The former president of Colombia, Iván Duque, harshly criticized the international community, calling its position regarding the crisis in Haiti “hypocritical.” According to Duque, many countries claim that the solution to Haitian problems falls on the Dominican Republic, which, in his words, “is a serious mistake.”
During his meeting with the Corripio Group media, Duque made it clear that it is not the responsibility of the Dominican people to solve Haiti’s problems, and pointed out that the international community must assume a more active role.
“The international community has been preaching and talking a lot for many years, but the effective mechanisms for disbursements and attention and structural transformation have not been present,” said the former president, who is in the country to participate in the Orange Caribbean Forum.
Structural crisis in Haiti
Duque emphasized that Haiti’s problems are structural in nature, starting with the country’s institutional weakness. For him, the solutions range from recovering security, rebuilding the social fabric to making a long-term investment in sectors such as health and education.
Dominican Republic Efforts
The former president also highlighted the effort made by the Dominican Republic in welcoming Haitian citizens. “10% of the Dominican population hosts Haitian citizens,” Duque recalled, emphasizing that “the world does not know the monumental effort that the Dominican Republic makes with Haitians today who are in the educational and social security system.” In his opinion, the proportion of attention to Haitian immigrants in the country exceeds that of many other countries on the continent.
Call to the international community
Finally, Duque called on the international community to stop demanding more action from the Dominican Republic and instead come together effectively to resolve Haiti’s structural problems. “Historically, the Dominican Republic has done a lot for the Haitian people, but today what is needed is for the international community to move from discourse to resources to solve problems,” he said.
Duke He concluded by reaffirming that he finds it “hypocritical” that certain international sectors criticize the Dominican Republic while there is, in his opinion, “a great abandonment of the international community” in the search for real solutions for Haiti.
You can also read: Haiti says renewal of multinational mission only partially alleviates insecurity
