In a landmark high-level working session held on April 17, senior diplomatic delegations from Haiti and the Dominican Republic reached a key agreement to reopen shared airspace between the two Caribbean nations, marking a major step forward in bilateral cooperation after years of restricted cross-border air travel. The talks, which built on a nine-point bilateral framework laid out in a 2021 joint declaration signed by Haiti’s late former President Jovenel Moïse and Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, brought together top foreign affairs officials from both sides to advance dialogue on core shared priorities for the neighboring states.
The Haitian delegation, led by that country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Raina Forbin, included several senior diplomatic representatives: Haiti’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic Emmanuel Fritz Longchamp, Chief of Staff Winnie Hugot Gabriel, Director of Political Affairs Jean-Claude Lappé, and Director of Dominican Affairs Yves Rody Jean. The meeting underscores the current Haitian government, led by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, has made strengthening constructive bilateral dialogue a top priority, with a stated commitment to approaching all shared issues through a lens of mutual respect for national sovereignty and collaborative problem-solving.
Heading the Dominican Republic’s contingent was that nation’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Álvarez, joined by Vice Minister of Multilateral Foreign Policy Rubén Silié, Vice Minister of Bilateral Foreign Policy Francisco Caraballo, Dominican ambassador to Haiti Faruk Miguel, Director of Strategic Studies and Analysis Emil Chireno, Legal Director Boni Guerrero, and Counselor Jatzel Román. Over the course of the working session, both sides held open, constructive exchanges on three core topics at the top of the bilateral agenda: cross-border security cooperation, migration management, and bilateral trade. The talks centered on refining joint mechanisms to strengthen border control and surveillance while advancing practical, mutually beneficial solutions to the two nations’ most pressing shared challenges.
The most significant outcome of the meeting is the formal agreement to reopen airspace between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which will restore scheduled commercial air links between Cap-Haitien International Airport and all participating Dominican airports starting May 1, 2026. Officials from both sides noted the policy shift is designed to ease cross-border movement of people, stimulate stagnant economic ties between the neighbors, and deepen people-to-people connections that have been limited by years of airspace restrictions.
Beyond the airspace agreement, delegations from both nations publicly thanked the international community for its ongoing support for efforts to stabilize Haiti’s security landscape, specifically highlighting the role of the United Nations and the French Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in actions aimed at restoring public security and institutional stability to Haiti, which has grappled with widespread gang violence and political upheaval in recent years.
To wrap up the session, both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to keeping open communication channels active, and framed continuous bilateral dialogue as the primary path to resolving future areas of disagreement or shared concern. The talks will be followed up with future high-level technical working groups to advance the understandings reached during this session, all within a framework of mutual respect, good neighborliness, and adherence to international law.