Above: the Presidential Palace in the Dominican Republic (Photo: OPDR)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti and the Dominican Republic resumed their bilateral talks on Monday.

The talks, which follow a meeting on Jan. 7 in the Haitian city of Ouanaminthe, are part of a new series of bilateral discussions agreed upon by the two sides in Caracas in December.

While the two sides were slated to discuss a number of issues, they addressed the ongoing controversy over the citizenship of Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic.

Monday’s discussions were being held in the Dominica city of Jimani, which is across the border from the town of Malpasse in Haiti.

Each side has a six-member commission that was appointed in January; also on hand will be Venezuelan Foreign Ministe Elias Jaua Milano.

While international attention to the controversy has waned, the issue returned to the regional conversation this week following a high-profile speech at the CELAC summit by Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina.