Dominican ambassador to the United States, Flavio Dario Espinal, speaking on the FINJUS program carried by Channel 37 CDN, said that the Dominican Republic cannot afford to continue absorbing the effects of the crisis of the size and shape of what is happening in Haiti. The Haitian situation represents political, social, economical, ecological, and security concerns to the DR. He said that the Dominican Republic has full right to repatriate any person that is in its territory illegally. He added that no country in the Western Hemisphere has a neighbor with as critical and complex situation such as Haiti.
The diplomat called upon the United States and other developed nations to take on the responsibility of assisting Haiti. In his remarks, Espinal said that he felt that most industrialized nation do not understand the depth of the crisis affecting Haiti, nor the tremendous impact this situation has on the Dominican Republic.
Espinal also pointed out that the international aid organizations such as Oxfam, Care, Caritas and others are feeling frustrated and impotent as to what they can accomplish in Haiti. In spite of all of the international assistance, no agreement between the political parties has been reached. As a result, for the Dominican Republic the crisis in its neighbor is not only a human one but also one of national security.
The lawyer, a former head of FINJUS, pointed out that security threats come from different directions, including drug trafficking, weapons contraband, terrorism, international crime, white slave trafficking and financial crimes, since the institutions of the states are weakened to a point where they can’t exercise their duties.
Because of this reality, according to Espinal, it is all the more imperative for the industrialized nations to step up their efforts to find a solution to the crisis. Because of the need to totally reestablish the state in Haiti, meaning law, order and a respect for the law, the ambassador said that only a long term presence of these developed nations in Haiti would help solve the problems. According to Espinal, a study that he prepared showed that it would take at least ten years to rebuild the Haitian state.