Haitian Foreign Minister Dominique Dupuy has responded to comments made by Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez, demanding the reopening of airspace between the two nations for all Haitians.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic have once again engaged in a war of words after the Special Transition Committee-appointed Prime Minister Garry Conille declined President Luis Abinader’s invitation to his inauguration on 16 August 2024, citing the closure of airspace between the two countries as the reason. The border is closed for security reasons as large areas of Port-au-Prince continue under the control of heavily armed violent gangs.
Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez has stated that any flight request from Haitian authorities would be immediately authorized, as would requests from other invited dignitaries. He emphasized that, for security reasons, the airspace between the Dominican Republic and Haiti remains closed to commercial flights but not to official, humanitarian, or similar flights.
Foreign Minister Alvarez has shared his exchanges on X with Jacquie Charles after the Haiti/Caribbean correspondent to the Miami Herald had tweeted that the Haitian authorities had declined to attend President Luis Abinader’s inaugural.
Alvarez wrote on X:
“On August 1, during a phone conversation with Haiti’s Foreign Minister, I was asked if it was necessary to lift the airspace closure for them to attend President Abinader’s inauguration. I assured her that any flight request from Haitian authorities would be immediately approved, just like those from other invited dignitaries.
“I added that, for security reasons, airspace between the Dominican Republic and Haiti remains closed for commercial flights but is open for official, humanitarian, or similar flights. I also instructed the Dominican ambassador to visit the Haitian Foreign Ministry to reiterate this information.
“There are no barriers preventing Haitian authorities from attending President Abinader’s inauguration. It would have been an ideal opportunity to restart dialogue with the transitional government.”
Jacqueline Charles had written on X: “Not only are CPT members declining #DomRep offer to attend @luisabinader’s inauguration but so is PM Conille. The idea of flying across border when avg Haitian can’t, even with visa, or to Miami to get to Dominican Republic just doesn’t sit well with transition leaders.”
Interestingly, on her X account, Charles posted about the wins of Jamaica, St. Lucia and Dominica athletes at the Olympics, not so about the gold medal win of Marileidy Paulino for the Dominican Republic.
Furthermore, as reported in Noticias SIN, according to Radio Télé Métronome, Haiti’s acting Foreign Minister Dupuy stated that “the reopening of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic should not be contingent on negotiations.”
Dupuy further asserted that “any request for reopening should apply to all citizens, without exception,” and concluded that the Haitian authorities cannot benefit from a privilege that the Haitian people do not have access to.
Dominique Dupuy had sought to be appointed to the Haitian Transition Committee as representative of the EDE/RED and Compromis Historique, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Claude Joseph. Joseph on 8 September 2022 was banned from traveling to the Dominican Republic together with 12 leaders of gangs of that island, in the understanding they represented a threat to the interests and institutions in the Dominican Republic. Joseph was prime minister for Haiti a few months before Henry Ariel was named. He has acted as Foreign Minister. As such he has been a strong anti-Dominican Republic activist consistently blaming the Dominican Republic for being racist in regards to Haitians, and demanding more privileges for the Haitians.
EDE/RED is the alliance between the political party of former Prime Minister Claude Joseph (Les Engagés pour le Développement, EDE) and the platform of the Democratic Resistance (RED) and the members of the historic coalition and their allies, which includes around 40 political parties and movements like Ayiti An Aksyon (AAA), led by former senator Youry Latortue, and the Rally of Progressive Democrats (RDNP), of which Mirlande Manigat, member of the previous High Council of the Transition, was a member.
Dupuy is taking the path of finding others to blame instead of accepting it is the Haitians who have created their own situation. At present, Dupuy is seeking to garner historical reparations and restitution for Haiti, citing their colonial past with France to blame. She recently announced that Haiti joins the Caricom Reparations Commission through a working group (Haitian National Committee) to actively engage in regional discussions on historical reparations and restitution.
Despite meeting abroad with Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez, Dupuy continues to lead an adversarial role against the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic has a heavy burden regarding the chaotic situation in Haiti, and is saddled with billions in spending for education of Haitians, birthing services, and other medical services for free at local public hospitals. At large hospitals, upwards of 60% of the births are to Haitian women at a time when births per family are declining for Dominicans. Making matters worse, most people in Haiti are not documented, creating major social problems as their children progress through the Dominican school system.
Likewise, the border patrol costs the Dominican Republic billions every year. Despite efforts to discourage illegal crossings, the almost 400 km border is almost impossible to patrol and most Haitians either cross over unchecked on border market days or pay smugglers to take a ride to their Dominican Republic destination.
Read more:
Noticias SIN
El Nacional
Twitter Roberto Alvarez
Twitter Jacquie Charles
Diario Libre
Roberto Cavada
DW
DR1 News
DR1 News
DR1 News
GNN Liberia
AP News
Haitian Times
14 August 2024