- The Dominican government said that this decision seeks to honor its historical debt with Venezuela | Photo: Presidency of the Dominican Republic
Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, assured this Monday, August 5, that he is willing to facilitate work permits to Venezuelan citizens with expired documentation, given that the consular and diplomatic representation left the country by order of Nicolás Maduro and they do not have the possibility of renewing their passports.
“We have already done it in the past. We have facilitated work permits, without them having the documents up to date (…) and, if we have to do it again, we will do it,” said Abinader in response to a question in this regard during his weekly press conference.
The Dominican president said that this gesture towards Venezuelan migrants is because he believes that the Dominican Republic “has a debt” with Venezuela.
“It has been there since Rómulo Betancourt, who fought for democracy against the Trujillo dictatorship, and for many years afterwards that country has also helped us fight for democracy,” he said.
According to Abinader, more than 250 thousand Dominicans worked in Venezuela, “a country that opened its doors to them.”
“Therefore, it is time to reciprocate the historic help that Venezuela has given us,” he insisted.
#5Ago | The President of the Dominican Republic, @luisabinaderassured that he is willing to give work permits to Venezuelan migrants with expired documents.
“More than 250,000 Dominicans worked in Venezuela and they opened the doors to us. Therefore, it is the… pic.twitter.com/sWdaVtZWrt
— The Daily (@eldiario) August 6, 2024
The breakdown of relations between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela
The government of Nicolás Maduro triggered a diplomatic crisis with seven countries, including the Dominican Republic, following its questioning of the transparency and fairness of the July 28 elections in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner for a third term.
After their leaders expressed concern about the electoral process, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry demanded that Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay “immediately withdraw their representatives from Venezuelan territory” and announced the withdrawal of its representatives from those nations.
Regarding the Venezuelan elections, Abinader maintained his position on Monday, August 5, requesting the publication of the electoral records.
“That has been our position, we will continue to maintain it and we will continue to support democracy in Venezuela,” he said.
However, the president avoided expressly recognizing Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the elections.
Venezuelan opposition thanked Abinader’s government
In response to the Dominican Republic’s position of demanding transparency in the Venezuelan electoral process, the campaign command in the Dominican Republic of Edmundo González Urrutia expressed its gratitude on July 31.
“I want to thank the Dominican government and Abinader, who have shown great concern about the situation and have suggested that the reports should be presented (…) I also want to thank our Dominican brothers, who have shown us support as we have gathered peacefully at the Embassy,” said the general coordinator of the command, Kleber Correa, at a press conference in Santo Domingo.
On July 30, the Abinader government complied with the Maduro government’s decision to withdraw Dominican diplomatic personnel from Venezuela.
“We do not have an ambassador in Venezuela, we abide by that decision (…) As this is a changing situation every day, we will continue to see what we are going to do. What we will never do is give up our principles of fighting for democracy,” he emphasized.
Regarding possible trade sanctions against the Venezuelan government, Abinader said that no decision has yet been made.
With information from EFE
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2024-08-06 04:47:58
