Dominican Republic and U.S. call for broader international support for Haiti; U.S. pledges waivers and logistical funding

President Luis Abinader and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged rapid, coordinated international action on the crisis in Haiti, calling for expanded financial support for a Kenya‑led multilateral mission and warning that the Dominican Republic should not be expected to absorb an uncontrolled migratory wave.

Abinader said, “We have reiterated that there is no Dominican solution for the Haitian crisis. That is why we have highlighted the urgent need to have greater financial support for the multilateral support led by Kenya, the goal being to expand its operational capacity.” He described Haiti as a “threat to security in the entire region, including that of The United States.”

Rubio said Washington is committed to support the mission and that he signed waivers and other measures to keep programs and logistical support active. “Last week, in the middle of last week, I signed a waiver to make sure that our programs there continue. And as of last Friday, they are active and have been working,” Rubio said. Later he added that he had “issued a waiver providing for the use of I think it's close to $40,000,000 of additional support” and noted existing United Nations funds available for the mission.

Both leaders said security—removing armed groups from territory and addressing unexploded ordnance—is a precondition for larger reconstruction and economic efforts. Rubio said that if the mission can “eliminate these gangs,” then “we need to discuss the future of Haiti,” including potential for nearshore manufacturing and investment.

Rubio also addressed migration directly: “We cannot and will not ask the Dominican Republic to accept or be expected of them to accept an uncontrolled migratory wave,” he said. Abinader and Rubio both urged other countries to contribute financially and operationally to the mission and humanitarian assistance.

The transcript includes dollar figures and fund details reported by Rubio: he said the United Nations was “sitting on a hundred million dollars” in a fund (with $13,000,000 frozen, as he stated), the U.S. had provided “15 of the $100,000,000” and additional logistics support contracts approaching $40,000,000 were active. The officials did not provide a full accounting or public documents in the press conference to corroborate these numbers; they were described verbally by Rubio.