 
and Pedernales, Dominican Republic were more free-flowing and 
less regulated.  Source described the trade as consisting of 
residents of Anse-a-Pitre buying fish, coffee, and other 
agricultural products, and providing services such as 
domestic help and the Dominicans buying American rice, beans, 
fruit and vegetables, as well as used clothing. Consistent 
with the deployment of CESFRONT in Dajabon, a border town in 
the north of the country, CESFRONT halted daily traffic 
including on market days in Pedernales (Reftel).  CESFRONT, 
at the request of Dominican producers of rice and other 
agricultural products, checked goods from Haiti and halted 
contraband such as American rice.  This resulted in the 
increase of the price of American rice and consequently 
increased smuggling.  The Haitians protested the closure for 
about five market days, about two to three weeks.  Source 
stated CESFRONT eventually eased restrictions, now allowing 
traffic on market days, though entry of Haitian vendors into 
the DR remains limited and market day in Anse-a-Pitre is 
still defunct. 
 
¶3. Though source noted that CESFRONT's presence in Pedernales 
seems less widely felt and less visible the last few months 
than when they were first initially deployed, MilOff 
highlighted that there are more CESFRONT officials and 
attributed this perception to residents having accepted the 
role of CESFRONT and perceived their presence as less 
intrusive.  CESFRONT manages the border crossing point 
everyday and one road checkpoint on market days while the 
army manages twelve road checkpoints on the way to the 
capital of the country.  Source described these checkpoints 
as points where the military "look for bribes from any 
vulnerable suspects."  Illegal entrants can pay up to USD 120 
dollars (RD 4,000 pesos) in bribes to reach the interior. 
Even legal entrants often have to pay bribes to stop being 
harassed.  Source stated that her contacts expressed 
reservations in crossing the border, as CESFRONT now 
implements more effective border control, i.e. those without 
proper documentation are not able to cross as easily. 
 
¶4.  CESFRONT continues to engage in regular round-ups of 
suspected Haitians in Pedernales.  Prior to CESFRONT's 
deployment in September 2007, source did not observe these 
round-ups occur.  Source had contact with a local Haitian 
women's group, who expressed their fear of going out of their 
homes to buy food, running their errands, or bringing their 
children to school, for fear of being rounded-up and 
deported.  They also expressed similar fear of deportation 
for their husbands or partners, who often were out working in 
construction in Pedernales or other areas of the country. 
Source admitted the individuals in this group did not have 
legal permission to stay and that the individuals CESFRONT 
rounded up were usually based on "profiles" usually nabbing 
darker-skinned individuals or persons who "looked" Haitian 
e.g. an elderly woman carrying fruit basket on head. 
 
¶5. Source estimates fifteen to twenty percent of 
Pedernales,s population at any given time are Haitians. 
About half of them use Pedernales as a "stepping stone" to 
other parts of the country.  Those who manage a way to pay 
off someone to take them to the interior usually end up in 
urban areas to work in construction or domestic work or in 
other agricultural areas. 
 
¶6. Source mentioned that in the last three months, she has 
noticed the border functioning normally with no increased 
visible traffic due to food shortages in Haiti.  Market day 
has been taking place regularly, however, still only on the 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000770  002 OF 002 
 
 
Dominican side.  In a separate meeting, Kelvin Jimenez, a 
representative from the Jesuit Refugee Services, an NGO that 
advocates for Haitian migrants, told PolOff that though more 
Haitians may come over to Dajabon to buy food, contrary to 
media accounts, there is not an "avalanche" of Haitians 
crossing the border.  He attributed the media exaggeration to 
pandering and fear-mongering by politicians. 
 
¶7. Source has not seen any progress in regards to providing 
temporary border crossing cards for day laborers, domestic 
help, street merchants, and others who need to cross the 
border on a daily basis.  Upon deployment of CESFRONT, the 
GODR explored the idea of issuing a special ID (carnet) to 
facilitate the legitimate daily crossing of certain 
individuals (Reftel). 
 
¶8. Comment: Since its deployment in September 2007, CESFRONT 
has faced unique challenges in each of the four 
border-crossing points: Dajabon, Comendador, (Reftel) Jimani, 
and Pedernales.  They have also faced similar issues such as 
how to regulate the movement of goods and people without 
adversely affecting trade.  Other issues remain, however, 
including repatriation and border crossing cards.  To date, 
CESFRONT has managed to exert some control in Pedernales, as 
well as in the other border crossing points where little 
existed before.  End Comment. 
FANNIN