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Peace Without Poison

Peace Without Poison

Peace Without Poison

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The total fertility rate of the Dominican Republic began to decline in 1960 when JoaquínBalaguer became president. He served three non-consecutive terms in office: 1960 to 1962,1966 to 1978, and 1986 to 1996. By 1996, when he lost the presidency, the total fertility rate haddeclined from 7.4 children per woman to just 3.Belaguer’s successors, Leonel Fernández (1996-2000), Hipólito Mejía (2000-2004), havecontinued covert depopulation measures but less aggressively. President Leonel Fernández(2004-2012) and the incumbent Danilo Medina have accelerated the program in the hope ofreaching replacement level fertility.The population of the Dominican Republic has grown from 2.4 million in 1950 to 10 million todate; a fivefold increase in less than seven decades. It has also reached a population density of200 people per square kilometer. Had the leaders of the Dominican Republic not implementedcovert methods of depopulation in 1960, the island’s resources would have been stripped clean227 | P a g e

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