Several sectors have asked for improvements in the surveillance on the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, following the death of a Dominican soldier, Oriano Montero Encarnación, on Saturday, 5 January 2019, at the hands of a Haitian, who was later killed by another soldier in the community of Pinzon, in Elias Piña. The deceased and sergeant Carlos Manuel Montero Lorenzo were patrolling the area and ordered two Haitians to stop. One of the Haitians reportedly responded with gunfire, killing Montero. The Army announced the promotion of both soldiers.
What is known is that the late Oriano Montero Encarnacion of the Army was assigned to the Specialized Corps of Frontier Security (Cesfront). He was shot and killed by a Haitian who was being detained by a border patrol in el Callejón, in Elías Piña, in the south east of the country, bordering with Haiti. Following the incident, another member of the patrol killed the Haitian, who was with a fellow Haitian, who fled the scene.
The Ministry of Defense has ordered an investigation amid calls to improve border security.
An editorial in Diario Libre highlighted the weaknesses at the Dominican border with Haiti. Adriano Miguel Tejada, executive editor of Diario Libre stressed that the incidents that occurred over the weekend in which a Dominican soldier and a Haitian national died and others were injured, are not isolated incidences. These assaults are the result a combination of factors that are not being addressed by the authorities.
Tejada writes: “In first place, order cannot be imposed at the border without clear rules at both sides of the border. Haiti is a country without respect to rules and our authorities for a long time have taken advantage of that situation to violate our laws. This ambivalence creates situations of instability and lawlessness at the border.
He also explains that in second place, the stationing at the border of poorly trained soldiers, many of them new recruits, without knowledge of the terrain and ineffectively armed, without clear “rules of engagement”, make the application of the norms difficult. For their part, Haitians are aware that the instructions that Dominican soldiers have are not to shoot unless it is in their own defence (not even in that of their nationals) encourages bold and reckless behaviour. In addition, there is a common belief that corruption leads to a lack of observing of rules, as is the case of the flow of contraband between the two countries.
Tejada also points out that in third place, the border must be “cooled” and we are “heating” it. The best example of “cooling” is Codevi, the free zone manufacturing project of Fernando Capellán. Examples of warming are bi-national markets, which lend themselves to all kinds of incidents and pressures, and the announced presence of thousands of troops in the area without a precise doctrine of what their role is.
He stresses: “The border requires clear rules and policies that encourage civil discipline and a serious commitment to the sovereignty of the country, or problems will continue …”
Read more in Spanish:
Facebook
Hoy
Diario Libre
8 January 2019
