The President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, arrived in the country after exhausting his agenda in New York, which included a speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) on Wednesday.
The president, who left the country last Saturday, arrived at Las Americas International Airport. He was accompanied by First Lady Raquel Arbaje; Administrative Minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, and former baseball player Moisés Alou.
Upon his arrival in New York, Abinader was received at John F. Kennedy Airport by the Consul General in that city, Eligio Jáquez; the Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the UN, José Blanco; Sonia Guzmán, Dominican Ambassador to Washington, and the Press Director of the Presidency, Daniel García Archibald.
The Head of State met with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, at the headquarters of the multilateral organization. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Álvarez, and the ambassador of the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the UN, José Blanco, were also present.
Another meeting was held with the President of the UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, with whom he discussed various issues of interest to the region.
During his stay in New York, the President also held meetings with the Presidents of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei; Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso; Panama, Laurentino Cortizo; and Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado.
He also met with the executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), David Beasley, and with the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena.
Speech at the UN
At the UN, President Abinader proposed on Wednesday three actions that he considered urgent and necessary for the region: response to the crisis in Haiti, credit facilities to countries in difficulties due to indebtedness during the pandemic and more investment to restore natural resources affected by global warming.
The Dominican president highlighted the possibility that the situation in Haiti could spill over the borders of that country, becoming a factor of insecurity in the region.
Underlining the idea, he said that it is imperative to state in the strongest possible way that the international community should not, and cannot, abandon the Haitian people at this time when the levels of insecurity are leading them to their self-destruction.
“To this solemn conclave I state that the Dominican Republic has shown and will continue to show due solidarity and collaboration with the Haitian people, but I also reiterate to them that THERE IS NOT, NOR WILL THERE EVER BE A DOMINICAN SOLUTION TO THE HAITI CRISIS,” Abinader warned.
Another proposal made by the President at the UN was that multilateral and bilateral financial institutions grant credit facilities through transparent and accessible, concerted and non-discriminatory mechanisms, which will help countries in difficulty to quickly recover financial sustainability.
Likewise, regarding investment to restore natural resources affected by global warming caused by the countries that produce the most CO2, he pointed out that it is fair and necessary that these countries pay for the enormous investments to be made.
After the speech at the UN, Abinader led the presentation of the Country Brand in New York, under the coordination of the Minister of Tourism and ProDominicana, in the interest of strengthening the presence, business relations and promotion in the United States.
Previously, Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez announced that Presidents Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, Laurentino -Nito- Cortizo of Panama and Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica signed a communiqué expressing deep concern over the crisis in Haiti.
