President Fernández Proposes that Haiti be Admitted to the Latin American Community

Dominican President Leonel Fernández, proposed that Haiti be admitted as a member of the Latin American community as an act of historic reparation toward this nation.

“The bicentenary should usher in a celebration starting with Independence and the abolition of slavery carried out by the Haitians,” said the President.

President Fernández, who participated as an invited speaker at the Latin American Tribune in Casa de America in Madrid, made the proposal during the bicentennial celebration marking independence of the two colonial territories in Latin America, according to the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

Fernández said this should be done not just as an act of historical reparation for Haiti, taking the year 1804 as a point of reference, but in honor of the emancipation of this country as a nation and its abolition of slavery. President Fernández stressed that there should be no problem admitting Haiti as a member of the Latin American community because in the Rio Group it was already accepted as a member with full rights.

“The bicentenary should usher in a celebration starting with Independence and the abolition of slavery carried out by the Haitians,” said the President.

“Haitian solidarity is proverbial by now in that it respects the commitments of the main Latin American leaders, such as Simon Bolivar, who received Haitian support when arranging the process in search of Latin American independence,” said Fernández.

For many year, said Fernández, Haiti paid the price for its independence in the face of the prevailing colonial system and the daring they displayed by abolishing slavery, thus finding themselves isolated and distanced from the larger Latin American community, with which it should have maintained better international relations.

He suggested that the Latin American Summit, being the appropriate forum to advance the concrete moves in intergovernmental cooperation, and seeing the interest shown by governments for the Haitian situation outside of this organization, it would be a gesture of good faith and solidarity if the organization invited Haiti to join the Latin American community.