The presidential candidate for the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), Miguel Vargas, reiterated on Sunday, the need for the Executive to take advantage of the willingness to talk expressed last week by the Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, in his speech before the UN General Assembly. However, he rejected the work carried out by Haitian civilians to change the direction of the natural course of the Dajabo River, also known as Masacre River, which the two nations share.

Henry, who explained 10 days ago that the Government did not promote the project, said at the United Nations he supports the construction of the canal for the “equitable use” of common water resources.

According to Vargas, the Dominican Republic must maintain a permanent attitude of constructive dialogue within the context of the Treaty of Peace, Perpetual Friendship and Arbitration of 1929 signed between both countries. It must also take legal action against the Haitian Government’s decision to divert the river, although he stated that he agrees with its equitable use.

The PRD issued a statement condemning the violation of the 1929 Treaty by Haitian groups, and rejected the fact that “the current Dominican administration opened the space for this illegality by recognizing that the canal did not represent a diversion of the flow of the Massacre, as stated in the “Joint Declaration signed between both nations on May 27th, 2021, and which Haitians now assume as an argument.”

The candidate for the People’s Force, Leonel Fernández, affirmed this weekend that Santo Domingo is absolutely right in its claims in relation to the canal being built by Haiti. However, he considered that the Government made a mistake by closing the border in response to the current conflict, because the decision only affects producers and merchants in the border provinces and will not stop the construction works on the Haitian side.

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