Haiti: visit of Prime Minister Ariel Henry

Your Excellency Ariel Henry, Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti; distinguished ministers of foreign affairs; Mr. Secretary General and Mr. Assistant Secretary General; special guests and distinguished colleagues. We thank the Chair of the Permanent Council for convening this special meeting to address a humanitarian situation so important and urgent for Haiti and for our region.

On behalf of the Dominican Government, we wish once again to say that we are deeply dismayed by this new tragedy, and for that reason we feel morally bound to place on record our sorrow and our solidarity with the Haitian people. We also wish to report that, since last Saturday, the Dominican Republic has authorized the use of our airspace and territorial sea to facilitate the transit of aircraft and vessels carrying humanitarian assistance bound for Haiti from Chile, Colombia, the United States and other countries.

Ladies and gentlemen, as soon as we learned of the earthquake, we placed at the disposal of the Haitian authorities the air transport needed to make preliminary assessments of the damage and to move people injured in the earthquake from cut-off areas to Port-au-Prince. Given our proximity, the Dominican Air Force was the first to arrive in Haiti. In the same way, since last Sunday we have coordinated the delivery to the Haitian Government of medicines, medical supplies and food. The material dispatched from the warehouses of the Essential Medicines Program and Logistical Support Center (PROMESE/CAL), on the instructions of President Luis Abinader, exceeds thirty tons.

All this humanitarian assistance began to move toward Haiti twenty-four hours after the earthquake, in helicopters and airplanes that took off from the San Isidro military air base in Santo Domingo. The shipment of medicines includes analgesics, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, disposable medical supplies, electrolyte solutions, anesthesia circuits, suture kits and cannulas, masks and antibacterial gel to limit COVID-19 infections. In addition, the Dominican Navy will today deliver, at the port of Jérémie, a city of singular significance for Dominicans, food rations whose total volume exceeds one hundred fifteen tons; the kits contain sugar, oil, salt, pasta, cereals, corn and rice, among other items.

Distinguished colleagues, the Dominican Government will continue to follow the situation in Haiti, facilitating and cooperating as far as possible within our means. Responsibility for coordinating these efforts has been given to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Álvarez, who is in direct and constant communication with the Haitian authorities through our Ambassador, Faruk Miguel, and with the representatives of the governments of the region. Attending to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti must be a priority, above all at a time when that crisis has overwhelmed the country's institutional framework following the vile assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Our region must close ranks and support the Haitian people and authorities. We are aware that the immediate priority is to save lives, preserve critical infrastructure and care for the injured and those who have lost their homes, as well as to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that in the medium term it will be necessary to confront the spiral of violence, the food crisis and the political crisis that have afflicted Haiti for years. We therefore take this opportunity to reiterate the call on the international community to contribute in every way possible to creating an environment favorable to a broad, sustained and good-faith political dialogue in Haiti, one that allows the different national actors and the diaspora to reach a governance pact that restores democratic legitimacy and institutional order, so that free, fair, transparent and broadly inclusive elections can then be held. All of this will redound to the benefit of Haitians and of our region.

Representatives, the Dominican Republic will do everything within its reach to bring about the recovery and full development of Haiti. However, it must also be made crystal clear that our nation, our country, will never lend itself as the solution to the long Haitian odyssey.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.