Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – President Luis Abinader announced Wednesday that the Dominican Republic has authorized the United States, on a temporary and strictly logistical basis, to use restricted areas at San Isidro Air Base and Las Américas International Airport. The move is designed to support American counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean by allowing refueling of aircraft, transport of equipment, and transit of technical personnel.
Speaking alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a joint press conference at the National Palace, Abinader emphasized that the agreement does not compromise Dominican sovereignty and will last only “for a limited time.” He described the decision as a necessary reinforcement of the country’s air and maritime defenses against transnational organized crime. “The purpose is clear: to strengthen the air and sea protection ring maintained by our armed forces, a decisive reinforcement to prevent the entry of narcotics and to deliver a more forceful blow against transnational organized crime,” the president said.
Secretary Hegseth, making his first official visit to the Dominican Republic since taking office, thanked President Abinader and framed the partnership in stark terms. “Our borders will be secure, whether it’s the Dominican Republic or the United States of America,” he told reporters. He referred to drug traffickers as “narco-terrorists” and stressed that President Donald Trump is “serious” about stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
The announcement comes amid an intense and controversial U.S. military campaign launched in September 2025 that has seen American forces conduct more than 20 lethal strikes on suspected smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. The Pentagon reports at least 83 fatalities from these operations, with only two known survivors. The campaign, which escalated significantly after mid-November under the informal designation “Operation Southern Spear,” represents the most aggressive use of military force against maritime drug trafficking in decades.
U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers, Air Force F-35 jets, and AC-130J gunships have been employed to destroy high-speed boats and semi-submersible craft believed to be moving cocaine from South America toward North American markets. The Trump administration has justified the use of lethal force by designating several Latin American trafficking organizations, including Venezuela’s so-called Cartel de los Soles, as foreign terrorist organizations, thereby authorizing strikes under existing counter-terrorism authorities without requiring a formal declaration of war.
The shift from traditional Coast Guard interdiction tactics—boarding vessels, making arrests, and seizing drugs—to direct airstrikes and missile attacks has drawn sharp criticism both internationally and within the United States. Venezuela has condemned the operations as acts of aggression, while Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro called one October strike near his country’s Pacific coast “murder” and a violation of international law. Human-rights organizations and some Democratic lawmakers have questioned the lack of transparency, the risk of civilian casualties, and the legality of extrajudicial killings at sea.
Despite the controversy, several Caribbean leaders have expressed support. Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has praised the campaign for confronting the “pain and suffering” caused by cartels, while Puerto Rico’s Governor Jennifer González-Colón thanked the administration for strengthening regional security.
For the Dominican Republic, long a transit hub for cocaine moving from South America to Europe and North America, the agreement represents a pragmatic step. The country has received tens of millions of dollars annually in U.S. counter-narcotics assistance and maintains close security ties with Washington. President Abinader, who won re-election in 2024 on a platform that included tough action against crime and corruption, portrayed the decision as a defense of Dominican families against a borderless threat.
Local opposition politicians have nevertheless called for greater congressional oversight, expressing concern that hosting U.S. operations could draw the Dominican Republic into broader geopolitical tensions, particularly with Venezuela.
As the Trump administration continues to intensify its global anti-drug offensive, the temporary basing agreement with the Dominican Republic marks the first formal foothold in the Caribbean for the current campaign. It signals both a deepening of bilateral security cooperation and the increasing militarization of what was once primarily a law-enforcement challenge.
