With the appearance of a war camp with more than 400 US military personnel installed on Dominican Army 5th Brigade premises in Barahona, the reserve squadron has come to the DR to perform a humanitarian mission. Operation New Horizons is being executed by the US Southern Command. It aims to build four clinics and hold medical consultations. According to Diario Libre, the program is costing US$1.3 million and will take place from 21 February to 22 May with 1,500 members of the US Army, which will rotate. They will work in coordination with a Dominican counterpart of 250 military personnel.
According to US Army Major Edwin Cruz, the clinics will be built at a cost of US$72,000 each in La Lista, Los Robles, Mena Arriba and Barrio Milton. Medical consultations are planned to serve an average of 300 to 500 persons per day with 20 physicians on duty. Cruz reported that the mission has three helicopters, 20 tents, 40 vehicles, containers for offices and its own water purifying system. Cruz denied that the equipment brought to DR is part of a mission intended at looking after today’s Presidential elections in Haiti. Armed Forces Minister Sigfrido Pared Perez stated that the group is not a military troop. It is made up of engineers, physicians, lawyers and dentists. Barahona is only 130 kilometers away from Pedernales, on the Haitian border.