Dominican Republic, Haiti resume talks amid mistrust

Santo Domingo.- DominicanRepublic and Haiti will again discuss topics of common interest today Tuesday,after the meeting site agreed by the leaders of both countries last December washastily established.

Sources cited by listin.com.do in Port-au-Prince affirmthat the committees headed by Dominican Republic Presidency chief of staffGustavo Montalvo, and Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe were still discussingthe place for the gathering last night.

Haiti’s Government prefers holding the meeting atthe Henri Christophe University which Dominican Republic donated to Haiti two yearsago, while the Dominican counterpart prefers the industrial park Codevi, of DominicanRepublic capital, built in northern Haiti, the outlet said.

The meeting will reportedly be held starting 11amin the Haitian town of Ounaminthe with representatives from Venezuela, UnitedNations, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the European Union as observers.

On Monday Lamothe tweeted that his Government wasin "meetings and consultations" with Haiti civil society representatives,leading to the meeting with Dominican officials.

The dialog will center on migration, trade, bordersecurity and the regulation of the binational markets as both countries haveconfirmed, although the talks are also expected to deal with the lingering disputeson trade and the ruling that set the conditions for Dominican nationality,which Haiti rejects and calls violation of human rights.

Haitian-Dominicans

The first attempt at talks broke off in Novemberwhen Santo Domingo accused Port-au-Prince of reneging on agreements, followedby Haiti President Michel Martelly’s participation in a meeting of Caricom,after which the region’s leaders halted negotiations to admit DominicanRepublic to that regional bloc.

The DominicanConstitutional Court ruling handed down in September has made it more difficultfor people of Haitian descent to qualify for Dominican citizenship.