Since Haiti’s decision to build a canal to capture and use the water from the Massacre River in August 2023, relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic have continued to deteriorate. The authorities of both countries are acting according to their own interpretations of their interests. Escalation has become the preferred method of crisis management.

While Haiti has been able to benefit from the river’s water, the punitive measures — there is no other appropriate term — taken by the Dominican Republic have only multiplied.