Haiti, Dominican Republic Set to Resume Talks in Juan Dolio

Above: Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and Dominican Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo earlier this year (Photo: DICOM)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti and the Dominican Republic will resume their planned bilateral dialogue in a meeting on Thursday in the Dominican town of Juan Dolio.

The new talks were announced Monday by Dominican Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo, who is leading the Dominican side in the talks between neighbouring countries on Hispaniola.

Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe has been leading the Haitian commission in the dialogue, which has been postponed several times in recent months.

“We are pleased to once again receive the Haitian delegation to this new session of the dialogue, which we hope will enable us to move forward on the joint agenda we have set,” Montalvo said in a statement.

The controversial citizenship ruling affecting many Dominicans of Haitian descent will likely remain on the agenda, as will issues including trade, health, farming, safety and the environment,” according to the Dominican government.

“The people of Haiti and the Dominican people are very different in many ways, but both want more jobs, more safety, more health and more opportunities,” Montalvo said. “It is there that is the basis for agreement and for finding solutions.”

The two sides first met what was supposed to be a monthly dialogue in January in Haiti’s Ouanaminthe, with the next meeting in February in the border area of Jimani.

The talks were then postponed until May, when Haitian and Dominican Ministers met in Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince simultaneously.

The two countries signed a tourism cooperation agreement and a health agreement in the context of those meetings.