Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/haiti-dominican-republic-2b7078c8e7f46d1763c683796fee542e?utm_source=RecoReel&utm_medium=articlePage&utm_id=Taboola
The Dominican Republic has announced that they are opening trade on the border with Haiti for essential products such as food and medicine. The ban on Haitian citizens entering the country is still active. Ever since a few weeks ago, when the Dominican Republic closed all borders with Haiti due to the dispute over the canal construction that would divert water from the Massacre River in order to alleviate the drought affecting Haitian plains and farmland. The Dominican Republic’s government has stated that their military presence at the border will increase. This is in order to combat potential Haitian gang members fleeing there to escape the multinational armed force led by Kenya. The Dominican Republic government has announced that “We will indefinitely maintain the closure of the border to immigration to prevent the transit of people from Haitian territory.” This will indefinitely extend visa suspension for Haitian citizens.
The tensions between the Dominican Republic and Haiti are increasing at an alarming rate, which was in part sparked by the canal construction by Haiti. Due to the animosity they have for each other, I doubt that this conflict will be resolved anytime soon. Another factor that makes their situation distinct is their location, just the two of them on the same island. This makes it more understandable why the building of the canal means that much more, since their resources become all the more finite and important on an island, making the Massacre River all the more vital. Aside from the canal being built, the passage doesn’t mention any particular cause for the Dominican Republic to open trade with Haiti, but it could be due to the drought they briefly mentioned to be affecting Haiti’s land.
Our discussions of situations being caused by several different factors really tied in for me during the analysis section, since I speculated on the potential causes for the tensions rising between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The suspension of Haitian visas and their ban from entering the Dominican Republic is one the many effects of the conflict between the two countries. This situation will likely escalate, judging on their history of strife, but Kenya’s multinational armed forces changes things, and we will have to see how this all effects their relationships with Kenya. I predict that Haiti’s relationship with Kenya will improve, while the Dominican Republic’s worsens.