Dominican and Haitian commissions meet today in Juana Méndez
DR and Haitian governments take up bi-national agenda again; TC sentence is "excluded"
SANTO DOMINGO. The government of Haiti held preparatory and consulting meetings yesterday with the civil society of their country, as a prelude for the bi-national talks which today will be restarted with the Dominican authorities. The talks will take place in the Haitian city of Juana Mendez as agreed upon by both countries in December of last year.
Mario Serrano, the representative of the Bono Center, an institution that watches out for the rights of immigrants in the Dominican Republic, is aware of the fact that the sentence by the Constitutional Tribunal is a local affair, since it touches aspects of Dominican nationality.
Nonetheless, given the controversy that has been unleashed and that in the meeting observers from Venezuela, the UN, the European Union, and the Caribbean Community (Caricom)-which has requested that the sentence be ignored-will take part, does not discard the possibility that at some moment there will be an allusion to these issues.
"Definitively some type of allusion will be made, because it definitely makes the international community uncomfortable that in this country there is such an obvious violation of human rights," he said.
The Dominican commissioners for today's meeting are the Minister for the Presidency, Gustavo Montalvo-who is the chairman--; the chairman of the National Immigration Council and Minister of the Interior and Police, Jose Ramon Fadul; the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Jose del Castillo Saviñon, the Deputy Chancellor Jose Manuel Trullols, and the Judicial Consultant for the Executive Branch, Cesar Pina Toribio.
According to information from the Haitian government, their country will be represented by the Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe; the ministers of Foreign Relations Pierre Richard Casimir; Commerce, Wilson Laleau and Interior, David Bazile; and Nesmy Manigat, the regional director of AID et Action.
In a communiqué that was released on Saturday by the Haitian president, he stressed that mandate of the commission was "to find a consensus and acceptable solutions, with the idea of dispelling any dispute between the two countries regarding immigration, commerce, frontier security and the normalization of the bi-national markets."
In the opinion of the jurist and constitutional specialist, Juan Miguel Castillo Pantaleon, those points on the agenda have been there since 1938, without ever applying important changes. "If the Washington agreement is looked at, nearly all of the points of discord at the present time are already contained in this instrument, what simply has to be done is put the agreement into force with vigor and respect it. If we are not capable of complying with the 1938 accords, now, with the weakness of the Haitian state ever greater, we cannot feel optimistic regarding the final result," he said.
The meeting between Haiti and the Dominican Republic comes about after 17 December when with the mediation of the Venezuelan government, they agreed to a new series of talks, after the Dominican government decided not to go to a meeting set for 30 November in Caracas.
The decision was taken after the Dominican government decided that the Haitian government had broken the agreement signed on 19 November that established the talks as the mechanism for finding solutions to issued of common interest, among them aspects tied to the sentence by the Constitutional Tribunal.
"Nothing has been lost, this is a negotiation, and in a negotiation you have to respect the spaces, and you have to give opportunities to both parties, so that the Dominican Republic, in this debate, has lost nothing. The country acts in function of the fulfillment of an institutional duty, and, on the contrary, it is obtaining the best results for both countries," Pina Toribio said yesterday.
From Haiti
The Haitian Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, is at the head of the commission from his country. He is the right hand and principle collaborator of Michel Martelly. Before his current position, he was the minister of Foreign Relations and special assistant to the President.
Pierre Richard Casimir, is the minister of Foreign Relations and Culture. He substitutes the current Prime Minister and has worked in the United States embassy. He signed with the Minister of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic a three-point agreement last 22 November that will be taken up one again today.
Wilson Laleau, the Minister of Economy and Finances, worked as the Economics Advisor to President Michel Martelly until April 2013.
David Basile is the Minister of the Interior and the Territorial Collectives of Haiti. He is seen as a competent person in his post, and with vast experience, since he has worked as the Secretary of State and Security in previous governments. Nonetheless, for others he represents "Duvalierists" in the Martelly administration since he was a high ranking officer in the military.
Nesmy Manigat is an economist, the regional director for the NGO Aid et Action, and a consultant to the Haitian government on development issues.
Expectations from Dajabon
The dialogue between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, set for today in the Haitian village of Juan Mendez, has created great expectations among local authorities and the people of the town of Dajabon.
Questioned regarding the issue, the provincial governor, Fiordaliza Caridad Ceballos, seemed optimistic about the talks and she said that she expects that the meeting will produce positive results for both peoples. For her part, Senator Sonia Mateo, said that she supported the dialogue, but she has doubts regarding the results of the meeting, because of the position historically shown by Haitian officials against the country on issues of common interest.
Mario Serrano, the representative of the Bono Center, an institution that watches out for the rights of immigrants in the Dominican Republic, is aware of the fact that the sentence by the Constitutional Tribunal is a local affair, since it touches aspects of Dominican nationality.
Nonetheless, given the controversy that has been unleashed and that in the meeting observers from Venezuela, the UN, the European Union, and the Caribbean Community (Caricom)-which has requested that the sentence be ignored-will take part, does not discard the possibility that at some moment there will be an allusion to these issues.
"Definitively some type of allusion will be made, because it definitely makes the international community uncomfortable that in this country there is such an obvious violation of human rights," he said.
The Dominican commissioners for today's meeting are the Minister for the Presidency, Gustavo Montalvo-who is the chairman--; the chairman of the National Immigration Council and Minister of the Interior and Police, Jose Ramon Fadul; the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Jose del Castillo Saviñon, the Deputy Chancellor Jose Manuel Trullols, and the Judicial Consultant for the Executive Branch, Cesar Pina Toribio.
According to information from the Haitian government, their country will be represented by the Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe; the ministers of Foreign Relations Pierre Richard Casimir; Commerce, Wilson Laleau and Interior, David Bazile; and Nesmy Manigat, the regional director of AID et Action.
In a communiqué that was released on Saturday by the Haitian president, he stressed that mandate of the commission was "to find a consensus and acceptable solutions, with the idea of dispelling any dispute between the two countries regarding immigration, commerce, frontier security and the normalization of the bi-national markets."
In the opinion of the jurist and constitutional specialist, Juan Miguel Castillo Pantaleon, those points on the agenda have been there since 1938, without ever applying important changes. "If the Washington agreement is looked at, nearly all of the points of discord at the present time are already contained in this instrument, what simply has to be done is put the agreement into force with vigor and respect it. If we are not capable of complying with the 1938 accords, now, with the weakness of the Haitian state ever greater, we cannot feel optimistic regarding the final result," he said.
The meeting between Haiti and the Dominican Republic comes about after 17 December when with the mediation of the Venezuelan government, they agreed to a new series of talks, after the Dominican government decided not to go to a meeting set for 30 November in Caracas.
The decision was taken after the Dominican government decided that the Haitian government had broken the agreement signed on 19 November that established the talks as the mechanism for finding solutions to issued of common interest, among them aspects tied to the sentence by the Constitutional Tribunal.
"Nothing has been lost, this is a negotiation, and in a negotiation you have to respect the spaces, and you have to give opportunities to both parties, so that the Dominican Republic, in this debate, has lost nothing. The country acts in function of the fulfillment of an institutional duty, and, on the contrary, it is obtaining the best results for both countries," Pina Toribio said yesterday.
From Haiti
The Haitian Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, is at the head of the commission from his country. He is the right hand and principle collaborator of Michel Martelly. Before his current position, he was the minister of Foreign Relations and special assistant to the President.
Pierre Richard Casimir, is the minister of Foreign Relations and Culture. He substitutes the current Prime Minister and has worked in the United States embassy. He signed with the Minister of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic a three-point agreement last 22 November that will be taken up one again today.
Wilson Laleau, the Minister of Economy and Finances, worked as the Economics Advisor to President Michel Martelly until April 2013.
David Basile is the Minister of the Interior and the Territorial Collectives of Haiti. He is seen as a competent person in his post, and with vast experience, since he has worked as the Secretary of State and Security in previous governments. Nonetheless, for others he represents "Duvalierists" in the Martelly administration since he was a high ranking officer in the military.
Nesmy Manigat is an economist, the regional director for the NGO Aid et Action, and a consultant to the Haitian government on development issues.
Expectations from Dajabon
The dialogue between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, set for today in the Haitian village of Juan Mendez, has created great expectations among local authorities and the people of the town of Dajabon.
Questioned regarding the issue, the provincial governor, Fiordaliza Caridad Ceballos, seemed optimistic about the talks and she said that she expects that the meeting will produce positive results for both peoples. For her part, Senator Sonia Mateo, said that she supported the dialogue, but she has doubts regarding the results of the meeting, because of the position historically shown by Haitian officials against the country on issues of common interest.
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