a348: domincan haitian relations news from DR1 compilation (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Yacine Khelladi <yacine@yacine.net>



> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 11 January 2002
> 8. Haitian opposition protests Aristide’s visit
> The Convergence Democratique, a 15-party coalition of opposition
> parties in Haiti, expressed its opposition to President Jean
> Bertrand Aristide’s planned visit to the DR. Aristide is slated to
> make a one-day official visit on Wednesday, 16 January.
> Diario Libre reports that the coalition says the legitimacy of the
> Haitian government is internationally questioned given its record of
> human rights violations.
> Haitian Ambassador Guy Alexandre is scheduled to present his
> credentials to President Mejia on Monday, 14 January. For the past
> five years, the DR had been without an ambassador from Haiti.
> Alexandre had served as ambassador during a previous Aristide
> administration.
> Diario Libre reports that the Haitian government has sent a formal
> invitation for President Mejia to visit Aristide in Haiti.
>

> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 7 January 2002
>
> 2. President Aristide coming 14 January
> Haiti’s President Jean Bertrand Aristide is expected in the DR next
> Monday, 14 January. He will be here for a one-day visit to meet
> President Hipolito Mejia, to reactivate the bilateral agenda,
> promote trade and investments between both nations, and relaunch
> border development projects, according to a source at the Ministry
> of Foreign Relations quoted in El Caribe. This will be the first
> time the statesmen of both countries will meet in either of the two
> countries. Mejia was scheduled to travel to Haiti last year, but
> aborted the trip for security reasons at the last minute.
> Meanwhile, Haiti’s new ambassador to the DR, Guy Alexandre, is
> expected to present his credentials this week.

> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 4 January 2002
> ********************************************************************
>
> 4. Looking for place to send Guy Philippe
> Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp said the DR will
> try to find a third country to send former Haitian police
> commissioner Guy Philippe. “What is logical is that we find a place
> to send him that does not create major complications,” Tolentino
> told the press after meeting with President Mejia at the Ministry of
> Foreign Relations.
> He said the government of Haiti has not requested the repatriation
> of Philippe, who was allegedly involved in the assault on the
> Haitian National Palace on 17 December. Philippe entered the DR on
> 25 December despite a ban that had been imposed in November. He has
> been under house arrest since he was discovered in the DR on 28
> December.
>


> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 2 January 2002
>
> 6. Person sought in Haiti found here
> The Dominican security forces announced on Friday the domiciliary
> arrest of Guy Philippe, sought by the Haitian government for his
> involvement in the supposed attempted coup against the Aristide
> government last 18 December. President Mejia confirmed this to the
> press and said that when Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo
> Tolentino Dipp returns to work after the holidays the government
> would decide what to do with the former police commissioner of Cap
> Haitien. Philippe entered the DR despite a migration prohibition.
>

> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 26 December 2001
> ********************************************************************
>
> 9. Priest calls for open markets along the frontier
> Father Regino Martinez Breton, parish priest of the Nuestra Senora
> del Rosario Church in Dajabon, has advocated for the establishment
> of a Binational Free Trade Zone along the border with Haiti. It
> would be a closed and controlled area along the frontier where
> vendors and sellers could come together. He said the transparency
> would end the present chaotic situation where assaults and disorder
> lead to huge financial benefits to those who hold the power on the
> border. “Those who fish here are the military, the government
> officers, the politicians and those that can,” said Martinez. He
> said that a free trade zone would ensure that commerce benefits the
> poor.

> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 18 December 2001
> ********************************************************************
> 4. Border security reinforced
> The Dominican government reinforced security on the border with
> Haiti and closed the frontier yesterday, as a result of the attack
> on the Haitian National Palace.
> El Caribe newspaper says US foreign policy in Haiti after removing
> its troops is similar to its policy in Afghanistan after the victory
> over the Russians. The newspaper criticizes the US for freezing more
> than US$500 million in aid to try to force the government of Jean
> Bertrand Aristide to fulfill its commitment to become more
> democratic.  El Caribe says this leaves the problem to the OAS,
> which does not have the resources to exert sufficient pressure.
> Meanwhile, the US is becoming more efficient every day in sending
> back boats loaded with Haitians heading for Florida.

> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 31 October 2001
> ********************************************************************
>
> 6. Presidents Mejía and Aristide to meet
> El Siglo newspaper says that Presidents Hipolito Mejía and Jean
> Bertrand Aristide of Haiti will meet during the first week of
> December. The summit will be preceded by a meeting of border town
> mayors and a meeting between foreign ministers Hugo Tolentino Dipp
> and Philippe Antonio Joseph.



> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 4 December 2001
> 9. Haitian border controversy simmers
> An Hoy newspaper editorial addresses the state of affairs at the
> Haitian border.
> Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp said the border is
> in “chaos”. He says Haitian and Dominican authorities and the
> military are making money off the misery of hundreds of Haitians who
> try to cross the border daily to earn a living.
> Military officers have been accused of permitting Haitians to enter
> the DR illegally if they pay a toll. The military is in charge of
> policing the border. But the Minister of the Armed Forces Jose Soto
> Jimenez says that situation is now “under absolute control.”
> The Haitians are contracted by Dominican businessmen or lured by
> friends who tell them of job availability. Others just cross the
> 300-kilometer border seeking jobs on plantations or in construction
> work.
> Hoy’s editorial writer recalls that Tolentino said the same thing
> when he was appointed Minister of Foreign Relations a year ago. The
> newspaper says apparently no one is doing anything to end the
> complicity involved in this situation. Unplanned Haitian migration
> is a negative for the country. The migration of thousands of
> undocumented, illiterate and extremely needy illegal aliens and
> their families places a big burden on the country’s already limited
> social services.



> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 27 November 2001
>
> 2. President appeals to social democrats to help Haiti
> President Hipolito Mejia appealed to visiting delegates here for the
> bi-annual assembly of the International Socialist Organization to
> help develop Haiti. He urged these nations not to leave the DR alone
> to bear the burden of thousands of impoverished Haitian nationals
> who cross the border seeking to make a better living. “We want to
> and we can help,” he said at the opening of the working sessions at
> the Santo Domingo Country Club. “But the solidarity of the other
> nations is needed.”
> The President said deforestation is one of the problems that have
> accompanied massive Haitian migration. “For that reason, we seek
> technical and financial support from the international community to
> start an aggressive program of reforestation and frontier
> development.”
>


> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 16 November 2001
> 4. Aristide expected 12 December
> Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide is set to visit the
> Dominican Republic on 12 December. Aristide returned to the
> presidency on 7 February. This would be the first time that he and
> President Hipolito Mejia meet during an official visit. The visit is
> expected to be preceded by the arrival of a Haitian ambassador to
> the DR. Haiti has not had an ambassador in Santo Domingo since 1997.
> The Haitian government has requested the Dominican government’s
> approval of Guy Alexandre, who was ambassador from 1991 to 1997.
>

> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Thursday, 15 November 2001
> ********************************************************************
>
> 4. Guy Alexandre could return as Haitian ambassador
> The Haitian government has requested approval to send sociologist
> Guy Alexandre to the DR as ambassador. Alexandre was the last
> Haitian ambassador to the DR from 1991 to 1997, as reported in Hoy
> newspaper. Haiti has been represented by a charge d’affairs or a
> consul since that time due in part to difficulties in appointing a
> new ambassador.
>



> 9. Milk Bank helps border town residents
> Listin Diario highlights the work of the Milk Bank (Banco de la
> Leche) along the border with Haiti. The Milk Bank started initially
> by benefiting 100 families in rural communities in Pedernales and
> Elias Piña provinces. It will eventually benefit 2,500 families in
> the border provinces of Independencia, Dajabon, and Monte Cristi, in
> addition to Pedernales and Elias Piña. The families receive a litre
> of milk a day produced by small dairy farms. The families commit to
> plant two wood-producing or fruit-producing trees each day along
> rivers and streams.
> The project is sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, the
> InterAmerican Institute of Agriculture Cooperaton, and the National
> Council of Private Business. It also has the support of the German
> Development Foundation and the Non-Governmental Organization
> Alliance. Elena Viyella de Paliza, president of the Milk Bank, said
> corporate and individual donations are welcome. To become a sponsor,
> a commitment of RD$360 a month is needed, or RD$30,000 to build a
> plant nursery or RD$5,000 to buy a dairy cow.
>


> DR1 Daily News -- Monday, 29 October 2001
> ********************************************************************
> 4. Three accused kidnappers to be handed over
> The Haitian government has agreed to hand over to the Dominican
> authorities three people accused of being involved in the kidnapping
> of businessman Miguel de Moya last June.  The accused, Juan Miguel
> Santos, his wife Carmen Dolores Burgos and Nereyda González are now
> in the Petionville jail. The Dominican ambassador to Haiti says
> Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide gave instructions to speed
> up their delivery to the DR in the next few days.
> De Moya was kidnapped on July 1 by a group of armed men on the
> Duarte Highway near La Vega. The group demanded RD$3 million in
> exchange for his freedom.  The money was collected by his family and
> friends and delivered to his captors, according to a report in
> today’s El Siglo. The three Dominicans were found and arrested in
> August in Port-au-Prince as a result of a joint action by Haitian
> police and the Dominican Armed Forces’ intelligence division.
>
>
> 8. Power costs should float with fuel costs
> The president of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery says the cost of
> electricity should be going down since the cost of fuel has gone
> down. Amaury Justo Duarte said the price of gas oil and fuel oil has
> been dropping “enormously” in the last few weeks but this hasn’t
> been reflected in electric bills. He told El Caribe that the
> generating companies should be investigated and the administrators
> of the CDE questioned about this.  Justo Duarte suggested the price
> of power should fluctuate according to the price of fuel on the
> international market.  However, Electricity Superintendent José
> Ovalles said The Madrid Accord ruled that the billed price of
> electricity must stay frozen until 2003.
> Meanwhile, the power outages continue. Most parts of Puerto Plata
> province suffered a long blackout yesterday.  It began in the early
> morning and continued well into the night.  Hoteliers particularly
> complained of having to use their back up generators all day and
> pointed out that Edenorte, the power company, was sending out bills
> with new price increases.
>


> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 26 October 2001
> ********************************************************************
>
> 6. Haiti wants suspects extradited
> Haitian officials do not appreciate the Dominican government’s decision
> earlier this week to give refuge to 11 Haitians believed to have been
> involved in an armed assault on police stations in that country.  The
> Haitian government is insisting on their extradition to Haiti even
> though no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.  “We
> will not let this matter drop,” said Justice Minister Gary Lissade
> after learning that the Dominican Chancellor had given six-month
> residency permits to the ex-soldiers.
> For his part, Dominican Chancellor Hugo Tolentino Dipp says there were
> “logical” reasons for authorizing the permits, among them the lack of
> an official extradition request from the Aristide government.



> DR1 Daily News -- Wednesday, 24 October 2001
> ********************************************************************
>
> 5. Haitian soldiers given refuge
> El Siglo reports the Dominican government has granted conditional
> permission to a group of Haitian ex-soldiers and police officers to
> stay in this country. The men were involved in a failed coup against
> the Jean Bertrand Aristide government, including an attack on the
> Academy of Cadets and the Port-au-Prince police headquarters on July
> 28.
> Their stay in the DR is conditional upon them abstaining from political
> activities and from promoting acts against the Haitian government.
> Dominican Chancellor Hugo Tolentino Dipp told El Siglo that the Haitian
> government is aware of the DR’s decision to give the men sanctuary
> here.
> At least ten people died in the attack launched by the Haitian soldiers
> in July.  The men escaped police by crossing the border into the DR and
> asking for the protection of the Armed Forces.
>



> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 9 October 2001
>
> 5. Haitian Police Chief visits President Mejia
> HaitiÕs Chief of Police, General Carel Alexandre, visited President
> Hipolito Mejia at the National Palace yesterday. The meeting was
> part of a bilateral strategy to increase cooperation between both
> countries against drug trafficking. The Haitian general was received
> by the President and by Major General Manuel Antonio Lachapelle
> Suero, president of the Drug Control Department in the DR. Also
> present was Ruben Prieto, representing the Drug Enforcement Agency
> of the United States.



> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Tuesday, 2 October 2001
> ********************************************************************
> 3. New consul general for Haiti
> President Hipolito Mejia has appointed Pedro Russo, deputy minister
> of Public Works, as consul general in Port au Prince, Haiti. El
> Siglo reports that the post pays about US$50,000 a month. Russo held
> the post during the government of Salvador Jorge Blanco (PRD
> 1982-1986), and is known to be a close friend of President Mejia.
> Recently, the Ministry of Public Relations criticized the previous
> consul, Hector Rodriguez, for issuing more than the authorized
> number of visas. El Siglo says the Ministry complained that the
> visas produced revenues of US$300,000 for the former consul. The
> newspaper explains that consuls usually pocket 65% of the proceeds
> of visas.

> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 24 August 2001
> ********************************************************************
>
> 6. Haitian-DR talks to continue
> Haiti’s Minister of Foreign Relations Philippe Antonio Joseph is in the DR for bilateral talks with his colleague Hugo Tolentino Dipp. Press reports say they will discuss the work of the bilateral commission, frontier development plans, border markings, and the future of the Haitian police officers who sought exile in the DR. The ministers will also start preparations for a meeting between President Jean Bertrand Aristide and President Hipolito Mejia.
>
> 7. Why the passport was denied
> The director of the Passport Office Luis Ernesto Camilo explained that a passport was denied to Gregorio Hazim Ancion, an eight-year-old orphan who was born in the DR of Haitian parents now dead. News reports yesterday said that both the Dominican authorities and the Haitian authorities denied him a passport. Hazim has a Dominican birth certificate which makes him eligible for a Dominican passport. Camilo said that until the grandmother and aunt who want to take him to the US with them can prove they are the legal guardians, the department will not issue the passport. Camilo said that if they did so, anyone could show up and make a claim for a minor. The legal guardianship needs to be awarded by a court.
>