The Dominican Republic will not close its border with Haiti and will take no extraordinary measures, despite the surge of gang violence next door — the government has decided that trade and daily life on the frontier will continue as normal.
The decision was taken on Thursday at an evaluation meeting led by Defense Minister Lieutenant General Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, with the top commanders of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the Specialized Border Security Corps (CESFRONT) and the C5i intelligence command center.
According to the Defense Ministry, the conditions assessed by the security agencies do not justify extraordinary measures or changes in the economic and social life of the border communities. The territory remains under strict supervision, with real-time intelligence sharing and periodic evaluations to apply preventive measures if needed.
10,000 soldiers on a 300-kilometre line
More than 10,000 Dominican soldiers remain deployed along the roughly 300 kilometres of border. In the provinces of Pedernales and Elías Piña the military presence is more visible, with checks on people and vehicles at strategic points such as Macasía, Dos Bocas and Hondo Valle. In Jimaní, in Independencia province, surveillance continues under the usual scheme, with no special measures linked to the recent fighting in Haiti.
Jimaní, one of the main commercial crossings between the two countries, has recovered normal activity after three days of restrictions on the movement of goods toward Haiti — restrictions imposed by Haitian trade and transport groups. The authorities clarified that the border was never officially closed.
Presidency Minister José Ignacio Paliza confirmed the government is prepared to adopt additional measures to protect national security if the Haitian crisis threatens it. The state containment plan also includes the border fence, advanced surveillance tools and incentives for deployed troops: officials estimate around 80 kilometres of the fence will be finished before the end of 2027.
Reinforcement — but no closure
The decision comes days after President Luis Abinader warned that Haitian gangs approaching the border "will have a very, very, very bad time," announcing armored vehicles, aircraft and drones reinforcing the southern border. The Dominican Republic was the first country to declare Haiti's gangs terrorists, and Abinader has said they will be treated as such if they approach Dominican territory.
The trigger for the alarm was the ambush of October 18 in Santo, in Croix-des-Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince, when four Salvadoran aviation technicians attached to the international security mission were seized by gangs after their armored vehicle came under fire. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has launched a military operation to rescue them, and the bodies handed over to Salvadoran forces on Saturday were not theirs, Bukele said — among the remains were a child, a much taller man and a soldier from another country.
Santo Domingo's message now is twofold: the border is reinforced, and it stays open. Commerce flows, troops hold the line, and the government says it will act further only if the threat demands it.
Reporting based on El Seis, Diario Libre and N Digital via El Seis, El Diario del Sur, Centroamérica 360, Lado.mx and Noticias Diarias 24-7.