The Dominican Republic announced Thursday it would close its border with Haiti in retaliation for the neighboring country’s construction of an irrigation canal fed by a shared river.
• Also read: Abortion access: UN calls on world to follow Mexico’s example
• Also read: Assassination of former Haitian president: Ex-Colombian soldier pleads guilty
“Starting tomorrow, Friday, at 6 a.m. (10:00 GMT), the entire border of the Dominican Republic will be closed by land, sea and air,” President Luis Abinader said during a visit to a military base.
“It will remain closed until this provocative action stops,” he added.
The Dominican government condemns the construction of an irrigation canal fed by the Massacre River, the natural border between the two countries, with the aim of supplying water to Haitian farmers.
Santo Domingo claims the project violates the Treaty of Peace, Perpetual Friendship and Arbitration of 1929, the Boundary Agreement of 1935 and the Boundary Review Protocol of 1936.
“This is a completely inappropriate construction, without any kind of technology, it is a provocation that this government will not accept,” stressed Mr. Abinader, who has tightened his immigration policy by increasing the number of raids and building a wall at the border has built.
The Dominican Republic already suspended issuing visas to Haitian nationals on Monday and last week closed the Dajabon border crossing, one of the main ones where a binational market takes place twice a week.
However, Mr. Abinader assured that dialogue remains open with Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, which has been plagued for years by an economic and political crisis exacerbated by gang violence.
Thousands of Haitians try to work in R