Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Dominican President Luis Abinader At a Joint Press Availability

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter) Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to welcome all of you to this encounter with the press under the visit of the Secretary of State of the United States of America on this Friday, September the 6th of the year 2024.  We also would like to welcome His Excellency President Luis Abinader, constitutional president of the Dominican Republic; His Excellency Mr. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America.  We would also like to welcome the delegation of the Dominican Republic – as the delegation of the United States of America, national and international press that are with us today.  Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, everyone.  Immediately we would like to give the floor to His Excellency President Luis Abinader, president of the Dominican Republic.

PRESIDENT ABINADER:  (Via interpreter) His Excellency Mr. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America; Mr. José Ignacio Paliza, minister of the presidency: Mr. Ricardo de los Santos, president of Senate; Alfredo Pacheco, president of the chamber of representatives; Faride Raful, minister of interior and police; Mr. Rubén Silié, vice minister of multilateral foreign policy affairs; Ms. Patricia Aguilera, chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of the United States of America; Mr. Brian Nichols, [assistant] secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Ms. Isobel Coleman, administrator of the USAID; and other representatives that are part of the U.S. delegation that is with us today; officials of the Government of the Dominican Republic; members of local and international press; ladies and gentlemen:

I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to the Secretary of State of United States Mr. Antony Blinken for his visit to the Dominican Republic, a gesture that expresses the strength of our bilateral relationship and under current context is a reaffirmation that the relationship between the Dominican Republic and the United States of America is in one of its best historic moments based on respectful, solid, and continuous cooperation in key areas such as regional safety and security, financial prosperity, human rights, and democratic stability of our region.

In today’s meeting we expressed our concerns for the Haitian crisis, where the government is now facing challenges, the lack of cooperation and security, and the escape of prisoners that is making the situation much more severe.  We also expressed details of the contingency that has come for support, the MSS delegation and resources needed to establish UN resources for them.  We’re also reminded that it is essential to include the mandate of the MSS delegation in October.

The crisis in Haiti has increased migration pressure in our country, impacting our public services and generating risks in safety and security.  This pressure is reflected in the national enrollment amounts, where 6.5 percent of students, 147,000 in total, are from Haitian nationality.  In addition, our public hospitals, 14 percent of processes and 34 percent of deliveries of – are undocumented migrants.  In no health care system of the world this happens.

Third, we reaffirmed our commitment in fighting human trafficking, implementing international recommendations and presenting a legislative reform to protect victims, especially underage victims.

Four, we have spoken about ways of establishing regional safety and security under the framework of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.

Fifth, we express our concern to the situation in Venezuela, especially the arrest warrant against the main candidate of the opposition party, and we will continue supporting the OAS and we want a hemispheric response coordinated with the UN.  We remember that the Dominican Republic will be hosting the Summit of the Americas in December 2025 in Punta Cana.  We also invited the U.S. delegation to the special event that we are going to be holding in December of this year, 2024, to hold the 30 anniversary of the summit, where we will analyze its evolution and future perspectives.  We reiterate our commitment with collaboration and cooperation among our countries for the strengthening of safety, security, and regional stability, respecting natural differences of perspectives in different areas.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good morning, everyone.  Mr. President, thank you for your warm hospitality, for your warm welcome, but mostly thank you for your leadership and partnership – something that the United States deeply values.

Two of my colleagues were recently in Santo Domingo: United States Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and the USAID Administrator Samantha Power.  This is just further evidence through these high-level engagements of the importance that the United States attaches to our partnership with the Dominican Republic, the importance that it has for both of our countries, the importance that is has for the region, and increasingly the importance that it has for the world, and I’ll have a few things to say about that in a minute.

The Dominican Republic is already the largest Caribbean economy and one of the fastest growing in Latin America.  Together, our two countries are driving further growth and expanding inclusive opportunity for people in both the Dominican Republic and the United States.

Last month, we signed an Open Skies agreement that will enable more commercial flights between our countries – fueling trade, tourism, creating jobs.

Later today, I’ll meet a number of students and teachers – some of the tens of thousands of Dominicans that the State Department has helped prepare for jobs in today’s global economy, notably through English language training.

We’re building on this work by launching a new initiative between three U.S. and Dominican universities, which will provide Dominican college students cutting-edge skills to succeed in the semiconductor industry – making microchips that are the building blocks of the 21st century economy.

I’m also announcing the first phase of a supply chain investment through USAID, an initial $3 million that will help the Dominican Government improve its workforce training, build industrial parks, attract high-tech industries here to the Dominican Republic.

This program will advance the priorities of our Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, which brings together now a dozen countries to modernize economic relationships, strengthen worker and climate protections, and make our critical supply chains even more resilient.

I thank the president for the Dominican Republic’s leadership in this effort, particularly in promoting democracy, transparency, and the rule of law throughout the hemisphere that we share.

As the president mentioned, we discussed the situation in Haiti, whose ongoing insecurity concerns not only the Haitian people but also, of course, its neighbors here in the Dominican Republic and across the hemisphere.

In Port-au-Prince yesterday, as we’ve had an opportunity to discuss, I reaffirmed the United States commitment to the Multinational Security Support mission as well as to broader efforts to promote peace and prosperity in Haiti.  Today, I thanked the president for his vital work to mobilize the international community to do more for Haiti.  This is a collective responsibility – one’s that born out of shared values and trying to help people in need, but also shared interests because the repercussions of what’s happening in Haiti are felt well beyond Haiti.

Our two countries are also collaborating closely through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.  This is a bipartisan effort spanning multiple U.S. administrations – Republican and Democrat – to tackle transnational crime, combat drug trafficking, to make our citizens safer.

Thanks in part to these efforts, Dominican authorities last year seized over 100 tons of illicit narcotics – excuse me, from 2020 to 2023 – 100 tons of illicit narcotics, more than in the previous decade and a half.  Now that shows two things.  It shows the increasing success that our colleagues are having.  It also shows the magnitude of the challenge.  We’re committed to working on this together to strengthen even more the important efforts we’ve already made.  And here again, I applaud the leadership that the president and the Dominican Republic are showing.

Through the PACC 2030 partnership that Vice President Harris launched in 2022, the United States, the Dominican Republic, and members of the Caribbean community are also working to address the urgent challenge of climate change – improving climate-smart agriculture, investing together in green infrastructure, developing the necessary renewable technologies.

We’re also defending our shared democratic values.  President Abinader has shown real leadership in undertaking important reforms, including combatting corruption, strengthening an independent judiciary.

The United States is committed to working alongside the Dominican Republic and the Dominican people to support these efforts – from training Dominican officials to help fight fraud and abuse, promoting human rights and worker rights as I discussed today with some labor leaders with whom I had the opportunity to meet this morning.

And we’re grateful to the Dominican Republic for hosting the next Summit of the Americas, as the president said, to build an even more competitive and even more sustainable and even more democratic region.

Mr. President, when you met with President Biden in the Oval Office just this past November, you said, and I quote, “The Dominican people are your friends, the Dominican people are your allies, the Dominican people are your partners.”  I and the United States could not be more grateful for that.

Whether it’s the work that we’ve advanced today, whether it’s the millions of Dominican Americans that have enriched the United States – including the president’s own family – I’m pleased to say that this friendship, this alliance, this partnership has never been stronger.

Thank you very much.  Muchas gracias. (Applause.)

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter) Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America, we would like to open the floor for questions and answers.

QUESTION:  (Via interpreter) One question for our Secretary.  The history of Haiti has been set by violence and political instability in the last few centuries – something that has happened for years and years, and there’s been very little interest for the peacekeeping mission that the United Nations has sent.  Do you think that for Haiti to become a feasible country, what else can the Dominican Republic do for Haiti?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you very much.  And of course, you’re exactly right that this has been a longstanding challenge (inaudible) many years; indeed, many decades.  And precisely because of that, I don’t think anyone can minimize the magnitude of the challenge.

But I also think we can’t minimize the importance of addressing it, and addressing it together, because of the impact that it has first and foremost on the Haitian people, who deserve better; but also because of the impact that it has throughout our hemisphere – in the Dominican Republic, as you heard from the president; in the United States and in many other countries.  And I think there is a growing collective will to try to effectively do something about it.

As I said yesterday in Haiti, I think we’ve seen real progress over the last few months – again, without minimizing magnitude of the challenges that remain.  Countries throughout this region came together in Jamaica a few months ago with the United States, with CARICOM, with other interested countries, and together we supported a Haitian-conceived and Haitian-led transition.  And what we’ve seen in the last few months is the standing up now of an interim presidential council, the standing up of an interim government with prime minister and ministers, hopefully the establishment very soon of an electoral council to oversee elections next year, which are so vital to get Haiti back on a democratic course.

So that is moving forward.  It’s challenging, but it is moving forward.

At the same time, we have a commitment from countries quite literally around the world to help Haiti find security, to take security back from the gangs and to put it in the hands of the state and of the Haitian people.  And again, just in the space of a few short months now, we have the deployment of the Kenyan contingent.  And I again want to thank President Ruto and Kenya for standing up.  We now have about 380 – 383, I think as of yesterday – Kenyans working to support the work of the Haitian National Police.  We have a number of other countries in the region and beyond – from Jamaica, to El Salvador, to Canada, to countries outside of the hemisphere – all of whom are standing up with financial resources, personnel, equipment for this mission.

The mandate of the mission needs to be renewed – this is something that we’re taking up in New York – because it will expire in October.  And we’ll all be together at the United Nations General Assembly, and I will bring together ministers from many concerned countries to sustain and build on our support.

The president and I strongly agree that the foundation for progress in Haiti has to be security, that this has to be something that the authorities, the state, and ultimately the Haitian people control, not the gangs.  So our first task is getting that done.  And as I said yesterday, we’ve seen some progress – the reopening of the airport, the renewal of flights, the retaking of the main hospital in Port-au-Prince, the beginning of openings of some critical roads.  Starting to see people come back and go out in their neighborhoods, starting to see people who have greater confidence in sending their kids to school or going out to try to find groceries.  It’s starting.  But it has to be sustained, and it has to be built.

Finally, I think we also recognize that we all have to do our part in trying to create economic opportunity for the Haitian people, because security is the foundation, but people also need to know that they can put food on the table, they can provide for their families at home in Haiti.  We have a program that extends over a decade to try to help build Haitian capacity.  We have laws on our books that will drive investment in Haiti, particularly in the apparel sector, which is so critical to the Haitian economy that we need to renew.  The United States has a responsibility there.  And then I hope working together in the hemisphere we can find more ways to create opportunities for Haitians.

But I again want to thank the president for everything that he’s done both to contribute to the Multilateral Security Support mission and to rally other countries in support of the mandate.  And we’ll be working together at the United Nations to make sure it gets renewed.  Thank you.

QUESTION:  (Via interpreter) Yes.  This question is for both Secretary Blinken and President Abinader.  Well, Secretary Blinken, you have requested a path towards normalizing relationships between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  Seeing the difficulties with the implementation of the Open Skies Agreement, border tensions, and even the anti-Haitian feelings that we’ve seen in some sectors of Dominican society, how can you – how do you think that we can move forward towards having a normal relationship between countries?

And if you allow me to ask a second question:  Have you been able to speak of cooperation in sanctions to Venezuela, and what has happened recently with the two aircrafts that were seized here?  Thank you.

PRESIDENT ABINADER:  (Via interpreter) Yes.  We spoke about Haiti, and also the challenges that we have ahead.  And our idea is to try to normalize, if possible, relationships, but always respecting and caring for the Dominican Republic’s safety and security.  Our priority as a government is the safety and security of Dominican people, and they’ve had a situation where they have been impacted in their safety and security, and thus we’ve been empathic.  And from our speech in the United Nations in September 2021, we have been alerting this for three years, and thanks to the effort of the United States, we now have this peacekeeping force in Haiti.  In the sense that they can continue moving forward with their domestic, safety, and security, we will continue moving forward in normalizing our relationship, such as opening our air for flights, and that’s something that we discussed during our meeting.

And regarding Venezuela, we also spoke of our concerns, and we will continue working with the international community and other countries to become advocates for democracy and the desire of the Venezuelan people.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  And I would simply add I agree with everything the president said.  I think that of course it’s very challenging and complicated in terms of Haiti.  These are longstanding issues, longstanding history, as your colleague alluded to, and very deep-rooted problems.  But I think what we know is this:  Our futures and our fates are joined – DR, Haiti, the United States, other countries in our hemisphere.  And so what happens in Haiti is I think first and foremost a matter of human interest and human necessity because people are suffering so much and we all want to help, but as I said, it also has consequences, repercussions for countries throughout the hemisphere, starting here in the Dominican Republic, but also the United States.

And so we have a strong interest in trying to help Haiti succeed, and we’re working on that together.  We’re committed, both of us, to making sure that the support is there to help Haitians build security, take it away from the gangs, and we’ll work on ways as well to help create greater opportunity for the Haitian people and of course make sure that people are treated humanely throughout our hemisphere.  All of that’s very important and I think it’s an important shared agenda.

But (inaudible) said there’s a lot of history here, and we recognize that and appreciate that.  I think that the United States can and will continue to play a helpful role in working through any of the challenges and problems, as will some of the organizations in the hemisphere that we share.

With regard to Venezuela, as the president said, yes, we also discussed this, and I would just say a few things.  We are deeply concerned about the trajectory in Venezuela in the wake of elections where the will of the Venezuelan people could not have been more clear, but unfortunately that will and their votes were not reflected in what has happened since.  Getting Venezuela on a clear democratic trajectory is vital, and it’s vital first and foremost for the Venezuelan people, but here again I think you’ve seen countries throughout the hemisphere and well beyond express their deep concern for the situation in Venezuela.  And we’re working very closely together both with regional organizations but as well with the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, other concerned countries who know, again, that the future in Venezuela also affects them (inaudible) determination to see Venezuela return clearly to a democratic track that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.

With regard to the plane seizures, we’ve been very clear:  We’ll implement our sanctions, and if we find violations of them, we will act.  That’s what we did and that’s what we’ll continue to do.

QUESTION:  (Via interpreter) Good afternoon.  My question is for both.  What do you think about the declarations of Mr. Diosdado Cabello, who is threatening the country – the Dominican Republic – with an intention of blackmailing with the use of oil because the Dominican Republic just responded legitimately to a judicial action of the United States of America?

And if you’ll allow me a second part of my question, also, there is a second aircraft of Maduro here in the country in the Joaquín Balaguer Airport.  Are you going to extradite this as well?  And what is the destination or what happens with the aircrafts after?

PRESIDENT ABINADER:  (Via interpreter) Well, the Dominican Republic has worked to improve the quality of life of its people, lowering poverty, and it has become the seventh economy of Latin America in the last few year without having oil, without having any hydrocarbons, but with an administration that works in favor of its people with transparency and respecting democracy and human rights.  We don’t have oil, but our economy is greater than Venezuela’s now, so we will continue defending democratic values now in this administration and we will continue being advocates for them whenever and wherever we can.  And we will continue defending the democratic rights and being empathic with the situation in Venezuela despite who gives a different opinion or who may threaten us.  That don’t bother us whatsoever.

About the second topic, we don’t have any legal notification at the moment done through our system through the Government of the United States for that second aircraft.  However, they can speak further on that.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  And on that, I can only repeat what I said a moment ago, which is we have and we will continue to enforce our sanctions as appropriate.

QUESTION:  Thanks so much. Michael Birnbaum from the Washington Post. Mr. Secretary, we’ve seen these reports this morning about the killing of an American in the West Bank.  Could you tell us a little bit about what you know about the killing of that American, Aysenur Eygi.  What’s your message for Americans who are concerned that you are providing military aid to a country that is killing U.S. citizens?  And is there ever a point at which the killing of Americans in that region could lead to a change in U.S. policy of weapons provision?

And Mr. President, could I just ask a little bit about the U.S. election?  Could you tell us about your outreach to the Trump campaign and what you are doing to insulate your country against the possibility of general changes in U.S. foreign policy?  Thanks a lot.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Michael, thank you.  First, I just want to extend my deepest condolences, the condolences of the United States Government to the family of Aysenur Eygi.  We deplore this tragic loss.  Now the most important thing to do is to gather the facts, and that’s exactly what we’re in the process of doing, and we are intensely focused on getting those facts.  And any actions that we take are driven by the facts.  So first things first, let’s find out exactly what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions, consequences from that.  As you’ve heard me say many times before, I have no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens around the world, wherever they are, something I take with the utmost seriousness.  So when we have more info, we’ll share it, make it available, and as necessary, we’ll act on it.

PRESIDENT ABINADER:  (In progress) (Via interpreter) of the Dominican Republic, I do not get involved in electoral issues of other countries, especially the United States.  Further on, we will work with the decision of the United States and with their government, as we’ve worked with them in other occasions.

MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter) And after concluding with this questions-and-answer session, we formally close this meeting with the press.  Thank you, everybody, for their time, and have a great afternoon.  Thank you.