OAS arrives in Dominican Republic amid warnings, scorn

Santo Domingo.- The Organization of American States (OAS)mission in charge of evaluating the immigration status of Haitians in the DominicanRepublic arrived in the country Thursday night, amid warnings from varioussectors that it would render an unfavorable report.

Local media report that the delegation headed by OAS PoliticalAffairs secretary Francisco Guerrero and other UN officials will meet Fridaymorning with government officials involved in the regularization of foreigners.

The commission is slated to depart for Haiti Saturday,where it will remain until Tuesday.

According to the OAS, the delegation will meet withgovernment officials in both countries and work with the agencies that carry out thetasks of registration of migrants, in addition to other stakeholders and themigrants themselves.

It said the invitation by the governments of Hispaniola isfor an impartial, technical mission, and according to Guerrero, it’s guided by awillingness to build bridges between the two countries to find a lastingsolution to the dispute.

Warning

deputy Vinicio Castillo, of the conservative minority FNPparty, on Thursday handed a letter to OASenvoy Araceli Azuara Ferreiro, in which he warns the entity that it has no powerto set guidelines or report on who is or isn’t Dominican.

He said neither Foreign minister Andres Navarro nor anygovernment official has legal or constitutional authority to admit or consentan OAS mission.

In that regard, El Dia newspaper editor in chief RafaelMolina Morillo has demanded a public apology from the OAS for its role in the invasionduring the revolution of April, 1965, as part of Washington’s push to crush thenascent democracy.