UK’s Tony Blair meets with President Abinader to mediate at the request of Haiti’s Ariel Henry

[Dolores]

The United Kingdom’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair was in Santo Domingo to meet with President Luis Abinader in an effort to mediate in the impasse over the construction of an irrigation canal in Haiti. The acting President of Haiti, Ariel Henry, had requested the support of Blair when meeting with him during the Saudi Arabia-Caricom summit. The canal would divert the waters of the Dajabon/Masacre River that originates in the Dominican Republic.

In protest of the intention to divert the waters, the Dominican Republic closed its border gates with Haiti. New migratory measures were implemented, including the stop to issuing new visas to Haitians and requiring all persons crossing the border to have at least biometric identification. Most Haitians crossing the official border gates on foot on market days had been doing without legal identification. Most Haitians do...

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[MariaRubia]

I have absolutely no idea what that fool is doing sticking his nose in. He will only do it to earn money for himself. Nothing else good will come of his involvement. Watch this space.

 

[Ecoman1949]

I have absolutely no idea what that fool is doing sticking his nose in. He will only do it to earn money for himself. Nothing else good will come of his involvement. Watch this space.

You could be right MR but what is needed here is an arms length negotiator. The DR and Haitian governments have vested interests in the issue and their bias gets in the way of a resolution. The longer the DR-Haiti border impasse continues, the more the economies and citizens of both countries suffer, regardless of who is at fault.

Blair is no fool. Any politician that can survive stepping into two major political minefields and then assume a major ministerial position in the current UK government , has to have significant political skills. He has the backing of the UK government. If their resources are required to resolve the problem, Blair may be able to bring them into play.

No one else has stepped forward to mediate the dispute and we don’t want the UN getting involved. It would blur their focus on their proposed Kenyan intervention in Haiti. God knows where that is at this point.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

The longer the DR-Haiti border impasse continues, the more the economies and citizens of both countries suffer, regardless of who is at fault.

This is rich. Haitians are not suffering because of a border dispute. They are suffering because they are a failed state run by gangs.

 

[Ecoman1949]

This is rich. Haitians are not suffering because of a border dispute. They are suffering because they are a failed state run by gangs.

Both Haitian and DR businesses are impacted by the border dispute. The pressure to resolve the dispute is coming from merchants and business men on both sides of the border. I agree that the failed Haitian state is the disease and the border dispute is just one more symptom of the disease but your looking at the big picture and my post focuses on one symptom. As Buddha says, “ Stay in the moment”.