DR Rules Out Collaboration with Haiti on Military Issues

On Tuesday, Dominican President Luis Abinader reiterated that the Dominican Republic will only provide humanitarian aid to Haiti and denied that the country is willing to collaborate with its neighbor in military matters.

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When asked about this in La Semanal, the press conference he holds every Monday with the media, the president insisted that the government is willing to offer assistance in terms of health services.

Abinader also assured that bilateral trade continues normally on the border, despite the tensions due to the generalized crisis in that territory.

After pointing out that Haiti is the Dominican Republic's second largest trading partner in terms of exports from this country, he said that trade between the two nations would be more active if it were not for the fact that Haitian gangs control areas that prevent traders from approaching the border.

Haiti's Presidential Transitional Council decided last Friday to maintain a state of emergency due to escalating violence by gangs that control 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital, according to Haitian media.

Press reports indicate that armed gangs have mobilised in recent days in rejection of the imminent arrival this month of a multinational force approved by the UN last October, which will be led by Kenya.