Santo Domingo.- Chamber of Deputies president Abel Martinez on Wednesday said the Dominican Republic is a victim of disrespect and blackmail from Haiti, and warned the authorities to keep "a close eye" on what’s occurring at the border do it doesn’t spiral out of control.
He urged the Haitian government or the sectors involved in the alleged "evil" plot against the country to put a halt on it to avert greater evils.
Martinez said the “Haitian problem” must be addressed with sincerity, responsibility and assume the consequences and whatever it takes to defend the country’s sovereignty.
"The Dominican Republic can’t continue to withstand so much blackmail, that cannot be, we’re not a joke, we’re a country with great dignity and we have to demonstrate so. We cannot continue to allow this barrage of blackmail," the lawmaker said during yesterday’s session.
Martinez’s statement comes after a group of Haitians abducted several staff of the Dominican Consulate in the Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitre on January 2, for which there must be punishment, and called Haiti as a "failed state."
He also slammed international agencies and countries which he affirms seek to build two hospitals on the Dominican side of the border to provide services to undocumented Haitians- works he suggests should be erected in Haitian territory.
"They’re waiting for a catastrophe to occur to continue condemning the Dominican Republic because we defend our sovereignty, then we’ll defend it; and the mockery of international organizations and the countries trying to blackmail the Dominican Republic, must stop now," said a visibly annoyed Martinez.
Sectors demand action
Institutionalism and Justice Foundation (Finjus) vice president Servio Tulio Castaños Guzmán, opposition PRD party president Miguel Vargas and prominent attorney Juárez Castillo voiced similar complaints after a session in Congress on Wednesday.
Operation
The Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced “Operation Shield," on heightened security along the 370 Km. border.