HOLY SUNDAY.-National achievement, foreign interference or simple protocol act?
As expected, the recently announced agreement between the United States and the Dominican Republic in which the latter authorizes the use of its airspace, as well as restricted areas of the Las Américas International Airport and the San Isidro Air Base, confronted sectors of political and national life.
Early on, the presidents of both chambers of Congress tried to dismantle the version that such an agreement required legislative approval.
Alfredo Pacheco, in the Chamber of Deputies, highlighted the validity of the maritime interdiction agreement in force since 1993.
“The strengthening of this agreement allows the State to more effectively protect its airspace and territorial waters against illicit incursions. It is a necessary and timely action to guarantee the security of the country.”
His Senate counterpart, Ricardo de los Santos, also cited dates of the agreement, adding that it had been extended in 2023, so it was not necessary to submit it to Congress.
The PLD spokesperson among the deputies, Gustavo Sánchez, is somewhat cautious.
He stated that the need for it to go to Congress would arise only if said agreement was extended over time.
Consultations with Danilo, Leonel and Hipólito
Before the Government’s decision was publicly announced, former presidents Danilo Medina, Leonel Fernández and Hipólito Mejía were consulted and informed about the United States request to allow planes used in the region to contain drug trafficking organizations to be supplied at the San Isidro air base and the Las Américas International Airport.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Álvarez, visited the three, accompanied by the Minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, who gave him details of the scope of the authorization and the legal basis for granting it.
It was explained to them that the authorization is based on the agreement for joint cooperation against drug trafficking signed in 1995 and began to be implemented in 2003 when the application protocol was issued.
The authorized includes only tanker aircraft and aircraft military transportnecessary for replenishment, technical support and logistical mobility. The temporary agreement will be valid until April 30, 2026, always under strict conditions of respect for the Constitution, Dominican laws and international law.
Official sources explained to EL DÍA that the aircraft, military personnel and support personnel of the United States They will not be able to carry out operations or acts contrary to the Constitutionnor participate in actions of a military, police or other nature in Dominican territory without express prior authorization.
It was also expressed to the United States that while the authorization is conditional on “absolute respect for international law”, especially the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971), Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs (1988) and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000).
It is also indicated that US personnel must be accompanied at all times by Dominican personnelboth during their presence on the ground and in permitted air operations.
The opposite left
Only sectors of leftist organizations that have historically been opposed to the United States spoke openly against the decision.
Such were the cases of the Alianza País and Frente Amplio parties, who described the agreement as a surrender to the United States.
One who did not hold anything back when criticizing the agreement was Miguel Mejía, general secretary of the United Left Movement, who was seen walking through the streets of Caracas with Nicolás Maduro.
Interviewed on the radio program Esto No Hay Nombre, Mejía evoked the US military interventions of 1916 and 1965 and accused the Dominican Government of facilitating a “military siege” in the Caribbean, whose true objective would not be drug trafficking, but Venezuela. Therefore, in his opinion, “what is at stake is self-determination.”
In his reading, the change in official position—from declaring the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization to ceding strategic infrastructure to Washington—is part of an escalation that commits the Dominican Republic to a possible confrontation.
He showed that there is a possibility of intervention, although he advocated for dialogue to resolve differences.
Other reactions
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Various social and political organizations, such as the Caamañista Movement and the Patria Para Todos Party, expressed their concern about the visit of the US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, and called to protect sovereignty.
Agreement was a diplomatic protocol act
Weight. Pilot Francisco “Frank” Díaz, president of the Council of Captains and the Dominican General Aviation Association, downplayed the logistical significance of the agreement announced by the Dominican Government that authorizes the United States to use portions of the Las Américas and San Isidro airports for operations linked to the fight against drugs.
In his analysis, the measure has “more diplomatic than functional” weight and does not imply substantive changes in the operational capabilities of the US Air Force in the region.
Díaz explained that both Las Américas and San Isidro lack optimal conditions to receive military aircraft.
