Since the beginning of the month, the Dominican Republic's government has complained about Haitian plans to build a canal on the shared Massacre River, saying it violates several border treaties between the two nations, which share the island of Hispaniola.
From Friday morning "the entire border of the Dominican Republic, land, sea and air, will be closed" for "as long as necessary," said Abinader.
He described the construction of the canal -- aimed at providing water to Haitian farmers -- as a "provocation this government is not going to accept."
Haiti fired back saying it was within its right to make use of the shared river, in line with a 1929 agreement.
"The Republic of Haiti can make sovereign decisions on the exploitation of its natural resources," the Haitian government said in a statement.
The Caribbean neighbors have long had tense relations, heightened by an influx of migrants from poverty and violence-stricken Haiti into the wealthier Dominican Republic.
As part of the canal dispute, the Dominican government on Monday suspended visas for Haitians. Last week it closed the Dajabon border crossing -- one of the most important, where a cross-frontier market takes place twice a week.
Haiti, among the world's poorest nations, has been gripped by years of economic and political crisis, exacerbated by a rise in gang violence.
Gangs control about 80 percent of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, according to the United Nations, and violent crimes such as kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and carjackings are common.
This has prompted thousands of Haitians to flee the country, seeking work in the more prosperous Dominican Republic, which has toughened its immigration policy in response.
Dominican authorities are building a 160-kilometer (100-mile) concrete wall along the 380-kilometer border with Haiti to keep out undocumented migrants.
"If there are uncontrollable people there, they will be uncontrollable for the Haitian government, but they will not be uncontrollable for the Dominican government," Abinader said Thursday.
UK man swims entire New York river in clean-water campaign
New York (AFP) Sept 13, 2023 -
British endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh on Wednesday completed a 315-mile (500-kilometer) journey down New York's Hudson River, highlighting its successful decades-long cleanup as a beacon for other waterways.
"Fifty years ago, this was one of the most polluted rivers in the whole world," said Pugh, 53, who was appointed the first UN patron of the oceans a decade ago.
"We need to have clean, healthy rivers," he told reporters after completing the unassisted trip from the Hudson's mountain source all the way down to New York City.
He said that in New York's industrial past, the river would sometimes change color from day to day, depending on what dyes and other pollutants were dumped or ran off.
But after decades of action to clean up pollution, Pugh was able to safely swim down the river, a month-long feat he said will hopefully inspire others.
"They're going to be inspired by what happened here and say to themselves: 'If they can do that in the Hudson, surely we can do it in our river and our river can also be saved,'" he said.
Pugh has previously undertaken high-profile swims in Antarctica, the North Pole and the Red Sea to advocate for rivers clean enough to swim and fish in safely.
His Hudson River feat comes as leaders from the around the globe are set to descend on New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly, during which a historic High Seas Treaty is to be formally signed.
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