Haiti interim president’s visit to Dominican city aims to boost ties

Port-au-Prince.- Haiti interim president Jocelerme Privertplans to visit the Dominican Republic to attend a luncheon with Haitian andDominican personalities of the city of Santiago, outlet radiotelevisioncaraibes.comreported Tuesday.

The activity forms part of the Week of the diasporaorganized by an interagency committee of the Haitian community and coordinatedby the Zile Foundation, headed by former Haitian consul Edwin Paraison.

Privert has shown special interest in the activity which eachyear gathers citizens from both countries to bolster the friendly ties in thecity, the outlet said.

“The activity in Santiago is important because last year thatcity saw violent episodes between Haitians and Dominicans, including the hangingof the youngster from this country (Haiti), Jean Claude Henri,” it said.

The outlet adds that among the topics to discuss figuresthe call to lift the ban on the entry of 23 Dominican products into Haiti ineffect since October last year.

Port-au-Prince’s ban ostensibly sought to halt smuggling andprotect domestic production, but resulted in jeopardizing the Haitian population,the report says.