He Dominican government announced yesterday that it temporarily authorized and under strict restrictions the use of limited spaces at the San Isidro Air Base and at the Las Américas International Airport for logistics operations of refueling aircraft, transportation of equipment and technical personnel from the United States, as part of a joint effort against the drug trafficking in the Caribbean.
The president Luis Abinader reported that this measure is adopted within the current legal frameworks—the Interdiction Agreement Maritime and Air signed in 1995 and the 2003 Amendment Protocol—which regulate the cooperation in air and maritime surveillance operations. Both instruments require prior authorization and direct accompaniment from the Ministry of Defense and the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) in any action.
The president explained that the permit “has a technical, limited and temporary scope” and that it is aimed exclusively at strengthening the “protection ring air and maritime” maintained by the Armed forces facing the rise of transnational organized crime. “This does not diminish national sovereignty; it strengthens it,” he stated.
Abinader received the United States Secretary of War, Pete Hegsethwhose visit is part of the expansion of the bilateral cooperation in regional security, trade and migration. He stressed that the fight against drug trafficking It has been a priority shared by several local governments and, since 2020, thanks to joint work with the US, the country has seized almost ten times more drugs per year than in the previous decade.
He also thanked Washington for supporting the Dominican’s candidacy. Leandro José Villanueva to head the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Abinader maintained that the country faces “a real threat that does not recognize borders”, and that international cooperation It is essential to eliminate the route of the drug trafficking. “No country can or should face it without allies,” he said.
The Government insisted that the authorized operations will be carried out under dominican supervisionwith Dominican personnel present in each phase and without authorizing offensive military actions. These are—according to the official explanation—logistical support operations that allow for increased surveillance, improved response capacity, and closure of routes used by cartels with a presence throughout the region.
“We act with responsibilitytransparency and absolute respect for our Constitution,” the president concluded, reiterating that the objective is to guarantee security to the population and drastically reduce the influence of the drug trafficking in the country.
Venezuela responds
Hours later, the Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Hairconsidered as a “imperial madness“that the Dominican Republic authorizes the US to use the airports in a “provisional” manner.
“In the imperial madness, they threaten us every day, every day they invent something and if they don’t invent it they recycle it. It makes me want to laugh that today I see that the president of the Dominican Republic (Abinader) authorizes American flights. You were not born and that airport belonged to the gringos. But they recycle,” Cabello said in his weekly program ‘Con el mallet giving’.
The arrival of Pete Hegseth at the International Airport of the Americas entailed an extensive security device. The announcement of his visit made by President Luis Abinader on Monday motivated dozens of journalists to go to the terminal to cover his arrival.
The press could only advance as far as controls allowed. First, go through the usual airport protocols, scanners and metal detectors. Then, a second, more rigorous filter, reinforced by trained dogs to identify any potential threat. While agents checked the perimeter and communications equipment captured the movement on the runway, the clock struck 12:30 noon. There were minutes left before the scheduled landing at 1:00 in the afternoon.
Finally, at 1:18, the US Air Force C-32 arrived. The activity increased with the decline of foreign security agents who carried numerous suitcases to the escort vehicles. From there, Hegseth went to the Palace for the press conference with Abinader. The senior US official remains in the country to this day. Yesterday he held a meeting with the Minister of Defense and today he will have private meetings.
