Dividing Hispaniola

"Hispaniola is split by a border that divides the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Dividing Hispaniola is a study of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo{u2019}s scheme, during the mid-twentieth century, to create and reinforce a buffer zone on this border through the establishment of state institutions and an ideological campaign against what was considered an encroaching black, inferior, and bellicose Haitian state. Paulino examines the campaign against Haiti and shows that Dominican attitudes of admiration and solidarity toward Haitians and extensive intermixture around the border region were commonplace. In sum his study argues against the notion that anti-Haitianism was part of a persistent and innate Dominican ethos."--Page 4 of cover.