Santo Domingo – The government of the Dominican Republic has authorised several United States military aircraft to land in the country in the coming days as part of an operational support deployment in the Caribbean.
The aircraft will have temporary permits to operate from restricted areas at San Isidro Air Base and Las Américas International Airport.
(December 13, 2025)
The C-130, in service since 1954, is one of the most successful military transport aircraft in history. Designed for rugged operations during the Cold War, it has been used in conflicts such as Vietnam and Desert Storm, as well as major humanitarian missions in Haiti, during Hurricane Katrina, and in global disaster zones.
The KC-130, introduced in the 1960s, serves as a tanker and logistics aircraft, enabling aerial refueling for fighter jets, helicopters, and drones.
It has supported operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, as well as nighttime special operations and personnel transport.
(November 27, 2025)
The announcement came during a visit by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Santo Domingo, as the United States seeks to ramp up pressure on leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whom Washington accuses of heading a drug cartel.
„We have authorized the United States, for a limited time, to use restricted areas at the San Isidro Air Base and the Las Americas International Airport for logistical operations of aircraft,“ including refueling and the transport of equipment and personnel, President Luis Abinader told a news conference.
(November 25, 2025)
War Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, today to meet the country’s top leaders, including President Luis Abinader, Minister of Defence Lt Gen Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre and other officials, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
The announcement came the same day that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar met yesterday.
Der Zaun soll ab Beginn dieses Jahres innerhalb von zwei Jahren fertiggestellt werden und über Bewegungs- und Infrarotsensoren sowie Kameras mit Gesichtserkennung verfügen, was laut dem dominikanischen Außenminister, Roberto Álvarez, etwa 100 Millionen US-Dollar kosten werde.
Ein wichtiges Wahlversprechen ist eine Finanzreform, um ausländische Investitionen zu erleichtern. Außenpolitisch möchte er die Dominikanische Republik noch enger an die USA binden. US-Außenminister Mike Pompeo war Gast bei der Vereidigungszeremonie Abinaders.
POMPEO’S TIGHT AGENDA
Likewise, he will hold a meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister, of which the issues to be discussed have not transcended.
This Sunday, August 16, will be the third time, after the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, that a Secretary of State of the United States attends the inauguration of a Dominican president. This action sends a direct message of the expectation about the fundamental issues that the United States has with the government that Luis Abinader will lead as of August 16.
The North American authorities are interested in halting the decline of its hegemony as a political and commercial partner of the Dominican Republic and in solidifying relations between the two countries, which were affected by the foreign policy developed by the outgoing president, Danilo Medina.
Dominican Republic’s nationwide municipal elections were suspended on Sunday due to a glitch in the electronic voting system, Central Electoral Board (JCE) announced, adding that they will convene a new date promptly.
„Between Feb. 6 and 10, several military transport aircraft have been flying to the Rafael Miranda Airport in Puerto Rico; the San Isidro Air Base in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean Islands that have a strategic location, most certainly without the knowledge of the governments of those nations,“ Cuba‘s Ministry of Foreign Affair (Minrex), stated and added that „these flights took off from U.S. military facilities from where Special Operation Troops and U.S. Marine Corps units operate.“