Hoy newspaper’s “Que se Dice” column says there could not be a worse idea than the government sending antiterrorist elite military forces to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to guard the Dominican embassy there. The editorialist calls the government decision “unprecedented and unjustified,” especially while rumors that Haitian insurgents were trained on Dominican soil continue to circulate. The writer states: “What would happen if in a moment of nervousness or confusion those soldiers fired at a mass out of control, in the style of the maddened gangs that are spurred on by the Lavalas movement? The dispatch of those troops is the worst idea the government could have to confront a situation that, and, according to all evidence, it’s beyond its capacity to act with the prudence that the circumstances call for.”
President Mejia ordered that a contingent of well-armed elite army forces to Haiti yesterday. The troops left at 4:20pm from the San Isidro Airbase in two Casa 212 airplanes and a helicopter.
The Dominican embassy is located in Petion Ville on a 3,000-meter lot. The Dominican ambassador, Alberto Despradel, lives in a home adjacent to the diplomatic seat.
According to El Dia newspaper, the government sent a contingent of 302 highly-trained soldiers recently returned from Iraq to the Haitian border. These soldiers would be reportedly stationed on the Dominican side of the frontier to prevent any massive exodus of Haitians.