President Louis Abenader emphasized that issues of how to protect border security, in relation to the social and political crisis affecting Haiti, will always be a higher priority than issues related to trade between the two countries.
“I have been working to open up (binational) markets when necessary, in the case of retail; in the other cases, because all the limited source of support they might get from us towards our borders, they will have it, but if it is a decision between trade and security, security comes first. ” morning.
Abenader made these statements after being questioned by the media about the progress of the areas under the control of paramilitary gangs in the territory of Haiti, and the possibility that this would affect the flow of trade and employment in the border area.
“My responsibility is to protect the Dominican people and the borders are safe and we will ensure that it continues that way; we have strengthened border security by more than 3,500 men, we have all the intelligence services working in this regard and we will continue to take measures to ensure the security of our borders and territories and that the country is not affected by the instability of the Republic of Haiti,” Abenader added. .
The Dominican head of state added that the supply of materials “really” would not be affected because the country “is almost not importing anything from Haiti” and that this would only lead to personnel problems for the free zones of these border communities, but these have mechanisms for those cases.
The growing social and political crisis in the neighboring country has worsened since the assassination of its current president, Jovenel Moise, in mid-July.
Dozens of clashes took place in recent weeks due to the fuel crisis that hit that country and paralyzed almost all public transportation; Also over the course of two weeks, a Haitian paramilitary group kidnapped 16 US citizens.
The President announced, during an activity held this morning at the National Palace, that he will hold a press conference where he will talk “intensively” about the crisis that the neighboring nation is experiencing.