Abinader and Biden meet at the White House this Thursday.
Washington, November 2 (EFE).- US President Joe Biden and his Dominican counterpart, Luis Abinador, expressed their reconciliation on the crisis in Haiti and the strengthening of economic cooperation during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House this Thursday. between the two countries.
As reporters entered the Oval Office, the two leaders sat and talked. As Biden explained, they recalled their last meeting in 2017, when he visited the Dominican Republic during Barack Obama’s administration (2008-2017) while serving as vice president.
Abinader, who will become president three years later in 2020, joked that he looks forward to welcoming Biden back to the Caribbean nation in 2025 when the 10th Summit of the Americas is held in Punta Cana.
“That summit will be in Punta Cana, so you’ll have time to enjoy the beach,” Abinador commented to Biden, who responded with a smile.
Crisis in Haiti
In a more serious tone, Biden referred to the crisis in the Dominican Republic’s neighboring country, Haiti.
In early October, the UN The Security Council, after weeks of negotiations, approved a one-year (renewable) deployment of a multinational force to assist the Haitian police. groups.
“Mr. President, thank you for your leadership, really, for your initiative in the region and finally for working together in a historic humanitarian security situation in Haiti,” Biden said.
The US president reiterated his comments to the UN General Assembly in September of this year: “The people of Haiti cannot wait.”
In this sense, he expressed his willingness to continue supporting the Kenya-led multinational force, Abinadar.
Abinader, who is running for re-election next year, made no mention of the crisis in Haiti during his remarks at the start of a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in front of the media.
The Dominican leader supports international efforts to stabilize Haiti, but has argued on previous occasions that his country has already made significant contributions to improving the situation.
Strength of bilateral relationship
Finally, the two leaders reaffirmed that the relations between the two countries are at one of their best moments and emphasized the desire to strengthen the economic relationship.
Both Abinader and Biden mentioned the first summit of leaders of the American Alliance for Economic Prosperity (APEP) in Washington this Friday, which will be attended by other Latin American leaders.
“We will continue to work hard for a brighter future for all our citizens,” Abinathar said.
During the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles (California, USA), Biden promoted APEP in 2022 with the aim of promoting regional integration to combat economic inequality.
In addition to the economic aspect, Abinador highlighted the close relationship between the two countries, with more than two million Dominicans living in the United States, representing the nation’s largest diaspora.
“The Dominican people are your friends. The Dominican people are your allies. The Dominican people are your partner,” Abinador emphasized.
For his part, Biden noted that the friendship between the United States and the Dominican Republic is “deep” and spans generations, while reaffirming that the relationship is “stronger than ever.”
This is the first bilateral meeting between Biden and Abinader who have already met in several international forums such as the recent UN General Assembly in September this year and the IX Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles in June 2022.
President Abinader was accompanied by Foreign Ministers Roberto Alvarez and Treasury’s Jose Vicente and Ambassador Sonia Guzmán.
Other members of the Dominican delegation accompanying the president are Vice Ministers Hugo Rivera, Anselmo Muniz and Johannes Gellner.
Also his assistants are Lourdes Herrera, Eileen Beltrán, Daniel García Archibald, Press Director of the President and Francisco Contisano, Director of Ethics of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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