First, the Multi-Fibre Agreement of international textile quotas expired at the beginning of the year, exposing the industry to the full force of cheaper labour competition from Asian countries such as China.
Second, the industry continued to suffer a long-running secular trend. To maintain the business of US fashion manufacturers,
But they turn out to be far more successful even than the Americans. The two US major leagues, the National League and the American League, elect a “most valuable player” at the end of each season. Last year, Albert Pujols of the St Louis Cardinals won the title for
“We sometimes pay the bill, but then they usually end up charging us for electricity we’ve not used, so then we go on strike,” says Ms Miranda, a scrum of three children lurking round her feet waiting for supper.
At the other end of the social spectrum, in Santo Domingo’s
Eleven years later, he is still eking out a living on the same batey, or labour encampment, where he arrived, with no money, nine fingers, and a foot-long vertical gash on his chest that has been sewn up like a mailbag.
“Can you help me get a cédula?” he asks,
Tobacco, in the form of premium hand-rolled cigars with an aroma certain to mellow any mood, and cocoa beans processed into velvety chocolate guaranteed to liberate endorphins galore, are giving the Dominican Republic a new reputation.
Amid gently swaying royal palms and green rolling hills 80km northwest of Santo Domingo,