Santo Domingo.-The agenda that will exhaust the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, during his visit to the country, has as fundamental points Haiti, the rare earths, the semiconductors and the drug trafficking.
President Luis Abinader revealed yesterday that prior to his arrival in the country, Marco Rubio held a telephone conversation with Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez, in which they treated for more than 15 minutes about the Haitian crisis and the summit of the Americas that will be held next December in Punta Cana.
Marco Rubio had scheduled to reach the country last night, but his official agenda would begin today with a broad presentation that would be made in the Foreign Ministry about Haiti’s situation from the Dominican perspective, including the migratory issue and the impact it has in the Dominican Republic.
President Abinader explained to a group of directors of journalistic media with whom he held a meeting yesterday at the National Palace, that the United States Government has guaranteed that it will maintain humanitarian assistance in Haiti and that in relation to the suspension of funds to the International Police Mission sent by the United Nations Security Council is provisional, until the new administration reviews the details of the operation.
However, he said that this provisional measure will not affect the mission, since it has the necessary funds to function for several months.
Commander confirms
President Abinader’s claims coincide with a press statement released yesterday by the mission commander in Haiti (MSS), Godfrey Otunge, who said that it continues without interruption, since the United States measure is a 90 -day review and that only affects the disbursement of about 13 million dollars.
“The United States and other partner countries continue to provide logistical, financial and equipment support to the MSS, and support flights come almost daily. Both the Department of Defense and the State Department continue to participate actively in the MSS operations, ”said Otunge.
He assured that the mission continues its course, which is evidenced by the arrival of a contingent of agents of El Salvador and that is scheduled for Thursday to receive a fourth contingent of Kenya
Rare earth
He surprised that President Abinader reported that the existence of rare earths in the Barahona area outside the points of interest for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. He explained that throughout the North American territory it is only from these minerals in one place, so that the United States has shown interest in the Dominican project.
Rare earths are essential minerals to manufacture cell phones, batteries and other modern devices. They are difficult to extract and that is why they have a lot of value, being China the producer of 60 % worldwide.
USAID closure
Regarding the closure of the USAID offices, President Abinader said that none of the programs that the Dominican government develops with the assistance of that agency will be paralyzed.
He indicated that one of these programs is that of the Police Reform, but that the main assistance consists of technical personnel.
Vice President Raque Peña made an intervention to affirm that all the medications and treatments of HIV-AIDS patients are supplied with funds recorded in the national budget and that USAID assistance is fundamental in non-governmental organizations.
Abinader said that before the triumph of Donald Trump he has had a cordial communication with Marco Rubio, remembering that on his last visit to Miami he had breakfast with him when he was a Florida senator.
Migration
—1— High load
Marcos Rubio has recognized the high load represented by the Haitian crisis for the Dominican Republic.
—2— Repatrices
Dominican repatrices do not occupy a central point of the visiting agenda.
—3— forecast
The discussion of several topics has been advanced by phone.
Attention to repatriated
Consulates. President Abinader reported that all Dominican consulates in the United States have been instructed to provide assistance to Dominicans who could be affected by raids against illegal immigrants that the Trump administration has initiated.
However, he said that only in Puerto Rico the consulates have received cases.
He said that in the first weeks of the Trump administration, repaits have not been registered from the United States above the historical, but that Dominican Republic is ready to receive them.
President Abinader said that Dominican repatriations from the United States constantly occur each month.
