Moments of great tension were reported Wednesday at the border at Ouanaminthe / Dajabón when agents of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) and inspectors of the municipal council of Ouanaminthe seized the goods that many Haitians, who were avoiding controls, had bought in Dominican territory. An action that provoked violent clashes between merchants, Haitian buyers, members of the Haitian police and inspectors of the City Council.

Onery Aliba the spokesperson for Haitian merchants, said many had borrowed money to buy items in the Dominican Republic, but inspectors from the office of Luma Demetrius the Mayor of Ouanaminthe, seized the goods bought in neighboring territory and threw them into the massacre river.

He also explained that Haitians who live near the Dominican border suffer from a shortage of food, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and that the Dominican Republic is the place where they can buy it.

The Haitian authorities have requested that the agreements concluded with their Dominican counterparts be finalized to ensure a better functioning of the binational trade exchange.

For his part, Mayor Luma Demetrius has warned that goods from Haitian buyers who try to enter Haiti by the river to avoid checks and the possible payment of taxes will be seized.

As a result of these incidents, Haitian authorities temporarily closed the border preventing Dominican trucks loaded with goods from entering Haiti.

Following this violence, the Dominicans immediately reinforced the border security system by sending reinforcements of soldiers from the Specialized Corps for Land Border Security (CESFRONT) and the army.

SL/ HaitiLibre