The United States embassy confirmed yesterday that helicopters from the United States Army were flying US military personnel around the Barahona area as well as between Barahona and Santo Domingo. Nonetheless, the embassy spokesperson also pointed out that all flights had been approved by the Dominican Army and supervised by Dominican military personnel.
According to El Caribe, the press release said “these measures strictly follow the protocols established in the bi-lateral agreement that covers this type of joint exercise to be carried out between February and May 2006.” According to the agreement, the presence of United States helicopters is for the evacuation or medical emergencies that might arise at any time of the day or night.
Regarding the nighttime flights that were reported in El Nacional newspaper last Sunday, the embassy said that they have had the required permits, and that they are only carried out for emergency evacuations or medical emergencies as well as to familiarize newly arrived pilots with the terrain in order for them to be able to participate in the joint exercises.
The embassy said that at no time were any flights made close to the Haitian border.
In Hoy newspaper, the flights were reported to have been approved by the A-3 Operations section of the Dominican Air Force, and each night-time flight was approved 24 hours in advance.
In another article, Minister of the Armed Forces, Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez, said that “intelligence errors” were the cause of the confusion surrounding the flights. Pared Perez also stated that there were Dominican military personnel on each flight as part of their own training for night flying.
The columnist writing the widely read “Que se dice” (What’s being said) column asks why the minister’s statements were not forthcoming shortly after the news broke last Sunday. The writer says that there are still some points that need clearing up, such as why wait until after the Army chief of staff had said that there was a violation of Dominican airspace? The writer says that there was confusion, slowness and even stupidity, “but such an unfortunate performance – with all due respect for the Admiral – should not be attributed to simple ‘intelligence errors’ but rather to the opposite.”