President Luis Abinader spoke blatantly to the UN Security Council members calling for the funds to quick start the Kenya mission to avert a civil war in Haiti. Kenya has requested US$225 million to fund the mission.
Abinader spoke about how in recent weeks the arrival of paramilitary to Haiti is worsening the civil unrest and control of the gangs in Haiti. He left the UN Security Council members with the ultimatum that if international efforts are not taken, the DR will have to resort to concentrating on protecting itself from the violence controlling Haiti today.
“Today I want to warn the international community that the Dominican Republic will fight with all its might to avoid being dragged into the same abyss as Haiti. Our slogan, from today on, will be: Either we fight together to save Haiti or we will fight alone to protect the Dominican Republic!” said the Dominican head of state.
Abinader added that his country is forced “to take this step given the turn that the internal situation in Haiti has taken with the entry of new paramilitary actors that further aggravate the existing conflict.”
The President vehemently urged world leaders to “provide the money so often promised.”
“The Dominican Republic does not give Haiti what it has in surplus, but rather contributes what it lacks. The time for promises is over, starting today we enter the time for actions. The money needs to show up now or the collapse of Haiti will be irreversible. That collapse would be a threat to us and to the region,” Abinader said.
“The international community must provide the money promised so many times and it must do so now. It is necessary to provide all the necessary tools and resources to the Multinational Support Mission as soon as possible,” he stated.
The President specified that the international community cannot remain indifferent to the humanitarian emergencies that have been unleashed and accumulated in recent years in the neighboring country.
He mentioned that the World Food Program (WFP) in Haiti estimates that almost half of the population, around 5 million people, suffer from acute food insecurity, largely due to terrorist violence.
The Dominican President indicated that Haiti, with a large part of its territory controlled by criminal gangs, is on the brink of a civil war.
In that sense, he explained that the new arrival of paramilitary and political groups that seek to present themselves as redeemers before a country that yearns for security, food and peace is adding to the instability. Former police chief of Cap Haitien Guy Philippe recently was deported to Haiti from the United States where he served a sentence for drug-related charges. Furthermore, Haiti gangs are heavily armed using US weapons reportedly imported from the United States.
The Dominican military reported the death of a Dominican soldier Bartolo Familia Solis mortally injured by the bullets of a firearm of a Haitian when on service alone on Sunday, 11 February 2024 at the El Corozo border checkpoint. The army sargeant received military honors during his burial on Tuesday, 13 February 2024. President Abinader said he had information the authors of the killing have been identified.
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14 February 2024