Miguel Vargas Maldonado,
Santo Domingo, DR.
Former Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado warned yesterday that the situation of instability and insecurity in Haiti is rapidly worsening and is leading that nation to a “power vacuum,” a situation he described as a threat to the Dominican Republic. “The latest reports are very worrying: clashes between armed gangs, the ineffectiveness of the Police to contain the wave of violence, indiscriminate kidnappings, criminal extortion in a generalized manner, assaults on public offices and acts of vandalism,” said the leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Vargas Maldonado also referred to the international community’s indifference to the Haitian situation, the shortage of basic products and fuel, inflation, illegal immigration, and extreme poverty.
“What is happening in Haiti threatens our national security, so it is urgent to adopt measures accordingly in order to preserve the rule of law and guarantee citizen peace,” added the former foreign minister.
The PRD president said that during his tenure as head of the Foreign Ministry, he pleaded “in vain” for more attention from the government to this problem and asked for a redoubling of peace efforts by the United Nations, but only received silence as an answer.
Likewise, Vargas Maldonado said that the recent mandate of the Security Council to the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) opens a door that the country should take advantage of to form a regional force to stabilize the situation in that nation.
“As a priority task, the Dominican Republic should promote, as soon as possible, the formation of that task force in order to end the reign of gangs, reestablish the rule of law and enable the conditions that will allow free elections,” he said.