The Dominican Republic and Haiti, two sides of the same coin.
In the past, the world`s colonizing powers came across an island which was supple in plant life and beautiful in scenery. The French and The Spanish, came across Hispaniola. Fighting over ownership of the island soon erupted, a line was drawn in the middle and each of the powers took their half. That line still exists today, and is what separates two countries.
These halves would eventually become Haiti on side, colonized by the French and The Dominican Republic, colonized by Spain. Haiti become one of France`s most important overseas territories because of its fertile land. Spain and France treated the natives differently, The Spanish would allow the natives to have their own voice, their own governance and soon townships and law was formed by the natives. Interbreeding was also common among the natives and The Spanish.

This explains the rather light skin tone of majority of the Dominican Republic. The French however enslaved Haiti`s population, inter-breeding was rare and mistreatment was the name of the day. They fully exploited the land, constantly farming year after year, eventually the land was left mostly barren and its fertility was but a silhouette of its former lush greenscape.
The slaves in Haiti, became more incompliant as the days went by, soon a revolution was staged and the natives took back Haiti. The French, after the Haitians gained their own independence, demanded a large amount of money which they labelled as debt. Haiti without a form of proper government and ostracized from the world only went downhill, with their natural resources depleted by the French, poverty eventually gripped Haiti.
The Dominican Republic on the other hand, was flourishing under Spanish rule. With their own economy independent of The Spanish, success was guaranteed even after the Spanish left.Unlike the French, The Spanish did not include The Dominican Republic as one of their most important territories. This meant they didn`t take a keen look on the island as France did.
In fact, they were still exploring the world, eventually they left The Dominican Republic to its own native governance and economy which was already flourishing, after finding bigger and more fertile territories. The island was now divided into a group of two completely different people. Haiti was doing poorly as their natural resources gradually depleted and a form of governance was yet to take shape.
The Dominican Republic was flourishing under its own governance and self-sustaining economy which flourished under Spanish rule. Due to inter-breeding, The Dominican Republic mostly consisted of a mixed race population. This is evident today. To this day, The Dominican Republic flourishes and is an active member of the global society whereas Haiti is ostracized by the world and struggles to maintain a status quo. Echoes of the past.
