International
Haiti summons Dominican ambassador after border closure
September 16 |
After the Dominican Republic closed all its borders with Haiti, the Haitian government summoned the Dominican ambassador Faruk Miguel Castillo to explain the decision taken by President Luis Abinader that “will have negative consequences for relations between the two countries”.
The Foreign Ministry informed that in a meeting with Ambassador Faruk Miguel Castillo “they agreed that only through dialogue can allow the two countries to resolve this dispute.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haiti communicated to the Dominican ambassador in that country its concern for the safety of Haitians in the Dominican Republic and requested that measures be taken to protect them.
The two nations are at loggerheads over the construction of a canal on the part of the Masacre River that passes through Haiti.
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader ordered Thursday the closure of all borders with Haiti, after several days of meetings between officials from both countries trying to reach an agreement in the conflict over access to water from the Masacre River.
All borders with Haiti were closed as of Friday, September 15 at 06H00 local time, according to the Government’s decision. This includes air, land and maritime border crossings.
A communiqué from the Haitian Foreign Ministry reported that in a meeting between the minister in charge of interim affairs, Émmile Prophète, and the Dominican ambassador, both parties “agreed that only the way of dialogue can allow the two countries to solve this dispute in a lasting way”.
“After exploring with him (Castillo) the various facets of the crisis arising from the resumption of the canal works on the Masacre River, we finally agreed with Ambassador Miguel Castillo that only through dialogue can the two countries find a lasting solution to this dispute”, reads the official note.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the population that, following the implementation of the Dominican president’s threats to close the land, air and maritime borders with the Republic of Haiti, the Haitian delegation put an end to the bilateral negotiations underway in Santo Domingo, and that Ambassador Castillo was then summoned to give explanations “on this unilateral decision”.
The Dominican government has been denouncing since the beginning of the month the construction by a private Haitian of this system to channel water from the Masacre river, shared by both countries, with the idea of selling it to farmers in their country. A work that does not have the endorsement of Port-au-Prince.
Santo Domingo claims that the work violates the Treaty of Peace and Perpetual Friendship and Arbitration of 1929, the Border Agreement of 1935 and the Border Revision Protocol of 1936.
“It is a totally inadequate construction, without any type of engineering, it is a provocation that this government will not accept”, insisted Abinader, who has maintained a tough policy on Haiti with massive raids against undocumented immigrants and the construction of a border fence.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction