That was also the logic of the Barcelona Process in the late 1990’s, whereby the European Union worked to promote the development and democratization of the countries of the Maghreb as the best way to stem the uncontrolled tide of illegal immigration into Europe. But, unlike the EU, the Dominican Republic is not an economic giant that can assume exclusive responsibility for extracting Haiti from its Biblical destitution.
20世纪90年代末的巴塞罗那进程也信奉同样的逻辑，当时欧盟国家竭力推动马格里布国家的经济发展和政治民主化，因为这是阻止非法移民潮最好的方法。 不过和欧盟不同，多米尼加共和国并不是一个经济巨人，没有能力独自承担起从圣经赤贫中挽救海地的责任。