Antonio Marte, the leader of the National Confederation of Transport Organizations (CONATRA) apologized late last week for his order to Conatra affiliates to not board Haitians. Marte had issued the order to protest for several of the Conatra buses having been seized by the authorities.
Following a generalized uproar among Dominicans at the order, Conatra tried to backtrack:
“Regarding my statements, I would like to apologize both to the Haitian people as well as the whole country in general,” he said. He assured the general public and the local Haitian population in particular, that the units belonging to the Confederation would provide service to everyone. Nevertheless, he would add that transportation in the Cibao would be paralyzed if the buses are not returned to him.
As reported, the buses were seized for carrying undocumented Haitians. Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez explained that strong evidence suggests that the buses were used to transport smuggled immigrants. “Migration received specific cases in several border provinces where it was suspected that there was trafficking in Haitian immigrants in violation of the law. These cases were brought before the judges who determined that the there was sufficient evidence that the buses (and those involved in their operation) were trafficking in Haitians into the Dominican Republic. Some vehicles have been returned to their owners, but several buses remain impounded by order of a judge,” said the Attorney General.
The president of Conatra has defended his transporters. “The operators of the buses routinely allow all passengers to board the bus. The authorities are permitted onboard the bus to check documents of passengers according to their rules and regulations. It is our position that if the passenger purchases a ticket in Dajabon, for example, we will not question their legal status. We assume that this responsibility lies with the authorities at the border”, said Marte.
Marte’s threat was hardly out of his mouth when the director of the National Traffic And Ground Transportation Institute (Intrant), Claudia Franchesca the Los Santos, warned him that if he were to maintain his instructions not to carry certain passengers, Intrant could very well revoke his permits to work certain routes. The director of the National Institute of Transit and Transport (Intrant) said the announcement violated the Constitution.
Antonio Marte did a quick about face and apologized for instructing his affiliates to not transport Haitians. He had given the order in protest for the seizing by the judicial authorities of several of Conatra units that have legal cases ongoing for illegal transporting of undocumented.
“I recognize it was not the best way, and after listening to the national opinion, the media and consulting with the authorities we decided to retract the statement and our position, which, without a doubt, would have affected the immigrant population,” he said.
An editorial in Diario Libre says that the discrimination connotation of the case has impeded seeing what really is going on. Diario Libre says that what is worse about his statement is that he felt he could use force to achieve the objectives, regardless of whether this was illegal. Diario Libre says this is becoming a regular way of acting among Dominicans and urges for a stop to this.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
El Dia
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
17 December 2018
