Gaffe by chief stokes Dominicans’ mistrust of OAS

Santo Domingo.- A statement that emerged Thursday by Organizationof American States (OAS) secretary general Luis Almagro has stoked DominicanRepublic’s historic mistrust of the regional body, amid the row pitting SantoDomingo and Port-au-Prince over the deportation of Haitians.

Interviewed by CNN this week Almagro said categoricallythat there “cannot” be two nations on one island, in reference to Hispaniola,home to both Dominicans and Haitians.

"It’s one island, an island where there cannot reallybe two countries, there’s one single country, even when there’s one largeisland like Australia. This is a small island with two countries with verydifferent social, economic and politic realities, said the OAS Secretary Generalon Wednesday, a gaffe likely to stoke a backlash from Santo Domingo.

The OAS backed the US military occupation of theDominican Republic during the 1965 Revolution, which cost the lives of tens ofthousands of Dominicans.