Joe Biden meets with president of Dominican Republic for discussion of Haiti, more

President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic met with President Joe Biden in the White House Thursday to discuss Haiti’s security situation and the economic relationship between Washington and Santo Domingo, among other topics.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the first bilateral meeting between the two heads of state, which comes as the U.S. works to get the deployment of a Kenya-led international force into Haiti, and days after a commission from the Organization of American States arrived in Port-au-Prince to gather facts about an ongoing border conflict between the Dominican Republic and Haiti over the construction of a canal on Haitian soil.

In mid-September, Abinader canceled visas for Haitians and shut down the entire 244-mile land border as well as air and maritime traffic, citing the ongoing construction of the canal off the Massacre River in northeastern Haiti. The canal, Abinader, has said will divert water from Dominican farmers. Haitians, on the other hand, have said that they have a sovereign right to use the water and their neighbor has repeatedly violated the terms of a 1929 treaty governing border rivers and has constructed 11 canals and dams using the river’s waters.

The construction, while uniting Haitians, has deepened the acrimony between the two countries which share the island of Hispaniola. Last month, the Dominican government loosened the land border restriction to allow essential goods to flow through but said Haitian migrants will remain shut out. In response, Haiti has kept its side of the border closed.

During the meeting, Biden and Abinader were expected to “discuss the U.S. and the Dominican Republic’s close partnership on a host of shared priorities, including on deepening bilateral economic ties, advancing democratic principles and labor rights, and addressing the security situation in Haiti,” said Jean-Pierre said.

Biden told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. partnership with the Dominican Republic was “stronger than ever before,” while Abinader said the the two countries are focused on offering “the fruits of democracy” to their citizens.

Abinader came to Washington with several officials from his administration, including the minister of foreign affairs, the minister of finance, the vice minister for economic affairs and international cooperation, and the Dominican Republic’s ambassador to the U.S.

The Dominican Republic is among several countries invited by the White House to a summit on Friday to discuss economic development and the economic causes of migration in the Western Hemisphere. The countries that will participate include Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the United States and Uruguay.

The partnership was announced during the Summit of the Americas that resulted in the Los Angeles Accords, a regional agreement made in June 2022 to protect migrants and reduce irregular migration in the hemisphere. The Dominican Republic will host the next iteration of the event in 2025. Abinader said he looked forward to hosting Biden in the tourist beach town of Punta Cana, where the summit will be held.

Historic levels of migration are being seen coming out of several countries in the region, including Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela, as migrants fly directly into Central America or cross the dangerous Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia to reach the United States.

The International Organization for Migration urged regional action last month to meet the humanitarian needs of migrants as well as for long-term solutions that would reduce the flow.

“President Biden and President Abinader will also discuss the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Leaders’ Summit, where the United States, the Dominican Republic, and other regional partners will deepen our collective economic engagement to create a more integrated and prosperous Americas,” Jean-Pierre said.

The Dominican Republic’s vice president, Raquel Peña, is scheduled to visit Miami this weekend to meet with Dominicans who live in South Florida.