#3291: HT-DR border news (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Yacine Khelladi <yacine@aacr.net>


> DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 13 April 2000
> ********************************************************************
>  
> 5. Peynado apprehensive about U.S. border defense
> The vice-presidential candidate of the PRSC, Jacinto Peynado, has come
> out against the involvement of U.S. officials in border surveillance.
> He charged that "other objectives" lie behind the U.S. Drug
> Enforcement Agency's (DEA) participation with Dominican armed forces
> in the initiative announced this week to stem illegal immigration,
> smuggling and drug traffic along the border with Haiti. U.S.
> ambassador Charles Manatt denied that the presence of U.S. troops on
> Dominican soil has anything to do with the forthcoming elections, as
> charged by Peynado. Their only purpose, said Manatt, is "to observe
> with greater caution the events as they develop in Haiti." A skeptical
> Peynado has contended that if halting drug traffic is the real motive
> of the U.S., it ought to guard the Haitian coasts, since no drugs are
> produced within Haiti. The neighboring nation has been the scene of
> unrest and sporadic violence in recent weeks, due to the postponement
> of parliamentary elections and military indiscipline.
> 
> ********************************************************************
> DR1 Daily News - Wednesday, 12 April 2000
> 3. RD & US to patrol the Haitian border
> A coordinated effort will be mounted among agencies of the DR and the
> US to combat drug smuggling, weapons contraband, and illegal
> immigration along the frontier with Haiti. Armed Forces Minister,
> Manuel de Jesus Florentino, announced that the first contingent of
> soldiers will soon be deployed in cities and military outposts along
> the 360 km border. They will be conveyed in 50 personnel transport
> vehicles newly arrived from Spain.
> 
> In addition to air force and army units, the frontier control
> operation will include the Military Assistance and International
> Logistics offices of the U.S. State Department, as well as the U.S.
> Drug Enforcement Agency. The plan was outlined in a report titled
> "Anti-narcotic Integration Project 2000,"  and will fortify
> installations across the border from the Haitian towns of Ounaminthe,
> Perrier, Mont Organice, Thomassigue, Monbin Chacha, Anse-a-Pitre and
> Malpasse.
>