The Dominican Republic’s foreign policy with its western neighbor is simple: “We can’t get enough of Haiti.” The Dominican Foreign Minister warns him even before indicating that the international community can do it, but never the Dominican Republic.
“The international community can get tired, but we have no choice,” he said.
On 10 January, the presidents of both nations met at the border and issued a nine-point statement that included irregular migratory flows and issues such as trade, maritime borders and health.
Roberto Álvarez says that in response to these ideas, they developed two lunches, led by the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, with between 11 and 12 ambassadors just to discuss the issue of aid to Haiti.
The Dominican Republic is considering contributing to the energy issue with Haiti. “We have the opportunity to sell food. We could collaborate on the issue of cooking gas, today 65% of people in Haiti use firewood or coal for cooking. We were in this position 60 years ago and with public policies we managed to get out “, says the foreign minister.
Foreign Minister Álvarez explains that, along with the progress of these issues, the country is working to achieve “coherence” in the Haiti issue.
Looking there, the “Haiti Cabinet” was created within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, coordinated by Foreign Minister Alvarez himself. The idea is that all Mirex offices dealing with issues related to the neighboring country meet every week to achieve local government “coherence”.
The plan is to develop policy coherence with Haiti so that the Dominican Republic has a continuous and permanent state policy. “And that the change of government in Haiti does not affect, meaning we can adapt without trying to start over every time there is a change in Haiti,” the foreign minister said.
And another important point that is being worked on is defining what the real Dominican interests are in Haiti. “What are our influences on Haiti? We define them clearly, because this is clearly essential … we need to be clear about the Dominican national interest, ”he said.
Haiti is facing another episode in its spiral of social and political crisis, which keeps the Jovenel Moise government and the political opposition in conflict, challenging when the president should step down.
Some opponents believe that Moses’ term ends in February this year, while the Haitian head of state claims that it will be a year later, in February, but in 2022.
The current government has set a timetable for the transition the Dominican Republic agrees to: a referendum in April for the new political constitution; the first round of elections in September and the second round in November, with the handover of power in February.
refugee
The administration of President Luis Abinader does not recognize the Emergency Plan for the massive flows of immigrants from the Dominican Republic as a document with binding force in the country.
“The president authorized me to say that this is a document that this government considers to have no validity, no binding force. It’s so simple, “said the foreign minister in a conversation with Listín Diario.
Álvarez said it was a document prepared during the administration of former President Danilo Medina, which was not known to the National Council for Migration. “There is no resolution in this regard. This document does not have binding force in this country, “he said.
The chancellor also indicated that he does not fit into the government’s plans to establish any policy for refugee camps, “or something like that”.
“It does not fit into the plans to establish any policy for refugees, camps or anything like that. It does not fit into the plans. The government considers that this document has no legal force “, he insisted.