标签： Dominican Republic

A prominent Dominican civic organization has launched formal pushback against a newly signed bilateral agreement between the Dominican Republic and the United States that allows the Caribbean nation to temporarily host third-country nationals deported from U.S. soil, raising sharp questions about national autonomy and compliance with domestic immigration law. The Duartian Institute, a respected civic body focused on national governance and constitutional issues, argues that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) poses tangible risks to the Dominican Republic’s sovereign authority and runs counter to the country’s longstanding immigration statutes.

Wilson Gómez Ramírez, president of the Duartian Institute, described the bilateral deal as an “excessively accommodating” move by Dominican government officials. Under current Dominican law, he explained, only two groups are legally permitted to enter the country: Dominican citizens returning home, and foreign nationals who have completed the full consular visa process to gain entry. Accepting third-country deportees sent from the United States, Gómez Ramírez stressed, creates unaddressed constitutional and legal ambiguities that could undermine the country’s legal framework.

Beyond legal concerns, the institute’s leader also called out the poor timing of the agreement, pointing to the ongoing mass migration pressures the Dominican Republic already grapples with, driven by the deepening political and humanitarian crisis in neighboring Haiti. Gómez Ramírez argued that taking on new, unplanned migration responsibilities directly contradicts the Dominican government’s ongoing efforts to crack down on irregular migration across its border. The civic leader also called for a transparent national public debate over the planned use of Dominican military airports and the entry of foreign aircraft to carry out the deportation transfers laid out in the MOU.

In its formal appeal to national leadership, the Duartian Institute has called on Dominican President Luis Abinader to launch a full review of the actions taken by administration officials who negotiated and approved the agreement. The organization is pushing for Abinader to ensure that all future decisions shaping the country’s migration policy align closely with the Dominican Republic’s constitution, domestic laws, and core national interests.

In a move set to reshape air connectivity and bilateral relations between the Caribbean and Southern Europe, the Senate of the Dominican Republic has given final approval to a comprehensive Air Services Agreement with Greece, unlocking new potential for expanded passenger and cargo air links between the two nations.

The landmark accord was originally signed on November 13, 2025, on the sidelines of the ICAN 2025 international aviation conference, where it was developed as a framework to deepen collaborative work across the aviation sectors of both countries. Beyond basic air service access, the agreement includes progressive provisions that grant carriers from both nations fifth freedom traffic rights for passenger services, allowing airlines to pick up and drop off passengers in a third country before continuing to their destination. For all-cargo operations, the deal goes a step further, offering seventh freedom rights that enable cargo carriers to operate entirely between foreign countries without requiring a connection back to their home nation. It also introduces more flexible operating rules to support widespread code-sharing partnerships between airlines from both signatory states, opening the door for more route options and better scheduling for travelers and shippers alike.

Championed and advanced by the Dominican Republic’s Civil Aviation Board, the new agreement aligns with the country’s long-term national strategy to cement its status as a leading logistics and tourism hub across the Latin American and Caribbean region. Dominican authorities have outlined clear expectations for the deal: it is projected to open untapped commercial opportunities for both countries, upgrade the Dominican Republic’s global air connectivity network, and create stronger, more integrated diplomatic and economic bonds between Santo Domingo and Athens.

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader touched down in Georgetown Wednesday evening to launch his fourth official working visit to the South American nation, a trip aimed at reinforcing long-standing bilateral ties and expanding collaborative frameworks between the two countries through new agreements with Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali.

Upon his arrival at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Abinader received an official welcome from a senior Guyanese delegation led by Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips, Foreign Minister Hugh Todd, alongside Ernesto Torres, the Dominican Republic’s resident ambassador to Guyana. After participating in formal military honors to mark the official nature of his visit, the Dominican leader joined Guyanese government officials for a welcoming reception hosted at Government House.

A full day of diplomatic engagement is scheduled for Thursday, starting with a closed-door bilateral meeting between Abinader and Ali to discuss shared priorities and ongoing collaborative projects. Following their talks, the two heads of state will oversee the signing of a new bilateral cooperation agreement that expands on existing partnerships.

This current visit builds directly on progress achieved in 2023, when the two governments signed six memorandums of understanding targeting key sectors of mutual interest: sustainable energy development, national food security, and cross-border trade expansion. Abinader is traveling with a senior cabinet and delegation, including Joel Santos, the Dominican Minister of Energy and Mines, Samuel Pereyra, chairman of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa), and Tulio Rodríguez, the government’s special coordinator for Guyana affairs. The Dominican president is scheduled to complete his diplomatic engagements and depart for the Dominican Republic by the end of Thursday.

In the capital city of Santo Domingo, top Dominican diplomatic official Roberto Álvarez has moved to quell growing public controversy over a recently struck bilateral agreement between the Dominican Republic and the United States, pushing back firmly against claims of lack of transparency and hidden provisions.

Addressing reporters during an official press briefing held at the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, Álvarez outlined key details of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that have sparked fierce debate among political circles in recent days. The foreign minister stressed repeatedly that the agreement is an open document with no confidential clauses, maintaining that the Dominican government has absolutely nothing to conceal from the public or legislative bodies.

Alvarez clarified a critical procedural point that has been at the center of opposition demands: the MOU is not classified as a formal international treaty under Dominican law. This classification means the agreement does not require formal ratification votes from the country’s National Congress, nor does it need a constitutional compatibility review from the Constitutional Court, he explained.

Expanding on the nature of such agreements, Álvarez noted that the vast majority of bilateral memorandums of understanding crafted between sovereign states are non-binding instruments. They are designed simply to lay out a framework for future collaborative work, rather than imposing rigid, enforceable legal obligations on either signatory nation. The minister added that the MOU can be terminated unilaterally by the Dominican government at any point, and that the commitments outlined in the text are not substantial enough to justify the full legislative review process that applies to formal treaties.

Álvarez’s public defense comes in direct response to mounting criticism from opposition lawmakers and opposition political leaders, who have spent days calling for the full release of the agreement and demanding clearer answers about its contents. Much of the opposition’s scrutiny has centered on unconfirmed speculation that the MOU includes provisions for the Dominican Republic to accept migrants deported from U.S. territory, a politically sensitive issue in the country.

In response to these calls for more information, the foreign minister affirmed that the Dominican government has already published the full text of the agreement in a timely manner, fulfilling all public transparency requirements. He added that he stands ready to appear in person before the National Congress to answer additional questions and provide further context for the agreement if legislative leaders formally request his attendance.

In a stark address delivered before the Dominican Republic’s Senate, senior lawmaker Rafael Barón Duluc — widely known by his nickname Cholitín — has sounded the alarm over unregulated, uneven expansion in the province of La Altagracia, home to the Caribbean’s iconic tourist hubs Punta Cana and Bávaro. While the region has cemented its reputation as one of the top travel destinations in the Americas, drawing millions of visitors and generating billions in annual revenue, its rapid growth has come at a steep cost, Duluc argued.

Duluc framed La Altagracia’s current crisis as a case of “being punished by success”: the province’s booming tourism economy has failed to deliver broad-based improvements to quality of life for local residents, leaving critical public sectors starved for targeted investment and basic infrastructure outdated and overstretched. One of the most glaring gaps in data is also the root of many of the region’s challenges, he claimed: official population counts drastically undercount the actual number of people who call La Altagracia home, with Duluc putting the current population at over 1 million, far higher than government estimates.

To address this data deficit, Duluc is backing a Senate resolution that calls on President Luis Abinader to direct the National Statistics Office (ONE) to carry out a one-time, specialized census focused exclusively on La Altagracia. Without an accurate count of residents, the senator explained, local and national leaders cannot allocate sufficient funding or resources to fix widespread shortages that have plagued daily life in the province. These shortages range from K-12 classroom space and accessible public transportation to core utility services, while unmanaged population growth has also turned chronic traffic congestion into a daily crisis in both Punta Cana and the nearby town of Verón.

Duluc’s warning carries added weight, as it aligns with recent comments from Frank Rainieri, the pioneering tourism developer who helped transform Punta Cana from a remote coastal stretch into a global travel destination. Rainieri recently echoed the same concern, describing the region’s current pattern of unregulated growth as fundamentally unsustainable long-term. For Duluc, the specialized census is not just a bureaucratic exercise — it is the most critical first step to lay the groundwork for informed strategic planning, targeted public investment, and inclusive growth that can benefit both the tourism industry and the local community that calls La Altagracia home.