Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Alvarezclarified on Tuesday that the country has no restrictions on official flights from Haiti, so there is no impediment for a Haitian delegation to attend the inauguration of Luis Abinader as president.
This was stated by the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to the statements that appeared in the media about the alleged refusal of the transitional government of Haiti and the Prime Minister, Garry Conille, to attend the inauguration of Abinader, under the pretext of the closure of the airspace between the two countries, which does apply to commercial flights.
Through several messages on his X account, the Dominican foreign minister reacted to the publications indicating that the Haitian authorities had declined to attend the ceremony.
“On August 1, in a telephone conversation with the Haitian foreign minister, she asked me if it was not necessary to lift the airspace closure so they could travel to the inauguration of President Abinader,” Álvarez posted in a first message.
In successive posts, the minister explained that he responded that “any flight request from the Haitian authorities would be authorized immediately, as would those of the other invited dignitaries.”
“For security reasons, the airspace” between the two countries “remains closed to commercial flights, but not to official, humanitarian or similar flights. In addition, I instructed the Dominican ambassador to visit the Haitian Foreign Ministry to reiterate the above,” he said.
“There is no impediment to Haitian authorities attending the inauguration of President Abinader. It would have been a good time to restart dialogue with the transitional government,” concluded Álvarez.
On March 5, the Dominican Civil Aviation Board (JAC) issued a resolution suspending passenger and cargo air operations to and from Haiti, in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Convention, which allows states to reserve the right to temporarily restrict or prohibit flights over their territory “in exceptional circumstances, during a period of emergency or in the interest of public safety.”
On August 16, Luis Abinader will be sworn in as President of the Dominican Republic after being re-elected for a second term in the elections held in the country last May. 14 heads of state and government will be present at the ceremony.
