Since taking over as President of the Republic, Luis Abinader has maintained that the country cannot continue to bear the brunt of Haiti’s economic problems and will speak to other countries such as the United States, France and Canada to join a plan. development for the neighboring nation.
Abinader also stressed that Haiti must solve its problems of political instability, which have affected the country since 2018.
However, the head of state said that one of his main tasks is for both countries to maintain a good relationship and maintain their ties.
Despite this premise, from August 16 to the present, the Dominican and Haitian authorities have met only three times, all since November.
Roberto Álvarez’s “unofficial” visit
The first meeting between the new government leadership and Haitian authorities took place in early November, when Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez visited the country with Executive Financial Adviser Pablo Portes and National Investigations Department (DNI) Director Luis Soto.
On that occasion, the foreign minister met with Haitian officials, foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations, among others. However, as the visit was accredited as “unofficial”, neither the official’s agenda nor what was discussed during that trip was revealed.
The Haitian foreign minister came to the country
At the end of November, the Chancellor of the Republic of Haiti, Claude Joseph, arrived in the country, met with his counterpart and presented him with the credentials of the President of the Republic.
During his visit, Joseph took the opportunity to ask local authorities to change the rhetoric of the country’s authorities, to eliminate the “negative narrative” about Haiti and its citizens, based on constant statements by the president when he said that the country does not should also take care of Haiti and that the number of Haitian women coming to the country to give birth, due to the economic and social situation facing Haiti, directly affects the budget.
“I was clear with the Dominican Foreign Minister that it is necessary to throw away this negative narrative from the official speech. It’s not good for Haiti or the Dominican Republic, “said Joseph.
Despite these controversies, Joseph called for a fraternal relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. “It simply came to our notice then. We must act as such. The Dominicans must protect the Haitians, and the Haitians must protect the Dominicans, “he said on the occasion.
First meeting between presidents
Abinader and his Haitian counterpart, Jovenel Moise, met for the first time only last Sunday.
In agreement with both, the meeting aimed to review the bilateral agenda on security, health, trade, migration, energy and the evolution of the political process in the sister country.
“Today (Sunday) I held a meeting with the President of Haiti, @moisejovenel, to review the bilateral agenda: security, health, trade, migration, energy and the evolution of the political process in Haiti. We will publish a statement of agreements in the coming days, “Abinader wrote on his Twitter account @luisabinader.
The President also announced that in the coming days he will make public a statement of the agreements reached. The administrative minister of the presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, also stressed that this information will appear during this week.
RELATIONS
Exchange
Haiti remains the second most important trading partner for the Dominican Republic, surpassed only by the United States, but relations have been affected in recent years by the impediments the neighboring government has imposed on many products exported from here, a pending problem .