Caribbean Review: President Luis Abinader Authorized American Military Operations In The D.R.
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader has authorized the U.S. government to operate inside restricted areas within the D.R. to help its fight against alleged drug trafficking. Many critics have called this campaign a war crime, as the majority of Venezuelan “drug boats” airstrikes by the U.S. military have had no proof that they were smuggling narcotics to the United States. This agreement brings the D.R. much closer to becoming a military ally of the United States as tensions with Venezuela grow.
President Abinader authorized the United States to use restricted areas of the San Isidro Air Base and the Las Américas International Airport in late November of this year. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was present at the announcement in the D.R. to strengthen joint efforts against alleged regional threats and drug traffickers. Hegseth served three combat deployments to the torture camp of Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He was also facing allegations of sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement, and excessive drinking when Trump named him as his nominee for the Secretary of Defense, with the tie-breaking vote coming from Vice President JD Vance. Furthermore, Hegseth was in the leaked Signal group chat from March of this year that showed him, the Vice President, and other officials planning unprovoked attacks on Yemen.
President Abinader also mentioned in the announcement that the D.R. has made significant progress in security and partially credited these developments to a “long-standing special bond” with the United States based on trade, security, and migration. The initiative aimed for regional security and combating drug trafficking has been named Operation Southern Spear.
This “long-standing special bond” appears to overlook the two U.S. military occupations of the Dominican Republic. The first lasted from 1916 to 1924 and was purportedly established for WWI security concerns in the hemisphere; however, it continued for six years after the conflict ended. The United States also created the Guardia Nacional, which would train future dictator Trujillo, who took power in 1930 and would massacre over 50,000 people both in the D.R. and along its border with Haiti in the Parsley Massacre. He would also enforce a racial hierarchy in the D.R., leading to a rise of racial systems, similar to America’s Jim Crow. The second intervention was in 1965 when a civil war started to overthrow the standing President, Juan Bosch. The U.S. feared a communist takeover, and 22,000 troops were sent to the D.R., and an American-favored candidate, Joaquin Balaguer, was elected.
“This fight against drug trafficking is a priority for his administration because it is a threat that affects national and regional stability,” Abinader said, referring to the American airstrike campaign against Venezuelan boats, stressing that “no country can or should face it without allies.”
This airstrike campaign, supported by President Abinader and carried out by the U.S. government, has supplied no evidence of the alleged traffickers. Many have been proven by Venezuelan authorities to be fishermen, and some in American military recordings have been seen attempting to retreat to Venezuela before being airstriked and killed. So far, there have been at least 20 of these attacks resulting in the death of at least 80 innocent people. Hegseth thanked the Dominican government for the facilities and praised the country as a “regional leader” in the fight against drug trafficking.
“American actions are the ‘only language’ understood by drug traffickers and terrorist organizations,” he said, announcing also that “President Trump believes in and strengthens these alliances” in an operation that, the White House claims, seeks to protect borders and save lives, just not the lives of at least 80 killed Venezuelan civilians. According to many human rights experts, these attacks could constitute “extrajudicial executions”, an international crime that was also brought up during American drone strikes of civilians in the 2000s “War on Terror”.
The larger American military presence in the Caribbean has greatly raised tension as the U.S. continues to move more ships, robotic systems, and troops to its regional bases. “The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood, and we will protect it,” Hegseth said on social media, reviving the Monroe Doctrine, a policy statement that helped lead to the U.S. - Mexican War, the Spanish American War, interventions in Nicaragua, the occupations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Cold War proxy conflicts, leading to the rise or direct instilling of many Latin and Caribbean Dictators, the deaths of over one-hundred thousand people, and the displacement of tens-of-thousands more.
“It is very reminiscent of American imperialism; there is a history of American occupation on the island and the CIA being associated with right-wing groups in Latin America. There is a growth of right-wing nationalism within the DR that is very anti-Haitian, and I believe that is comparable to Trump's America,” said Bryan Tavarez, a Dominican Sociology student at Montclair University with a special academic interest in the relations between the global North and South. “With the U.S.'s conservative government, the conservatism and nationalism in the D.R. could be highlighted and strain relations with other nations like neighboring Haiti and Venezuela, though helping American military operations.
