28142: (news) Chamberlain: Dominican-US military [near Haitian border] (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By JONATHAN M. KATZ

   BARAHONA, Dominican Republic, March 21 (AP) -- Brass bands and speeches
marked the official launch Tuesday of a U.S. military training and aid
program that has sparked protests by activists opposed to large numbers of
American troops in this Caribbean nation.
   U.S. troops are building medical clinics and conducting training
exercises with their Dominican counterparts as part of "Operation New
Horizons," an American military humanitarian aid and training program for
Latin America and the Caribbean.
   The U.S. military said it plans to rotate up to 3,500 troops through the
Dominican Republic for the project, in which American troops will build
four clinics before they depart later this spring.
   Over the weekend, protesters marched in the Dominican capital, Santo
Domingo, and chanted "Yankees out!" Some speculated that the American aid
program was intended as cover for plans to establish a base.
   Officials at the opening ceremony denied this and noted that only about
450 troops at a time will be in the country during the program. The first
troops began arriving in February.
   "I understand that there are some sectors of the country that are
suspicious of the presence of U.S. troops in our country but these young
soldiers ... have come at the invitation of the government for a labor of
peace that will benefit the poorest people in the region," said Dominican
Vice President Rafael Albuquerque.
   U.S. Ambassador Hans Hertell added: "There's some people that you'll
never be able to please. No matter what you do, no matter what you say,
they'll be against whatever the United States is doing."
   During the ceremony at a Dominican military base, U.S. and Dominican
soldiers marched in a dusty concrete lot surrounded by palm trees and
saluted Hertell and Albuquerque, who stood in as head of state because
President Leonel Fernandez was in Europe.
   Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, head of the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command,
and other officials visited a site on the outskirts of the coastal city of
Barahona, west of the capital, where U.S. soldiers are building one of the
clinics. Craddock posed for pictures with troops, some of whom had returned
from Iraq only months ago.
   "This is my first humanitarian mission. It's a nice change of pace,"
said Marine Sgt. Brian Howard, of Eugene, Ore. He said he served in the
initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.
   The U.S. troops will leave the country on May 31, said U.S. Army Lt.
Col. Angelica Reyes, the project's commander.
   In a 2005 New Horizons exercise in neighboring Haiti, U.S. troops dug
wells, built schools and provided health care to impoverished areas.
   Other "New Horizons" projects were scheduled this year in Honduras, Peru
and El Salvador.