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📂 Category: Dominican Republic,drug boats,Luis Abinader,pete hegseth,venezuela
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader announced Wednesday that he has allowed the U.S. government to operate inside restricted areas in the Caribbean nation to help in its fight against drug trafficking.
Abinader, who announced this with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at his side, said that the United States can, for a limited period, refuel aircraft, transportation equipment and technical personnel in restricted areas within the San Isidro Air Base and Las Americas International Airport.
Hegseth was in Santo Domingo on Wednesday to meet with the country’s top leaders, including Abinader and Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Carlos Antonio Fernandez Onofre.
This is the first major public agreement the United States has concluded with a Caribbean nation as it seeks friendly allies to support its attacks against alleged drug smuggling boats in the region and beyond. Since the strikes began in early September, at least 83 people have been killed.
Read more: All US military strikes against alleged drug boats
Hegseth said that the Dominican Republic is a regional leader ready to face difficult challenges.
“That’s why I’m here today. That’s why we decided to come here first,” he said. “The Dominican Republic has stepped up.”
Hegseth said the United States will respect the Caribbean nation’s sovereignty and laws as American service members and aircraft prepare to deploy to the Dominican Republic. He did not provide additional details.
Meanwhile, Abi Nader said that the scope of the agreement is “technical, limited and temporary.”
“The goal is clear: to strengthen the ring of air and sea protection maintained by our armed forces, a crucial reinforcement to prevent the entry of drugs and strike a more decisive blow against transnational organized crime,” he said.
After a press conference in which no questions were allowed, the Office of the President issued a statement with more details, noting that several KC-135 tanker aircraft would be present to support air patrol missions, expanding surveillance and interdiction capabilities over much of the maritime and airspace.
“They will also provide refueling services to aircraft from partner countries, thus ensuring sustainable operations to monitor, detect and trace verified illicit smuggling activities,” the statement read.
In addition, C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft will facilitate aeromedical evacuation, firefighting, weather reconnaissance and disaster relief operations, the office said.
Abi Nader noted that the Dominican Republic has confiscated nearly 10 times more drugs annually in the past five years than in the previous decade thanks to close cooperation with the United States.
“Our country faces a real threat, one that knows no borders or flags, is destroying families, and has been trying to use our lands for decades,” he said. “This threat is drug trafficking, and no country can confront it without allies.”
Hegseth praised Abinader, saying the Dominican Republic “understands the importance of standing up to the drug terrorists and drug traffickers who are flooding our country with drugs and violence.”
“We are very serious about this mission,” Hegseth said, stressing that the United States has the best intelligence, lawyers, and operations. “We know… where they are leaving, where they are going, what they are bringing, what their intentions are, and who they represent.”
Some experts believe the ongoing strikes are a tactic to try to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down given that the US military has built up its largest presence in the region in generations.
Read more: Validating Trump’s claim that every boat that hits the coast of Venezuela saves 25,000 lives
Hegseth’s visit comes a day after General Dan Kaine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chief military advisor to US President Donald Trump, met with Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The Prime Minister has praised the strikes, drawing criticism since early September, when she said she had no sympathy for drug traffickers and that “the US military should kill them all violently.”
Persad-Bissessar told reporters on Wednesday that US Marines were recently in the two-island nation to do some work on the airport road and to train with local soldiers.
“They are not here on Earth,” she said. “We are not about to launch any campaign against Venezuela.”
She said Trinidad had not been asked to be a base for any attack against Venezuela, and Venezuela was not mentioned in talks with the United States on Tuesday.
Trinidad and Tobago is located just a few miles from Venezuela.
Before visiting Trinidad and Tobago, Kane stopped at the US territory of Puerto Rico to visit US forces there and boarded at least one US naval vessel.
Kane and Hegseth previously traveled to Puerto Rico in September.
Earlier this year, the United States applied to the small Caribbean island of Grenada.
Grenada Prime Minister Deacon Mitchell told Parliament earlier this month that any decision that might allow the Trump administration to install a temporary radar at the island’s international airport “would not be a secret, and would not violate domestic or international laws.”
No public announcement has been made since then.
Associated Press correspondent Anselm Gibbs in Trinidad and Tobago contributed to this report.
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