Dominican Government rejects Washington’s threat of sanctions

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Government on Monday rejected Washington’s threat of sanctions for the country’s alleged trafficking with Haitian children, noting that since its founding, the Dominican Republic has rejected any form of human traffic, as its Constitution states “without any type of interpretation.”

It said the Government’s defense against the traffic and exploitation of Haitian children in Dominican territory is evidenced from the onset of Haiti’s earthquake, when it established a special commission to protect children from Haiti.

In a statement on its website titled “What the Nuevo Herald didn’t publish,” the Presidency said that commission followed a strict protocol to guarantee that the actions taken don’t violate the integrity of Haitian children and to make sure they are treated with dignity.

The Dominican Government’s response comes one day after Miami newspaper Nuevo Herald published an interview by a senior U.S. State Department official, who warned that Santo Domingo may face Washington’s sanctions on its “lack of commitment in its fight against the traffic of Haitian children.”