Dajabón River
The Dajabón River (also called Massacre River) (French: Rivière du Massacre; Spanish: río Dajabón) is a river which forms the northernmost part of the international border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.[1]
| Dajabón River Massacre River | |
|---|---|
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  Location of mouth | |
| Location | |
| Countries | Dominican Republic and Haiti |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | Atlantic Ocean |
• coordinates | 19°42′07″N 71°45′31″W |
• elevation | Sea level |
Etymology
The river was named by the Arawak-speaking indigenous inhabitants of the island, the Taínos, as "Dahabōn", which derivates from dajaus, a freshwater fish that lives in the Caribbean region.
The French version of the river, "Rivière du Massacre" (River of Massacre), refers to a battle in 1728 where Spanish settlers killed thirty French buccaneers near the river.[2][3] This name became popular after being the site of many killings during the Parsley Massacre—though the event was not, contrary to popular belief, the origin of its name.[4]
Geography
It has its source in the Central Cordillera at Pico de Gallo mountain in the Dominican Republic. Further downstream through the Dominican province of Dajabón until it reaches the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, then it runs along the Haitian department of Northeast (left bank) and the Dominican provinces of Dajabón and Monte Cristi (right bank), then flows into Bay of Manzanillo and into the Atlantic Ocean west of the Dominican town of Pepillo Salcedo. It has a length of 55 kilometers of which a little more than 7KM are shared with Haiti.[5] The Dominican town of Dajabón faces the Haitian town of Ouanaminthe.
In recent years it has lost its flow due to environmentally unsustainable practices. Specifically two: the first, which is related to the destruction of the forest with massive felling, without subsequent reforestation; and the second, the practice of indiscriminately removing sand from the bed of the channel without any technical criteria.
History
In 1937, the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered Haitian farmers living in large numbers on the Dominican right bank, but without official titles, to return to the Haitian side of the river. Few obeyed and he then ordered the Dominican army to drive out the rest by force, causing carnage in which more than 20,000 Haitians died. It was only during the government of Salvador Jorge Blanco (1982-1986) that the Dominican-Haitian border was reopened.
In 2023, a dispute over water in the Dajabon River led the Dominican President Luis Abinader to close the border with Haiti.[6]
References
- "Massacre River". National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, GeoNames server. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
- Jackson, Joe (8 December 2014). "Friendship bridge over Dajabon Massacre River". Al Jazeera.
- "The Origin of the Massacre Name for the Dajabon River". The Dominicans. 5 January 2019.
- Bishop, Marlon (7 October 2017). "80 Years On, Dominicans And Haitians Revisit Painful Memories Of Parsley Massacre". NPR.
- https://n.com.do/2023/09/12/rio-masacre-nace-en-rd-tiene-55km-comparte-7-con-haiti-y-desemboca-en-quisqueya/
- Kliment, Alex (17 September 2023). "Dispute over water rights threatens to close Haiti's border". GZERO. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
- The Columbia Gazetteer of North America. 2000.
- CIA map
