Mexico CITY: Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader on Sunday announced that the country would step up security along its border with crisis-ridden Haiti, with which it shares the island of Hispaniola. Abinader said in a message to the nation that some 1,500 extra soldiers would be sent to the approximately 400-kilometre border separating the two countries, bringing the number of those guarding the area from 9,500 to 11,000.
The Dominican Republic is the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean, while Haiti is facing significant challenges. Each country has a population of around 11 million.
“Haiti is going through the darkest hour in its history,” Abinader said, naming the country’s security, environmental, political and economic crises. “And the worst of all crises, the crisis of abandonment, caused by the irresponsible attitude of the international community that has left Haiti to its own devices. We did not cause any of these crises, but they all have consequences that do affect us,” he said. (DPA)
