The former foreign minister and president of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), Miguel Vargas, warned that Haiti is on the verge of a civil war, which represents a threat to the Dominican Republic.
He assures that the insecurity situation worsens every day in that nation where there is a power vacuum, which represents a real threat to the Dominican Republic.
Vargas cited the clashes between armed gangs, the ineffectiveness of the police in containing the wave of violence, indiscriminate kidnappings, widespread criminal extortion, assaults on public offices, and acts of vandalism.
“To the institutional chaos and deterioration of public order are added the indifference of the international communitythe shortage of basic products and fuels, galloping inflation, and the growing increase in illegal immigration and extreme poverty,” he pointed out.
He added that “what is happening in Haiti threatens our national security, so it is urgent to adopt measures accordingly in order to preserve the rule of law and guarantee citizen peace.”
Vargas spoke regarding the claim of the Dominican Republic to the international community that has been made before the crisis that Haiti is currently experiencing.
“Long before the climate of violence in Haiti worsened, we demanded, in vain, greater attention from the government and the international community towards this problem. Even the Dominican petition to redouble peacekeeping efforts by the United Nations and the warnings we made regarding the undermining of the political and institutional environment, on the occasion of our membership in the Security Council until December 2020, only received silence in response.
The recent Security Council mandate for the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), replacement of the “failure” Minujusth, opens a door that the Dominican Republic must take advantage of.
He referred to the possibility of forming a regional force to stabilize the situation in the neighboring country.
“As a priority task, the Dominican Republic must promote, as soon as possible, the formation of this working group in order to end the reign of the gangs, restore the rule of law and enable the conditions that allow free elections.”
On the domestic front, the government should have more effective border control to prevent the crossing of undocumented immigrants. The number of women giving birth in our hospitals is an unequivocal sign that the border remains vulnerable.
Finally, he urged the government to show greater political will to deal decisively the danger that the Haitian crisis represents for securitythe preservation of peace and social stability in the Dominican Republic.
