Above: Dominican Republic Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo (Photo: DICOM)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti and the Dominican Republic will be resuming their bilateral negotiations this month in the Haitian city of Jacmel.

The talks, which will take place on March 20, are the latest in a series of monthly dialogues between the two neighbours on Hispaniola aimed at improving bilateral cooperation.

The two sides’ relations were strained most recently following the controversial citizenship decision last year by the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court.

According to a statement released by the office of Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina, this month’s talks will focus on trade, health, tourism and migration.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic last met on Feb. 3, a dialogue Dominican Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo called “unprecedented in the history of both countries.”

The two sides have already signed six bilateral agreements since beginning the monthly conversations.

“We have managed to establish a constructive dialogue on issues that affect our people, looking to offer real and lasting solutions, always on the basis of mutual respect for sovereignty,” Montalvo said in a statement. “No one doubts that this is the path that our countries need to cross, one of being good neighbours.”

Montalvo and Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe are leading the two sides’ respective commissions for the talks.

The event had initially been scheduled for March 12; that trip was postponed due to the planned visit to Santo Domingo by United States Vice President Joe Biden.