Top official rebuffs Dominican ambassador’s statement on Haitian status

Santo Domingo.- Presidency chief of staff Gustavo Montalvo on Sunday denied statements by ambassador to Spain César Medina, who said Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro suggested ant amnesties to undocumented Haitians.

He said Maduro has never taken part in the talks between the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. "We met with Foreign Minister Elías Jaua and other officials of the Venezuela Ministry. They intervened as facilitators of the dialogue."

He said Venezuela offered to support the process for a better understanding between the two neighboring countries which share numerous regional fora.

Montalvo also said that although Venezuela had stated to president Danilo Medina its concern about the humanitarian situation of the people affected by the ruling, he noted that "Venezuela has been at all times respectful of sovereign decisions that the Dominican Republic can take, in this and in all cases."

"What Ambassador Medina describes simply never happened. I have lived throughout the process in first person and I can attest to this. The only content of our conversations is that which has been made public with the agreement reached, namely, our commitment to prioritize dialogue in the search for solutions to any bilateral issue," the official said in reference to the op-ed published by newspaper Listin Diario.