Domínguez Brito: “Haitian gangs are a threat to the Dominican Republic”

Francisco Domínguez Brito, presidential hopeful for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), said that the increase in deaths between rival gangs in Haiti and the strengthening of these gangs endangers not only the stability of that country but also constitutes a threat to the Dominican Republic.

“These gangs represent a threat to the extent that they can create cells or groups in the country. Just like the Salvadoran maras made in Los Angeles, United States, and then penetrated different countries in Central America, the same is likely to happen with these Haitian gangs in the Dominican Republic.¨

He explained that ¨these gangs have not only caused more than 188 deaths between April and May in Haiti, but have also displaced more than 16 thousand people; it is a battle that looks like a war, and not only for rivalries, it is for the control of kidnappings, robberies, arms trafficking, extortion, and drugs.¨

Francisco, the former attorney general of the Republic, pointed out that these gangs, headed by two large alliances, the G9 led by Barbecue and the Gèped led by Ti Gabriel, have already penetrated the few remaining sectors of power in Haiti: “It is not foreseeable that the Haitian government will be able to control them.

Faced with this situation and the possibility that they could transfer their actions to the country, it is becoming increasingly necessary to create a new investigative police force with more sophisticated methods of analysis and intelligence, and above all, more effective and efficient.

We deserve to live in peace; without an effective fight against crime, this will not be possible. As President of the Dominican Republic, this will be one of my priorities¨, he concluded.

These statements were made during his participation in the program El Día on Telesistema.