The Dominican Republic allows the US access to restricted areas for its deadly war on drugs
For a limited time, the U.S. can refuel aircraft and transport equipment and technical personnel in restricted areas within San Isidro Air Force Base and Las Americas International Airport, said Abinader, who made the announcement with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at his side.
Hegseth was in Santo Domingo on Wednesday to meet with the country’s top officials, including Abinader and Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Carlos Antonio Fernandez Onofre.
It is the first major public deal the US has made with the Caribbean nation as it seeks friendly allies to support its attacks against alleged drug-smuggling ships in the region and beyond. At least 83 people have been killed since the strikes began in early September.
Hegseth said the Dominican Republic is a regional leader willing to take on tough challenges.
“That’s why I’m here today. That’s why we decided to go here first,” he said. “The Dominican Republic stepped up.” Hegseth said the US will respect the sovereignty and laws of the Caribbean country as US service members and aircraft prepare to deploy to the Dominican Republic. He did not provide further details. Meanwhile, Abinader said the scope of the agreement is “technical, limited and temporary.”
“The purpose is clear: to strengthen the perimeter of air and sea protection maintained by our armed forces, a decisive reinforcement to prevent the entry of narcotics and to strike more decisively against transnational organized crime,” he said.
After a news conference where no questions were allowed, the president’s office released a statement with more details, noting that several KC-135 tankers would be present to support aerial patrol missions, expanding surveillance and interdiction capabilities over much of the maritime and airspace.
“They would also provide refueling services to aircraft from partner countries, thereby ensuring sustained operations to monitor, detect and track verified illegal smuggling activities,” the statement said.
In addition, the C-130 Hercules cargo plane would facilitate air evacuation, firefighting, weather reconnaissance and disaster relief, the authority said.
Abinader noted that the Dominican Republic has seized almost 10 times more drugs annually in the past five years than in the previous decade thanks to close cooperation with the US.
“Our country is facing a real threat, a threat that knows no borders, no flags, that destroys families and that has been trying to take advantage of our territory for decades,” he said. “That threat is the drug trade, and no country can or should face it without allies.”
Hegseth praised Abinader, saying the Dominican Republic “understands the importance of confronting the narco-terrorists and narco-traffickers who flood our countries with drugs and violence.”
“We are dead serious about this mission,” Hegseth said, asserting that the US has the best intelligence, lawyers and processes. “We know…where they’re leaving, where they’re going, what they’re bringing, what their intentions are, who they’re representing.
Some experts believe the continued strikes are a tactic to try to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down as the US military builds its largest presence in the region in generations.
Hegseth’s visit comes a day after General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and top military adviser to US President Donald Trump, met with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The prime minister praised the strikes and has since been criticized when she said in early September that she felt no sympathy for drug traffickers and that “the US military should kill them all violently”.
On Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar told reporters that US Marines were in the twin island nation recently to do some work on an airport road and train with local troops.
“They are not here on earth,” she said. “We are not going to launch any campaign against Venezuela.”
She said Trinidad was not asked to be the base for any attack against Venezuela and that Venezuela was not mentioned in the talks with the US on Tuesday.
Trinidad and Tobago is only a few kilometers from Venezuela.
Before visiting Trinidad and Tobago, Caine stopped in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico to visit U.S. troops there and boarded at least one U.S. Navy ship.
Caine and Hegseth previously traveled to Puerto Rico in September.
Earlier this year, the US made a request to the small Caribbean island of Grenada.
Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told parliament earlier this month that any decision to allow the Trump administration to install a temporary radar at the island’s international airport “would not be secret and would not violate domestic or international law.”
No public announcement has been made since then.