Diplomacy, when exercised with clarity and firmness, is a bulwark against isolation and regional tensions.
However, as political scientist Josué Sénat pointed out during his appearance on Magik9 on Monday April 21, Haiti seems to have swapped a proactive approach for a worrying silence in its relations with the Dominican Republic.
His analysis questions a troubling development: under the authority of Foreign Minister Jean Harvel Jean-Baptiste, are we witnessing a diplomatic disengagement or an opaque strategy with unpredictable consequences?
Under the previous government, Haitian diplomacy, under the leadership of Minister Dominique Dupuy, was characterized by an assertive dynamism. Public pronouncements, direct interventions and the open defense of national interests vis-à-vis the Dominican Republic: this approach had the merit of maintaining an audible Haitian voice on the regional scene.
The current situation is unequivocal.
Josué Sénat deplores the lack of official statements and concrete actions from Minister Jean Harvel Jean-Baptiste.
“Are we facing secret diplomacy?” he asks, evoking the hypothesis of “diplomatic disengagement”.
This silence contrasts with the urgency of bilateral issues: migration, trade tensions and border disputes call for structured, transparent dialogue.
While discreet diplomacy can be useful in sensitive negotiations, total opacity is never virtuous. It fuels speculation and erodes the credibility of the State.
In a context where Haiti’s socio-political crises are being used as a pretext for repressive measures against migrants, Port-au-Prince’s silence looks like a capitulation.
At the heart of asymmetrical regional power relations, an absent or clandestine diplomacy risks accentuating the country’s isolation, to the detriment of its interests.
The Haitian government must break this silence.
Diplomacy worthy of the name means more than sporadic communiqués or secret talks: it requires public statements, identifiable channels for dialogue and a clearly stated strategy.
Josué Sénat’s warning is clear: without an official voice, Haiti is reduced to a spectator of its own history.
Because in diplomacy, silence is never neutral – it’s always a language.
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