Haiti, Dominican Republic Presidents Talk Citizenship Issue in Caracas

Above: the PetroCaribe-ALBA Summit in Caracas (Photo: OPDR)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

As tensions over a citizenship ruling continue between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the two countries took time to hold talks on Monday evening in the context of the PetroCaribe Summit in Caracas.

Haiti President Michel Martelly and Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina met on Tuesday to hold what the Dominican government called “frank and cordial dialogue” during the summit, which is a gathering of ALBA and PetroCaribe member states.

In a statement, Medina’s office said both sides considered it “essential” to resume dialogue over the controversial Constitutional Court ruling in the Dominican Republic that effectively strips more than 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent of their nationality.

Both countries have decided to invite Venezuela, the European Union and CARICOM to accompany them “in this process of dialogue,” the Dominican government said.

The two sides also agreed to create a high-level commission, which will include five members from each country, to organize an agenda going forward.

The meeting was announced by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who expressed his “pleasure” and wished his “success” for the bilateral dialogue.

The PetroCaribe-ALBA conference is focusing this week on the implementation of a special economic zone for its member countries.