From 6 a.m. on Friday, the Dominican Republic will completely close its border with Haiti due to a conflict between the two countries over the construction of a neighboring river.

“Tomorrow, Friday, the entire border of the Dominican Republic, land, sea and air, will be closed” and it is the government’s intention to keep it that way “for as long as necessary to carry out this action, this to eliminate provocation. ,” said Dominican President Luis Abinader who led a delivery of military vehicles in Santo Domingo.

An irrigation canal is being constructed on the Haitian side of the Masacre River that will divert the flow, providing a natural divide between the two nations near Dajabón.

Although dialogues were held and even a meeting took place on Wednesday to find a solution in Santo Domingo, this was not possible. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry indicated that the work is a private project that his government has nothing to do with and that therefore they could not implement the work stoppage on September 1.

Although talks between the two sides continue today, the Dominican President on Thursday issued the relevant instructions for the closure of the borders, in accordance with the decisions agreed last Monday during the meeting of the Dominican National Security Council to discuss the issue.

According to Abinader, “the Ministry of Defense is prepared,” as well as “the army, navy and air force, to comply with that provision (of border closure). In any case, we will continue discussions with the Haitian government,” despite the fact that “it has control problems on its territory,” mainly due to the actions of armed gangs.

In this sense, Abinader emphasized that “if there are uncontrollable (elements), they will be uncontrollable for the Haitian government, but not uncontrollable for the government of the Dominican Republic.”

“That is why we are going ahead with the plan we have (…) This nonsense of a totally inadequate construction without any kind of engineering is a provocation that this government will not accept,” he stated.

According to the authorities of the Dominican Republic, the water intake project violates the Treaty of Peace and Eternal Friendship and Arbitration of 1929, the Boundary Agreement of 1935 and the Boundary Revision Protocol of 1936, signed by both countries.

The Dominican Republic insists that the borders between the two countries are “final, immovable and non-negotiable.”

The US State Department warned of the closure of the borders between the two countries, telling their citizens that they will not be able to cross them and will have to make alternative arrangements.

“The U.S. Embassy cannot facilitate entry into Haiti or the Dominican Republic through a closed border crossing,” he noted. (JO)