Foreign Minister Álvarez: “Instability in Haiti threatens that of the Dominican Republic”

Santo Domingo, DR

The Dominican Republic’s Government indicated today that the political and social instability that its neighbor Haiti is experiencing constitutes a threat against it.

“Instability in Haiti threatens that of the Dominican Republic,” Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez said this morning before the United Nations Council, which received a special report on the crisis that that nation is going through.

He called on the international community to provide the Haitian people with the humanitarian aid that they so desperately need and provide the necessary resources to be able to invest in infrastructure and job creation.

The Dominican Foreign Minister, Roberto Álvarez, said that his country is extremely concerned about the profound social, economic, health, and political crisis in its Haitian neighbor.

The Dominican Foreign Minister pointed out that the border shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti implies that the political, social, health, and economic processes of each country significantly impact the other.

“Good neighborliness between the two countries can never prejudice the principle of strict compliance with Dominican and international law,” said the diplomat.

He highlighted the stagnation in the legislative elections’ organization and the lack of consensus on a joint political plan that would allow breaking the impasses and defining a new electoral cycle that would guide it on a path of lasting stability.

“For this reason, we urge the international community to take a more active role in organizing this process and to extend the mandate of BINUH, also providing it with the necessary resources for its proper functioning. The BINUH must facilitate a broad political pact in Haiti that guarantees the holding of legislative elections, which is the most urgent task,” Álvarez told the United Nations Security Council.

The Dominican Foreign Minister said that the well-being and future of the peoples are in their citizens’ hands, so the international community “despite being additional and fundamental support,” cannot generate the necessary changes in Haiti by itself.

For this reason, he considered that the active participation of Haitian civil society and political leadership is essential, including the diaspora of that country.

On the other hand, Álvarez recognized the Haitian government’s efforts to counteract the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in his country under the leadership of its Multisectoral Commission COVID-19.

At the Security Council meeting, Haiti’s report was known, presented by Helen La Lime, the Secretary-General, António Guterres. He detailed that the political, social, and economic situation of that nation continues to be affected and worsened by the pandemic.