First And Strong Reactions From The Dominican Republic

Haiti - FLASH : First and strong reactions from the Dominican Republic
(Haiti Libre) - 26/02/2015 08:51:32

Following the serious incident that occurred Wednesday at the Dominican Consulate in Pétion ville, Andrés Navarro Dominican Foreign Minister, declared that "the acts that took place against Haitian nationals in recent days [in the Dominican Republic] are isolated incidents and in no way they represent the official policy of the Dominican government." He describes as "unacceptable that Haiti accuses the country of racism and xenophobia," adding "what happened Wednesday when a group of Haitian protesters stoned the Dominican Consulate and violated the Dominican flag, are facts that have never produced in the Dominican Republic against Haitian diplomatic facilities [...] In a clearly intolerable attitude, the Haitian government has allowed the systematic violence and attacks against the Dominican consulates in the territory of Haiti. While the Dominican Government seeks to harmonize relations, the Haitian side behavior is double sided [...] The Dominican Republic will not yield to blackmail," before revealing that his government had received a letter of protest sent by Haiti, which includes "unacceptable conditions that must be answered in the same language, but with the real facts. Thursday, I'll recall our ambassador in Haiti, so that gives us a detailed picture of what happened Wednesday [...] and know what action to give..."

For its part in Haiti, Duly Brutus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an official statement on behalf of the Haitian Government, congratulated the initiators of the citizen march that, he said, "should not be interpreted as a demonstration against the Dominican Republic, but as a reinforcement of initiatives already undertaken by the Haitian Chancellery to say "NO TO BARBARISM! NO TO HATRED! RESPECT AND PEACE ON THE ISLAND !"

However, the Chancellor Brutus specifies that "the Government of the Republic condemns the violation and unfortunate assault of the premises of the Consulate General of the Dominican Republic in Petion-ville by a small group of malicious individuals who eluded the vigilance the organizers of this peaceful march" http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13260-haiti-social-the-haitian-flag-waving-on-the-dominican-consulate.html

Concluding "The Government of the Republic take this opportunity to invite the population to remain calm and avoid any action which could contribute to further deteriorate relations between the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic."