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.
