Luis Abinader says his government has “no alternative but to take drastic measures” as the canal dispute deepens.
The Dominican Republic will close its entire border with neighboring Haiti later this week, President Luis Abinader has announced, as a conflict over the construction of a canal from a shared river worsens.
Santo Domingo said the closure, which starts at 6 a.m. local time (10 a.m. GMT) on Friday, will last “as long as necessary” with the support of the Dominican army and police, although talks with Haiti will continue.
“Unfortunately, they left us no choice but to take drastic measures,” Abinader told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.
He added that even if the Haitian government — struggling to deal with a wave of deadly gang violence — could not control the canal’s construction, his country could.
“We have been prepared for weeks, not only for this situation, but also for a possible peacekeeping force in Haiti,” Abinader said.
The Dominican president threatened to close the border earlier this week due to construction work on the Haitian canal.
Officials in the Dominican Republic say the project will divert water from the Massacre River, which flows in both countries, and violate the 1929 Treaty of Peace, Amity and Arbitration.
Relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, have seen heightened tensions in recent years, particularly over border security and the treatment of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers in the Dominican Republic.
The Haitian government had said on Wednesday that it had met with Dominican officials in the Dominican Republic that day to try to resolve the canal dispute.
The brief statement from the Haitian Foreign Ministry did not provide many details, other than to say that both sides were trying to find a “fair and final” solution.
On Thursday, the Dominican Republic said the threatened border closure would include all land, sea and air routes. It also said it has deployed another 20 armored vehicles to a military camp on the border.
Haitians were seen rushing to the border, and Sunrise Airways said it would add a flight between the two countries on Thursday afternoon before the shutdown.
The US embassy in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, which has urged its citizens to leave Haiti amid the escalating violence, said on its website that those planning to leave for the Dominican Republic should make other arrangements meet.
“The U.S. Embassy is unable to facilitate entry into Haiti or the Dominican Republic through a closed border crossing,” the statement said.
The Dominican Republic last completely closed its border with Haiti following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in July 2021.