DR Pres. To Meet UN Chief Over Haiti Border Row

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – The president of the Dominican Republic said he would meet United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday to discuss a call from a U.N. expert to allow humanitarian supplies to pass through his country’s shuttered border with Haiti.

President Luis Abinader, who is seeking reelection in May, announced a total border shutdown on Thursday over the construction of a canal from a shared river he argues violates a 1929 treaty.

The Dominican Republic says the canal is being built by non-government agents, but has called on Haiti’s government – which is facing escalating gang warfare and a worsening humanitarian crisis – to halt construction.