Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez contradicted the president of the Presidential Transition Council of Haiti, Fritz Alphonse Jean who has asked for the continuing of talks with the Dominican Republic, ador when interviewed for El Despertador talk show on Channel 9 on 2 April 2025.
Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez says the talks have never stopped and cannot stop. He said that there is a new dialogue after Haiti sent a permanent ambassador, Emmanuel Fritz Longchamp, a former foreign minister of Haiti. Alvarez says Longchamp is “knowledgeable about Dominican Republic, and we have begun trying to build an agenda”.
He said it could be that the Fritz Alphonse Jean is not aware of the talks ongoing with the arrival of the new ambassador.
The DR and Haiti had discontinued the meetings of the bilateral committee following the Dominican government protest over the construction of the canal at Masacre River (Dajabon River) that changed the course of a river that starts in the DR, passes through Haiti for two kms and then continues on to the DR for around 50 kms.
The new ambassador of Haiti is Emmanuel Fritz Longchamp officially began on 17 February 2025 after presenting letters of credence. The Dominican Republic did not have an ambassador after Smith Augustin was removed as ambassador in June 2022.
The president of the Presidential Transition Council Fritz Alphonse Jean has called for the talks of the bilateral commission to resume. He has called for the Dominican Republic to again open its air space to regular and scheduled flights.
Foreign Minister Alvarez said that even if the foreign air space is closed for regular and scheduled flights, it is open to humanitarian flights and exceptions. He mentioned the many flights for officials of the UN mission and diplomats in Haiti that occur all the time.
Meanwhile, all Dominican consulates, with the exception of one in Haiti, are closed, primarily for the insecurity situation in Haiti. The only consulate that remains open handles humanitarian issues. The visas for Haitian students in Dominican universities are not being issued. Students who study here are getting extensions of their visas so they can continue their studies.
Follow the story in Spanish:
El Despertador – Min 40:00
DR1 News
3 April 2025