Haitian Minister of Foreign Relations Fritz Longchamps met with President Leonel Fernandez at the National Palace. He traveled to the DR to discuss the death of six Haitians who were hidden under a canvas as they clandestinely made their way to Santiago from Haiti. The incident has unfolded the complicity of the military in the smuggling of people and the extortion rackets that are part of daily life along the Dominican-Haitian frontier. Speaking to the press after the meeting with President Fernández, Longchamps said that the incident would not in any way affect the relations between Haiti and the DR. Relations between Haiti and DR have been at their best under the Rene Preval administration, with advances made by the bilateral Haiti-DR commission. The Dominican government has been a leading international spokesman seeking international support for improved instruction and job creation in Haiti, regardless of the ongoing Haitian internal political crisis. Also present at the meeting were Minister of Foreign Relations Eduardo Latorre, Dominican ambassador in Haiti, Silvio Herasme Peña and charge d’affairs of the Haitian Embassy in the DR, Andres L. Dortonne.
