In a nationally televised appearance on Dominican public broadcaster RTVD Channel 4’s weekly current affairs program *La Agenda Semanal* on October 26, 2026, President Luis Abinader laid out a new, proactive cross-border security framework alongside his Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, to shield the Dominican Republic from the spreading influence of armed Haitian criminal groups.
Rejecting the traditional framing of national security as a border-line issue, Abinader emphasized that the country’s official security threshold extends 20 kilometers into Haitian territory, and the Dominican state will not permit any armed gangs to operate within that designated zone. The president stressed that any interventions within this perimeter will be executed in full coordination with the official Haitian government, framing the policy as a responsible, preventive measure rather than an act of unilateral incursion. Notably, Abinader did not publicly disclose specific operational protocols or enforcement tactics that would be deployed if gangs attempt to entrench themselves in the 20km buffer zone, nor did he elaborate on formal coordination structures between Dominican security agencies and Haitian governing authorities.
For his part, Defense Minister Fernández Onofre updated the public on the latest border security assessments, confirming that major Haitian armed groups have not advanced toward official Dominican entry points to date, and no significant gang presence has been detected near high-traffic commercial border hubs including Dajabón and Pedernales. He flagged two high-priority corridors requiring sustained monitoring: National Road 8 connecting the Dominican border town of Jimaní to Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, and Road 305 that links the Dominican locality of Elías Piña to a cluster of Haitian communities including Belladère, Lascahobas, and Mirebalais. While criminal gangs currently control isolated segments of these two key Haitian transport routes, Fernández Onofre confirmed there is no verified evidence of gang activity directly adjacent to Dominican border crossings.
The official announcements come amid well-documented reports of Haitian criminal organizations steadily expanding their territorial control over strategic road networks across Haiti, raising urgent spillover security concerns for the neighboring Dominican Republic that shares the island of Hispaniola.
Security : Abinader will not tolerate any gangs within 20km of the Dominican border
