El Haitiano (Candelo)

As someone who has only recently expanded my musical taste to include more older styles of Dominican merengue, I was fascinated by "El Haitiano (Candelo)" from Guandulito y Sus Compadres, which recorded merengue in the older style of the genre (recorded in 1960, according to Wikipedia). It can also be found here as "Candelo Cedife," which has more overt Vodou references, according to Sydney Hutchinson (apparently it references the misterio or lwa associated with fire). Although my Spanish is somewhat atrocious, the song appears to be using the image of the 'strange' but 'familiar' neighboring 'Other' in a way that is not exactly negative. The vocalist does say that Haitian Kreyol is hard to understand, and comments on other cultural practices, but this very same artist recorded a song in Haitian Kreyol that was drenched in Vodou references (Guede spirits). Thus, "Candelo Cedife" or "El Haitiano" actually represents a fusion of religious traditions of Afro-Dominicans and Haitians living along the border between the two countries.