Sponsored by the government of Norway, an academic exercise is taking place in Santo Domingo to analyze governance in Haiti. The workshop, “The international community, political parties and civil society in the Haitian crisis” is held with the participation of 60 political leaders, religious leaders and civil society of Haiti and around 100 Dominicans. Peter Skaven, advisor to the King of Norway, came from Norway for the event.
During the event, Dominican sociologist Frank Marino Hernandez said that the lack of capacity of the Haitian sate to apply institutional mechanisms that may guarantee that the country be able to take advantage of donations and international funding may lead the international community to contemplate the establishment of an international trust (fideicomiso) government. The workshop debated ways to resolve the political crisis in Haiti.
Hernandez, who is president of the Instituto Dominicano de Estudios Aplicados, said that the interim government of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has not shown any efficiency, and on the contrary has just served to entertain the country while they wait for elections controlled from abroad to be held. He demanded that Haitian forces, be they of political party and civic society, seek unity among themselves.
He said that as a state Haiti is not working. The opposition does not support the government of Latortue or its efforts, but does not offer workable alternatives, either. Hernandez favors that the international community intervene if the Haitian politicians cannot reach a consensus because Haiti is becoming a focus of regional trouble.
He commented that the DR could contribute to the rebuilding of Haiti. “We have people, the political will of the Dominican government, institutional resources, what we do not have is cash to finance the development projects in Haiti. There are many construction teams, engineers, doctors, but the government cannot fund the projects,” he said, suggesting the funding would come from international community donors as has already been proposed.
Savan Jean, a Christian parishioner from Haiti said that with 4,000 policemen and unemployment rates of 70-80% the situation in Haiti should be catastrophic.
Lorenzo Mota King, as reported in El Nacional, explained that given that the Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island, the workshop is held as a way for Dominicans to contribute to the rebuilding of Haiti into a solid, free, prosperous and happy land. He said the workshop is a neutral space for seeking consensus and requested that those attending leave their political emotions aside and act with tolerance.