Dominican Republic, Haiti to re-establish ties

The governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic have pledged to re-establish ties following months of disagreement.

According to Dominica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrés Navarro, the ties between the countries that share the island of Hispaniola are again at “the highest level”.

Navarro made the statement following a meeting here on Wednesday with his Haitian counterpart Pierrot Delienne.

During a news conference at the end of a meeting, aimed at resuming the political dialogue, Navarro said Delienne’s presence together with delegations from both countries was geared towards reviewing the bilateral agenda, especially that of the Joint Haitian- Dominican Committee.

“The aim is to normalise the dialogue from this meeting, because there are many issues of common interest, as neighbouring countries, that need to be addressed for the well being of both peoples,” Navarro said, and stressed the importance for both nations to foster an “environment of harmony”.

Some of the key points discussed were trade and the ban on overland access of 23 Dominican products enacted by Haiti during former president Michel Martelly’s term in office.

He said as a result of the meeting, economic issues and co-operation between both countries will also be reviewed “as a starting point to relaunch our relations.”

Since 2013 ties between the neighbouring countries have grown increasingly strained since a Dominican court ruled that children born in the country to non-citizens did not qualify for automatic citizenship because their migrant parents were “in transit”.