Luis Abinader says his authorities has ‘no different however to take drastic measures’ as canal dispute deepens.

The Dominican Republic will shut its total border with neighbouring Haiti later this week, President Luis Abinader has introduced, as a battle over the development of a canal from a shared river worsens.

Santo Domingo mentioned the closure, set to start at 6am native time (10:00 GMT) on Friday, will final “so long as mandatory” with the help of the Dominican navy and police forces, although talks with Haiti are set to proceed.

“Sadly, they left us no different however to take drastic measures,” Abinader advised reporters throughout a information convention on Thursday.

He added that even when the Haitian authorities – which is struggling to deal with a surge in lethal gang violence – couldn’t management the development of the canal, his nation may.

“We’ve got been ready for weeks, not just for this case but in addition for a doable peace pressure in Haiti,” Abinader mentioned.

The Dominican president threatened earlier this week to shut the border over development work on the Haitian canal.

Officers within the Dominican Republic say the mission will divert water from the Bloodbath River, which runs in each international locations, and violate the 1929 Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Arbitration.

Relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, have confronted heightened tensions in recent times, notably over border safety and the remedy of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers within the Dominican Republic.

Haiti’s authorities had mentioned on Wednesday that it met with Dominican officers within the Dominican Republic that day to attempt to resolve the canal dispute.

The transient assertion by Haiti’s Ministry of International Affairs didn’t present a lot element, besides to say that each side had been looking for a “truthful and definitive” answer.

On Thursday, the Dominican Republic mentioned the looming border closure was set to incorporate all land, sea and air routes. It additionally mentioned it deployed an additional 20 armoured automobiles to a navy camp on the border.

Haitians had been seen speeding to the frontier, and Dawn Airways mentioned it was including a flight between each international locations on Thursday afternoon earlier than the closure.

America Embassy in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, which has referred to as on its residents to depart Haiti amid the uptick in violence, mentioned on its web site that these planning to depart for the Dominican Republic would want to make different preparations.

“The US Embassy isn’t in a position to facilitate entry into Haiti or the Dominican Republic by a closed border crossing,” the assertion mentioned.

The Dominican Republic final absolutely closed its border with Haiti following the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.